Local Police will be professionalized

The challenge is to make of municipal police corps useful, reliable and modern institutions, as they are the first contact with citizens when they are victims of a crime, which is why their professionalization is important

Más Gto/Guanajuato

The challenge is to make municipal police useful, reliable and modern institutions that are a viable and aspirational option for new generations, as stated by the Executive Secretary of the State Public Security System, Sophia Huett Lopez, and Juan Carlos Sandoval, an American researcher.

Municipal police are the first contact with citizens when they are victims of a crime, so their professionalization is essential when talking about their strengthening.

The Executive Secretary of the State Public Security System, Sophia Huett López, congratulated the work of the State Congress, which through the Public Security Commission and the Legislative Convention on Public Security and Social Prevention of Violence and Crime, headed by Deputy Martin Lopez Camacho, have invited expert police officers, to discuss security and thus have comprehensive points of view, and not to legislate as it has been done in other times with no basis leading to the disappearance of institutions.

“The fact that you are here is relevant because you know first-hand something that directly concerns you, and in the performance of your work. Security topics cannot even be dark or closed topics, because it seems that you do not have control; when you open them to the citizens, they know what to expect, what to ask of you and what they need, and this makes a difference”, said Sophia Huett Lopez

Huett Lopez said that the real challenge is in the municipal police institutions, since they are the ones who encounter crime on a daily basis, they know what hurts people, theft, assault, homicide, extortion, what makes life more complicated; they are the ones who respond to their call and who go to the homes, and we have to reflect on this, that they are not just patrolling until they come across the criminals, and catch them in flagrante delicto, without integrating the investigation folders, what we need is for them to be part of the solution and be part of the investigation.

“The municipal police do work and make a difference, we cannot continue minimizing or vilifying the work of the municipal police, we have to give them tools, a vote of confidence and professionalize them, put aside the speech of promises, and talk about the real challenges and needs that the municipal police have and get into what the country really needs, which are municipal investigative police”, said Huett Lopez.

Juan Carlos Sandoval, a criminal investigator with 23 years of experience and an American citizen of Mexican origin, has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice at Southwestern/Miramar College, in San Diego, California, and has extensive professional training in SWAT groups, and in the last 16 years he has directed and supervised highly complex domestic and foreign operations in the United States, Spain and Latin America; Sandoval has also trained investigative agents, including DEA and FBI special agents.

Sandoval said that the police have the obligation to investigate, “if I put myself in the place of the person who spoke at 911, because he or she was the victim of a crime, we are here to do the right thing, to not only be present but to attend. the needs that the person has, investigate the case, arrest those responsible and make them pay for the crimes.”

The best special investigation agents, noted Sandoval, are those who were police officers, because they know how to talk to people, they have that initial contact with the victim, they know more about the needs of the town and the people, and they are the ones who know the victims best.

“In this sense, no one replaces anyone, it is coordination, it does not take away the work of other institutions, but rather it is a complement to everyone, because when we work in coordination we all win”, said Sandoval.