State and federal elements took control of the Municipal Police of Tecate, Baja California, after disarming 70 uniformed officers as part of the security strategy that includes the application of confidence tests to local agents.
General Leopoldo Tizoc Durán, head of the Secretariat of Citizen Security of Baja California (SSCBC), the action was not surprising, but was taken in common agreement with the City Council of Tecate and the Attorney General’s Office (FGJ).
The person in charge of public security stressed that the patrols will fall into the hands of the personnel of the State Force of Citizen Security (FESC), in collaboration with elements of the National Guard and the Mexican Army, who will work through a single command.
“Our main concern is to provide for the citizens, therefore we coordinate to put in place actions that guarantee this objective; In addition, it is for the benefit of the police officers, since it allows us to have a professional security force that constantly has this type of evaluation,” said the mayor of Tecate, Román Cota.
Regarding the support they will receive from state and federal forces, Tizoc Aguilar stated that public security in Tecate will have 120 elements of the State Force, which will work in three different shifts; in addition to another 150 from the National Guard.
Approximately 200 police officers will be evaluated
During the first stage of evaluation and confidence tests of the uniformed officers, it was indicated that 70 of them were disarmed and will face different tests in several stages that will be implemented in the facilities of the security agencies of Tijuana.
In addition to the municipal police officers, elements of Municipal Traffic were also disarmed; In total, 191 agents are expected to be evaluated and will be inactive for a period of 15 days, the time that the tests are expected to last.
The first group left for Mexicali on Tuesday, January 7, and another similar group is expected to leave on Thursday, January 10; while the rest will do so starting on Monday, January 13.
Regarding the confidence tests, Tizoc Aguilar pointed out that these are socioeconomic, medical and psychological tests; in addition, he stressed that all members of the Tecate police must undergo the tests, even those who are physically incapacitated.
It is worth remembering that the Baja California border is considered the main drug trafficking point between Mexico and the United States, and that in recent years there have been several reports of alleged links between local authorities and criminal groups, leading to an escalation of violence against police corporations that left 13 agents killed in 2024.
Source: infobae
