The New York Times published a piece Friday on the push to reform Mexico's security forces.
The proposed changes would make local police forces more accountable to governors rather than mayor's offices, and would standardize training, equipment and recruitment across the country, reports the Times. This comes after a fairly telling observation in a Washington Post story about the targeting of mayors in Mexico's drug violence. According to one senator, the number of threatened mayors may be far higher than official statistics as many incidents "go unreported because of fears that a police investigation would only make matters worse."
The Times piece follows a report published last Wednesday, which found that more than half of Mexico's police force has not yet been submitted to "confidence" tests. This includes undergoing background checks and lie detector tests, reports Justice in Mexico. Even more damning are recent allegations that police facilitated Saturday's grenada attack in Guadalupe, which left 15 people injured. According to La Crónica newspaper, four police units formed a roadblock just before the explosions, supposedly conducting routine checks. But the roadblock delayed the arrival of backup forces and allowed the suspects to escape from the town's central plaza, where the attacks took place.
Saturday's attack was the fourth that hit Monterrey in less than 48 hours. Grenade attacks also hit a Justice Ministry building, a TV station and near the U.S. Consulate, writes the Los Angeles Times.
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