http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-tijuana6jan06,0,6801191.story?coll=la-home-headlinesTaking guns away from police brings some peace to TijuanaTijuana police return -- without their weapons
By Richard Marosi, Sam Enriquez and Héctor Tobar, Times Staff Writers
January 6, 2007
TIJUANA — Disarmed municipal police officers patrolled alongside armed state police Friday, a sight that brought some comfort to many in this border city where municipal police often are equated with corruption and drug-related violence.
Municipal officers, their holsters empty, directed traffic and made the rounds a day after stopping work in response to being stripped of their weapons by the Mexican military.
The military operation in Tijuana and a similar incursion in the southern state of Michoacan, some political analysts say, have been a political boon to President Felipe Calderon, who took office in December, allowing him to project an image of strength and decisiveness.
Jorge Chabat, a Mexico City analyst who has written extensively on the country's drug wars, said that though Calderon's crackdown in Tijuana had "zero chance of stopping the buying and selling of drugs," it could help limit the number of drug-related killings in the city.
There were more than 300 slayings in Tijuana last year.
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Ok, you know things are bad, you know corruption is rampant when the only way to reduce violence is to confiscate the police force's weapons.
SR
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003511986_tj06.html