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Reporter's Notebook: Ricardo Sala

Police Department boasts number of arrests

Posted by Ricardo Sala - May 21, 2004 at 10:12 pm
At its website's front page, Mexico City's police department (or "Public Safety Secretariat") shows off the progress in its goal of achieving 22,000 arrests during this year. According to the "REPORT OF DETAINEES" panel the total number up to date is 9,853. Check it out at http://www.ssp.df.gob.mx.
EXCLAMATION MARK

"Our goal: 22,000 arrested by December! Pending detainees: 12,147". Twelve thousand one hundred and fortyseven among us Mexico City inhabitants, soon to be arrested and brought before DF Public Safety in order to become a part of the projected figure. Has our demand for justice reached so far as to have the SSP advertise the quantity of arrested persons as an achievement? Does having more people detained make this a safer city?

It's Wednesday before midnight earlier this spring, and I ride my bike to the store for a pack of cigarretes. At the last street crossing on my way back, two doors before the house where my girl and other friends are expecting me, I'm ambushed from right and left by a patrol car, a police wagon, and about ten policemen. The first to approach me says "lo vamos a revisar", which as any mexicano knows means "we are going to make a full-body clothes-on inspection of you". After two very long seconds I shake my head and state "no way am I getting inspected, you will not touch me". Shoulders crouched I grab my bike and, repeating "you will not touch me" among shouts and firm quick footsteps which I disregard in fear, step on the sidewalk, reach straight to the door and ring. "Valeria, please come down because some policemen here want to... they want me to..." Somewhere from out in the street a stronger voice shouts "DON'T TOUCH HIM". At one time Valeria opens the door and among the "polis" a captain opens his way. Short story: "This is for your own safety, some days ago just ahead of here a person was killed by a burglar", I answer "there are ways, Capitán".

Not detained this time. But what if I did get inspected and instead of tobacco I had some marijuana with me? Or what if some marijuana or the usual "grapa" or trace of cocaine wrapped in paper somehow "got" into my clothes? (Some fifteen years ago inside a patrol car I was threatened to be blamed for stealing someone else's credit card which, according to the policemen, they had found among my things.)

Quote from "larevista" weekly magazine (#012, El Universal newspaper) article:

In a BBC documentary running last December two policemen identified as "The Ghost" and "Pinoccio" tell their story. They have to make their 400-dollar monthly payment fit for all their expenses. In another scene Pinoccio shows at home a plastic bag with a "despensa" or set of basic goods which he got for the arrests of the last month, and explains that now he makes more arrests than when there were no incentives.
(Antonio Montero, "Los nuevos miserables", on prisons packed with anonymous beings, condemned for being poor)

According to details from the exclamative "Report of detainees" the line tagged "drugs", with 791 arrests "accumulated since January 1st", gets the fourth place after "assault on pedestrian", "harms", and "robbery at shop". (Interestingly the last place with 0 arrests is tagged "theft in subway" -very common if you ask city dwellers.)

TWO BUTTONS

The tag here states only "drugs". Jump back to the front page and find two big buttons just below the exclamative panel. The one on the right: "Annual report 2003-2004", where we find (under "detained at MP") the following text:


Standing out in particular from 2002 to 2003 are the increases in detainees for theft in public transport 114.5%, drug possession 99%, shop robbery 93.3%, house robbery 76% and pedestrian robbery 64.8%. The increase in these arrests is the result of the special operations developed by this Secretariat which will be explained in this report.

So, in 2003 these "special operations" found twice as much persons carrying drugs than the previous year. The following graph shows a total nine main offences including those quoted above. "Homicide" and "arm possession" stand out as the offences with the least increase.
It so happens that the same "special operations" which increased almost 100% the number of detainees for drug possession, increased only 28% the detainees for arms possession. Why the difference? There can be several explanations but, is inspecting someone for drugs different from inspecting someone for arms?

Maybe part of the increase in detainees for drug possession is due to the policemen "getting" it into detainees' clothes. But my guess is most of it is due to policemen always grabbing persons carrying a joint, and while previously they would arrange with a bribe, now they see a better fortune in detaining them and so qualifying for an "incentive".

Even so, not only people carrying drugs --almost always innocent or at most "guilty with no victim"-- are vulnerable. The public safety policy is approaching an undeclared state of siege where anyone can get ambushed for the purpose of having him or her become a part of the 22,000 figure.

I address those responsible for the safety policies and ask once again:
Does having more people detained make this a safer city?
Safer for who?

The button on the left, also standing out in the front page of the Mexico City Public Safety Secretariat website: "Giuliani Report SSP". --------------------------------------------
Spanish version published at vivecondrogas, narcosphere and bicitekas
http://mx.groups.yahoo.com/group/vivecondrogas/
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/ricardosala
http://mx.groups.yahoo.com/group/bicitekas/

About Ricardo Sala

Personal Website
http://www.vivecondrogas.com

Biography
México Ciudad.

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Support for Medical Marijuana in Mexico

Submitted May 22, 2004 - 12:50 am by Al Giordano
Support for the Medical Marijuana bill in the Mexican federal Senate received a surprising supporter last week: conservative columnist Jose Antonio O'Farrill. He writes in Novedades de Acapulco:

El Senado de la República analiza una iniciativa de ley para legalizar el uso de narcóticos, entre ellos la marihuana, con fines terapéuticos.

Creemos que este es un paso importante para atender un asunto del dolor entre los enfermos.

Y si en todo caso la medida cuenta con corchetes adecuados, no habrá ningún problema en el hecho de autorizar el uso de enervantes para hacer frente a situaciones de enfermedad.

Lo que sí es importante que se establezca en qué casos se podría recurrir al uso de narcóticos, porque no vaya a ser que ante cualquier dolor de cabeza se permita el acceso a la droga.

­Cuidado! a tiempo. La idea es positiva, pero se debe analizar a fondo y con prohibiciones específicas. Si se hace así, como sucede en algunas naciones de Europa, seguro que será para bien de la comunidad médica y de muchos pacientes que en realidad ya no tendrían que sufrir fuertes dolores.

Which translates as...

The Senate of the Republic is analyzing a bill to legalize the use of narcotics, among them marijuana, for therapeutic goals.

We believe this is an important step to attend to the matter of the pain among sick people.

And if in all cases the measure counts with adequate safeguards, there won't be any problem with authorizing the use of drugs to confront illnesses.

What is important is to establish which cases in which narcotics could be used to permit access to the drug, so that they won't be used to treat just any old headache.

Careful! And Slow. The idea is positive, but it should be analyzed deeply and with specific prohibitions. If it is done that way, as occured in some European countries, it would certainly be good for the medical community and for many patients who in reality have to suffer great pain.

Given that the O'Farril family and its newspaper chain has long been a species of flea on dog of the PRI party (the largest bloc in the national Congress) this is worth following up on.

Mexicans for Treatment of Pain

Submitted May 22, 2004 - 1:37 am by Al Giordano
A new organization, the Mexican Association for the Study and Treatment of Pain, has also come out in force for the bills that would allow medical use of marijuana and pharmacies to dispense morphine with a prescription, according to this story by the Reforma newspapers group.

(They also propose declaring October 11 as an annual National Day Against Pain. Not sure what that means, but we're all looking forward to that!)

The article quotes Miguel Angel Genis of the organization:

""Vemos que el dolor no se trata adecuadamente, que hay un mal manejo y una falta de disponibilidad de opioides en México. Es asombroso que medicamentos controlados como los opioides (utilizados para combatir el dolor) sólo los encontramos en una o dos farmacias especializadas, entonces, uno de los objetivos es que haya equidad".

Dijo que otro objetivo es que los diputados legislen para considerar el dolor como problema de salud pública, y que su tratamiento se convierta en un derecho.

Which means:

"We see that pain is not treated effectively. There is poor management and a lack of availability of opiates in Mexico. It's daunting that controled medicines like opiates (used to treat pain) can only be found in one or two specialized pharmacies. Thus, one of the goals is for a more equal policy."

He said that the other goal is that Congress legislates to declare pain a problem of public health and that its treatment become a right.

Congressman José Ángel Córdoba, chairman of the Health Committee in the lower House, added that pain is one of the great causes of incapacity by workers.

And Senate Health Committee Chairman Miguel Moreno Brizuela "indicated that there is also a bill to legalize marijuana for therapeutic uses because as of today its medical use brings a sentence of ten years in prison."

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