To begin, corruption is one of the biggest weaknesses that Mexico as a whole has. The stigma and real life connotation around political figures in Mexico is quite poor. Politicians are viewed as demagogues that lie to their own people for their own personal benefit. The current President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, said himself that Mexico’s problem with corruption is a “cultural matter.” (BBC.com) As a result, many scandals have occurred in Mexico’s society including companies and the government. One of the biggest scandals to date occurred in late September in the towns of Iguala and Ayotzinapa. Labelled a national human rights crisis, 43 students---aged mid 20s---aspiring to be teachers were kidnapped for protesting mexican officials in the town of Iguala for lack of funding for their school. Three official Mexican Police Officers kidnapped the …show more content…
Law enforcement is looked down upon by society as highly corrupt, incompetent, and unreliable due to the interference of superior corrupt politicians and infiltration of cartel members within the Police Forces. Law enforcement is often presented with the decision of “plata o plomo”---this phrase means to accept money or a bullet. As a result, even the good cops make the unlawful decision of accepting a bribe in order to protect himself and his family. From a personal experience, I have witnessed a police officer accept a bribe and go on with his day. However, police officers in Mexico are extremely underpaid---they make a $285-$400 in a month (business-anti-corruption.com). Due to the low wage rate, police officers are highly prone to accepting a bribe from local cartel, such as the Sinaloa Cartel. According to laht, drug trafficking gangs pay around 1.27 billion pesos ($100 million dollars) to municipal police officers nationwide. This number does not include the salaries of politicians, which would only make the estimate even
Serve and Protect are common words associated with police officers, however some law enforcement officers taint the honor and integrity of the job. Police Corruption is a serious problem affecting nearly every city across the country and world. Curbing police corruption is a tall order; however, improving the recruitment and training process and internal controls can bring this issue to an abrupt stop.
There are many people who are blind to police corruption and there are many who aren’t. As stated before police corruption has been going on for several years, and continues to go on. Officers with high ranks most of the time are the leaders of this action. Somewhere down the line all the bad they have done while wearing that uniform, will catch up with them. Most of the time the subculture will be the cause of an officers actions.
However, the acceptance of even the smallest benefit will start an inevitable slide toward serious corruption. The only difference in accepting a cup of coffee or $1000 is the degree of wrongness. Once an officer gets in the habit of receiving things for free, it is easier to accept a larger bribe. Each gratuity by itself may be small, but the cumulative effect is said to be great. The merchant supplying the coffee will ultimately receive a disproportionate amount of police serves at the expense of other merchants. The police need the community’s support to properly do their job. “They must be perceived as an honest group of crime fighters. Not a bunch of coffee mooching do-nothings” (Petrocelli,
There are several ways police departments can take to reduce police corruption. The three areas I think should change are the training officers in how to diminish abuse, improving the personal character of officers, and incentives program. The Los Angeles Sheriff Department is the largest law enforcement agency in the United States under the leadership of Chief Leroy D. Baca, now retired. The Sheriff Department has about 18,050 employees with an annual budget of $2.5 billion, according to http://sheriff.lacounty.gov. The Sheriff’s Department serves the Superior Court of Los Angeles County and also manages the county jails.
When we hear discussions or read articles about drug wars, killings, and illegal immigration into the United States, many of us immediately think of Mexico. As a nation, Mexico is a much greater country than these commonly referred to issues. Mexico is a country with a broad history, deep family culture, and an economy fueled by oil and tourism. The United States Department of State (USDS) offers a broad range of information on countries outside the US, including Mexico. I found a wealth of information about Mexico through the USDS Background Note provided on their website located at www.state.gov. I will outline for you the key information found in this report, and others, related to the Mexican economy, culture, and more.
If one looks at statistical value of the deaths that occur occasionally, one can conclude that there is not enough being done to punish the Mexican cartels. The ones responsible to handle the arrest of such criminals are the police. There are possible reasons as to why law enforcement officers are not getting the job done. It can range from police corruption or to the idea that the police do not have what it takes to bring safety to the community. Trust is major factor for Mexican citizens who want to walk the streets and not fear that may be the last day on earth. The struggle for power is what prevents citizens from helping police and are scared to talk for fear of being targeted by the cartels or
After three hundred years of suffering and oppression by the Spanish crown, and inspired by the fire of revolution sweeping over the world in places such as United States and France, the Mexican population finally decided that they could endure no more, it was time for a change! In this essay I put together some of the various factors of Spanish colonialism that led to the Mexican independence. These factors were the socio political conditions of nueva españa, the enlightment era, as well as various leaders
Law enforcement in the United States is being perceived as a dangerous, toxic force that cannot be trusted by society. People used to trust law enforcement and come to them in a time of need for protection or help. Media has pointed out only a few corrupt people in authority abusing their power, creating fear in the public’s eye. Although these concerns are spreading throughout the nation, New Mexico is also worried as well. In order to possibly solve this issue, New Mexicans need to show more respect for law enforcement officers because most of them are not practicing racism, abusing power, or using unnecessary violent force. Society has created this image of police officers as these monsters that are in fact practicing racism, abusing their
The Mexican government is known to be corrupt- reinforcement coming from the people interviewed in the film. Various federalist and centralist politicians in the Mexican history have been known to bribe for votes, made apparent by the film to occur even at the local level with municipal presidents. Contributing to the push factor to the U.S., corrupt government bodies push the natives towards leaving by providing no benefits that were promised, such as “lotteries” for those who fill out documentation proving that welfare was properly disbursed when no welfare was given. It was said that the Mexican people depend more on their relatives in the United States than they do on the government (e.g. money sent back to fund patron saints and festivals or just for family support). This is an amazing example given by the film about exploitation- a common occurrence in the political history of
There are massive problems in Mexico with cartels fighting for turf and smuggling drugs.Mexico’s armed forces are also involved trying to stop the flow of cocaine and marijuana into the US. Innocent people are being killed and their deaths are never investigated alleges the New York Daily Times (NYDT). Mexican officials believe that 70,000 people have died since 2006 but contrary to this Reuters has put the figure at 80,000 dead since the year before. It is because of these statistics that make me thin that the Mexican authorities are corrupt and taking bribes. This is alarming because the figures are so different and the police are men’t to be on the side of the public and keeping them safe.
One may ask themselves, if law enforcement officers are working to protect the public, why would they commit corruption like they do? As it is described above, corruption is a big part in the law enforcement sector of society. The entire concept is quite complex although it may seem self explanatory to many people. Learning the many types of corruption and misconduct is only the beginning, then, to understand why the officers commit the conduct for which they do. With all this, it becomes apparent to the certain measures that need to be taken to rid society and police departments of the conduct that is constantly present.
These are people who may need police protection in high crime areas or who constantly violate traffic laws. The second example is a payoff from criminals. This includes drug dealers, prostitutes, and professional burglars. These individuals bribe police officers so as to avoid police intervention during the commission of their crimes. Low-level criminals may pay individual officers to turn a blind eye to their crimes.
The criminal investigators do their best to fight the Narcos, but they are too powerful, that it intimidates many officers, and some officers have even been killed.
Police corruption is a nationwide problem that has been going on for many years. Not only is corruption a problem on our own U.S. soil, but police practices of corruption go as far east as Europe and Asia. Many studies, polls and examinations were taken to find out how exactly what the general publics’ opinions of the police are. Officers receive a lot of scrutiny over this issue, but for good reason.
What is police corruption? Overall police corruption is an officer’s personal gain through the misrepresentation of police power. Police corruption comes in many forms. It can be as insignificant as accepting a free cup of coffee from a coffee shop, accepting bribes in lieu of investigation or arrest, ticket fixing, and greed. Cases of police corruption are cited frequently across the United States. Corruption is nothing new, but why does it continue to go on within law enfo...