Cd. Juarez's New Hope

Cd. Juarez is bringing in a hired gun. The formula that was used in Tijuana to diminish violent crimes will soon be implemented in this city with the naming of a new chief of the Secretariat of Public Security or Secretaria de la Seguridad Pública Municipal (SSPM), the ex- Police Chief of Tijuana.

It is expected that tomorrow morning Juárez mayor Héctor Murguía Lardizábal will officially announce the appointment of Julian Leyzaola Perez, who had been the Police Chief in Tijuana, Baja California, under the past administration headed by then mayor of Tijuana Jorge Ramos Hernandez.

The ex-military man with the rank of lieutenant colonel, was the Police Chief of that border city from December 2008 until October of 2010, and was hailed for his work against delinquency and decreasing all criminal indices.

Leyzaola Perez had a distinguished military career combating the country's insecurity through his service in the Mexican Army, and was stationed in the states as Oaxaca, Puebla, Guerrero, Yucatan and Mexico City.

He had served as the state of Baja California's Undersecretary's to the office of State's Public Security of Baja California, but resigned last week to accept this new role once held by Laurencio Galician Jiménez, a retired military officer who this past October took on a new role under the local administration.

In a recent visit to Juárez in December, invited by the Council on Business Coordination, Leyzaola Perez raised the possibility that the operative plan he had implemented successfully in Tijuana to fight organized crime could also work strategically in Juarez.

He explained that plan departed from the main deficiencies that were observed at the social, economic and cultural levels, by creating operational and logistic mechanisms aimed directly at the criminal elements and to further eliminate the perception of supremacy, that these groups may have imprinted on the social consciousness.

“The violence and the insecurity that Juárez City lives are a consequence of a series of institutional weaknesses that in some cases were given little or no attention by previous governments. They now require a strong alliance between all of the social sectors in order to overcome this crisis”, recounted the then future chief of the Secretariat of Public Security or Secretaria de la Seguridad Pública Municipal (SSPM).

The addition of Lt. Col. Leyzaola to the office under mayor Héctor “Teto” Murguía was actually one promoted by the members of the Business Coordination Council, who had invited the ex- Tijuana Police Chief to come and give a consultative assessment and suggest ways in improving the city's security conditions.

In Tijuana, Julian Leyzaola, 52 years of age, is considered the principal actor in the transformation of the city, fighting the powerful Arellano Felix drug cartel.

"A student of General Sergio Aponte Polito's methods, Leyzaola imposed a tough no nonsense attitude in combating crime and delinquents; by limiting the cartel members ability to move freely, reducing their area of operation, as well as closing all financing resources to them and neutralizing any assistance that corrupt police officers were offering them," according to informed sources of that city.

Some of the methods that Julian Leyzaola has used within the police departments have been catalogued in some cases as extreme. International organizations, like the Inter-American Commission of Human rights (CIDH), representatives of the Government of Canada, the European Union and the UN, presented documented cases of abuse by this incoming police Chief, when he held the same position in Tijuana; nevertheless, he managed to keep his position because of the success that he demonstrated.

Leyzaola also waged an unprecedented campaign against his own police force's corruption, where many of his officers had been known to work for organized crime. During his tenure, more than 600 officers were fired or riffted from the force.

"With this change, the municipal Government initiates the transformation of the new group called Embryo,"Embrion," that will be dedicated to combating high impact crimes, like kidnapping, extortion and executions," commented a source within the mayor's administration unofficially.

The unnamed source added that the arrival of the new security chief will increase the participation of its citizens, by encouraging citizen to anonymously call in criminal acts and elements, as a key to achieving the success of the preventive programs to be led by the new head of the Municipal Police.

For the local businessmen and women who brought him here, it is a hopeful change. The mayor Murguía Lardizábal will also be announcing the latest strategies to be implemented, as well as to initiate the criminal clean up of the entire city.

Sources: El Diario de Juárez - Daniel Dominguez

                Agencia Fronteriza de Noticias