Evaluation of Confidence Testing in Mexico

In a progress report released on May 20, 2011, by the Executive Secretary of the National System for Public Security (SESNSP) entitled, “Evaluation of Confidence Testing: State and Local Institutions in Relation to the Security and Administration of Justice,” the number of confidence testing centers and the percentage of the state and local entities which have enforced testing was gauged.

The SESNSP report indicates that as of April 30th, only one state, Aguascalientes, has fulfilled the confidence testing of at least 75 percent of state personnel, which includes state law enforcement, state Attorney General law units and state prison employees (CERESO).

States with 25 to 75 percent of testing compliance at the state level include: Baja California, Coahuila, Colima, Guanajuato, Morelos, Nuevo Leon, Sinaloa, Tlaxcala, and Yucatan.

States with less than 25 percent of testing compliance at the state level include: Baja California South, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Distrito Federal, Durango, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Edomex, Michoacán, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and Zacatecas.

The percentages of compliance for testing at the local level within each state of Mexico reflect an even lower adherence than at the state level.

No state reported more than 75 percent of compliance at the local level for testing of local law enforcement, municipal law units of the Attorney General, and city prisons.

States with 25 to 75 percent of testing compliance at a local level include: Aguascalientes, Baja California, Coahuila, Colima, Guanajuato, Morelos, Nuevo Leon, and Tlaxcala. All other Mexican states reported less than 25 percent of testing compliance.

Recently, Alejandro Poire Romero, spokesman and secretary for the National Security Council, reproached state governments and municipalities for a lack of enforcement of confidence testing as implemented by the National System of Public Security.

Out of 40 confidence testing centers, only four were reported both accredited and certified, as of May 17, 2011. Two of the testing centers were at the federal level, established by the Attorney General of Mexico (PGR) and the Secretary of Public Security (SSP). The other two confidence testing centers were established at the state level in Baja California and Guanajuato.

By end of May, accredited and certified centers were successfully established in Coahuila, Edomex and the Federal District.

States were listed on the report at various stages including centers established for the state level having attained certification but without accreditation of the facility, state centers in the process of getting certified, states trying to establish a national model testing center, and only one, Quintana Roo, in the beginning stages.

As of the release of the progress report, several Mexican states have completed or are currently undergoing confidence testing at the local and state levels.

In May, Municipal testing in cities such as Torreon, Coahuila, resulted in the release of 150 officers. Enforcement at the State level in Veracruz led to the release of 837 officers pending testing.

Confidence testing in Mexico includes polygraph, toxicology, and aptitude tests, as well as psychological and socioeconomic evaluations.


SOURCES:
www.secretariadoejecutivosnsp.gob.mx/work/models/SecretariadoEjecutivo">www.secretariadoejecutivosnsp.gob.mx/work/models/SecretariadoEjecutivo/
/Resource/326/1/images/INFORME_AVANCES_CNCA_20052011_CECC_EVALUACIONES_VC.pdf
www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/767633.html
www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/767126.html
http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8960755
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/05/26
/police-force-eastern-mexico-dissolved-837-cops-dismissed/
http://www.secretariadoejecutivosnsp.gob.mx/work/models/SecretariadoEjecutivo
/Resource/81/1/images/Boletin22_centros_acreditados_27052011.pdf