MEXICANS ASKED TO FIGHT CORRUPT COPS

Mexican citizens asked to fight crime
As kidnapping rates soar, Mexico City's mayor is recruiting 300,000 residents to monitor – and turn in – corrupt cops.
By Sara Miller Llana | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the August 14, 2008 edition
Mexico City - Shopkeeper Mayra Bermejo would have a hard time turning in a corrupt police officer even though she – like so many other Mexicans – is exasperated by the growing number of killings and kidnappings that authorities are unable to prevent.
"Once he knows I've denounced him, I'm an open target," says Ms. Bermejo. "He may even send street thugs to harass me."
Seventy-two percent of city residents say they don't trust the police, according to a recent survey in the daily newspaper Reforma. And if Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard has his way, a new corps of 300,000 residents will become watchdogs of sorts – monitoring and turning in police officials who operate outside the law.
With 438 reported kidnappings last year – and probably many more unreported – one more abduction typically would have fallen on ears deafened by the grim state of security in Mexico. But the case of Fernando Martí, the teenage son of a wealthy Mexican family, has resonated nationwide. His body was found Aug. 1, after he had been abducted at a fake police checkpoint two months earlier and after his family reportedly paid a ransom in full.
It comes as news of abductions along the US-Mexican border, including cases involving US citizens, has increasingly made headlines. Kidnapping increased from 278 victims in 2005 to 325 victims in 2006, according to government figures. In 2007, the number jumped by 35 percent. Fifty-nine kidnap victims, including Fernando, have been killed since Mexico President Felipe Calderón took office in December 2006.