Just 1.4% of municipal, state and Federal Police officers who failed control and confidence tests last year were dismissed despite a law stipulating that police who don’t pass such tests must be relieved of their duties.

Only 392 of 26,700 officers who flunked the tests lost their jobs, according to a report from the National Public Security System (SNSP). The failure to dismiss the vast majority of officers whose trustworthiness and competence were not verified is a violation of the General SNSP Law.

The report revealed that Jalisco has the lowest percentage of police officers with certification intended to show that they are trustworthy, competent, physically able to carry out their job, meet performance standards, have undertaken initial training, don’t take drugs, don’t have a criminal record and have no links to organized crime.

Just 2.7% of officers in the western state have such certification, while only 13.2%, 13.9% and 14.3% of police in Tlaxcala, Baja California Sur and Mexico City, respectively, meet all the requirements they should.

In contrast, 96.4% of officers in Querétaro are fully certified, making that state’s police forces the most trustworthy and competent and least corrupt in the country, at least on paper.

Colima ranks second, with 86.9% of officers fully certified followed by Guanajuato, with 81.7%; Baja California, with 81.2%; and Durango, with 76.5%.

At a meeting with state and municipal authorities in January, the executive secretary of the SNSP said that low levels of certification among Mexico’s police officers were unacceptable.

“It’s not possible that there are municipalities and states that have only 20% certification,” Leonel Cota Montaño said. “The national average is only 43%,” he added.

The security official said that he expects to see improvements in 2020, adding that the federal government is providing funding for the application of new evaluation tests.

“We have to make significant progress this year in control and confidence tests; the resources we’re giving to the municipalities are for that purpose,” Cota said.

He also said that the SNSP is aiming to improve the operation of the 911 emergency service and establish a new registry of telephone numbers used by criminals for the purpose of extortion.

Source: El Universal (sp)