A corruption purge in the Mexico City investigative police division has reassigned 120 officers from the street to administrative positions in the last two months.

After failing confidence tests, the officers were stripped of their weapons and badges for poor behavior, professional misconduct and links to organized crime, among other issues.

Of the 120 officers, at least 10 are suspected to have links to organized crime, and are under investigation for accepting bribes, providing protection or alerting criminal cells to police operations in various boroughs in Mexico City.

The most recent dismissals occurred last week in the northern borough of Gustavo A. Madero, where three officers were ordered to turn in their guns and badges and work at desk jobs while their investigations were underway.

One of the officers was summoned to an interview with internal affairs as he was believed to have links to organized crime but didn’t show up for the interview.

Some officers say the purge has caused problems in the force, as work has piled up for officers still on the job. Morale has further been damaged by the failure of the new administration to provide the raises it promised, among other benefits.

An officer who preferred to remain anonymous said, “Cleaning up the force is good, but [the authorities] must do what’s right and just, they must get rid of those who are truly corrupt. The famous purge shouldn’t be revenge or to get rid of people they don’t like, because this is what we feel happened in the last confidence test and that’s why there were protests.”

“Those of us who remain have up to 25 or 30 cases. With that kind of workload, how are we supposed to solve even one?” the officer said.

In her latest official report to the city Congress, Attorney General Ernestina Godoy revealed that 40% of the capital’s investigative police officers are not fit to serve in the force.

Source: El Universal (sp)