NEW NUEVO LEON SECURITY DIRECTOR'S AMBITIOUS PLANS TO

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2007-09-07 15:28:00
07MONTERREY828
Consulate Monterrey
CONFIDENTIAL

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INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
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RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
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DEPARTMENT FOR WHA, INL, DRL, DS/IP/ITA, AND DS/IP/WHA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/7/2017
TAGS: SNAR KCRM ASEC KCOR KHLS KJUS PHUM PINS PGOV MX
SUBJECT: NEW NUEVO LEON SECURITY DIRECTOR'S AMBITIOUS PLANS TO
OVERHAUL CORRUPT POLICE FORCES


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CLASSIFIED BY: Bruce Williamson, CG.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) SUMMARY. In a September 5 meeting with Consulate
representatives, Aldo Fasci, Nuevo Leon's new Secretary of
Public Security, laid out his ambitious plans to combat
corruption and low morale among the state's police force. His
plans include measures to augment police officers' dismally low
salaries, administering routine polygraph testing, properly
outfitting and equipping the ranks, and leveraging technology to
aid officers in the field. Fasci also spoke about his plans to
create a new "parallel" police force, comprised entirely of the
60% of the current Nuevo Leon state police officers who he
believes have not been tainted. These officers would cede some
of their routine patrolling authority to municipal police and,
instead, concentrate on targeted operations. The remaining 40%
of the current state police force that are known or suspected to
be involved with narco-traffickers would be confined to
low-level, low-profile police work, like guarding public
buildings. Given political, financial, and time constraints, it
is unlikely that Fasci will be able to realize many of his
ambitious goals. Though Post reiterated its support for the
Nuevo Leon government's efforts to upgrade its police apparatus,
we are concerned that Fasci's "parallel" system could
effectively create an entire police force that is controlled by
drug cartels. Post also questions Fasci's plan to cede more
authority to local police departments, which are more corrupt
and more likely to side with narco-traffickers. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) On September 5, the Consul General, RSO, and LegAtt
met with Aldo Fasci, who in late August replaced Antonio Garza
Garcia as the third Secretary of Public Security in Nuevo Leon
Governor Natividad Gonzalez Paras's sexenio. Post has enjoyed
an excellent working relationship with Fasci, who previously
served as the Deputy Attorney General for the State of Nuevo
Leon. Fasci was candid with Consulate officials about the
challenges and opportunities that lie before him, and about his
ambitious plans to overhaul the Nuevo Leon state police force.
While Fasci was appointed to his position by PRI Governor
Gonzalez, he realizes that he needs the local and national
support of President Calderon's PAN party because funding his
plans will require, at least in part, more federal funding and
because many of the state's local mayors hail from the PAN.

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COMBATING CORRUPTION & LOW MORALE
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3. (C) Fasci discussed the multitude of challenges confronting
him as he assumes his new role as Secretary of Public Security.
The first and biggest issue is corruption. Fasci acknowledged
that the state's low-paid law enforcement officers are
susceptible to bribes from drug cartels, particularly given that
the average starting salary for a new police officer is only
$7,000 USD per year and the salary for a senior state police
commander is $16,000 USD. To augment these low salaries, Fasci
plans to work with local universities to employ the spouses of
police officers, which may help increase the family's income
and, hopefully, improve the retention and loyalty of good
officers. He also plans to begin giving routine polygraph tests
to all officers to both weed out corrupt cops and deter clean
ones from making bad choices.


4. (C) The second biggest problem, according to Fasci, is low
morale. Nuevo Leon police have not had new uniforms and no
officer has been promoted in over two years. Fasci plans to
change this by first providing officers with new uniforms. He
will then promote qualified officers to higher ranks and, for
the first time, promote uniformed officers to director-level
positions, thus providing the rank-and-file with the opportunity
to advance through a career track. Fasci also noted that Nuevo
Leon state police are largely ill- and under-equipped. In an
effort to alleviate this morale-killer, Fasci would like to
armor as many patrol cars as possible and integrate technology
into officers' daily work. For example, he spoke about
equipping state police with Palm Pilots and mobile facial
recognition software. Fasci also plans to upgrade Nuevo Leon's
one police academy, which trains not only state police, but all
municipal officers, as well. Fasci added that he would like
Nuevo Leon to phase-out specialized units (i.e. SWAT teams),
which are only deployed several times a year and which are often
"hired" by drug cartels that capitalize on their specialized
training to carry out kidnappings and assassinations. He also
supported creating a joint state intelligence center that will
capture information from all levels of law enforcement operating
in the state.


5. (C) Currently, state police in Nuevo Leon share

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responsibility for patrolling the greater Monterrey metropolitan
area with municipal cops. Fasci plans to cede much of this
patrolling responsibility to the municipal police forces in
order to free-up state police who can then focus on conducting
targeted patrols and operations throughout Monterrey. Fasci
said that he understands the difficulties he will face,
particularly with the host of local police chiefs and mayors who
will argue that their already understaffed forces will not be
able to take-on additional responsibilities. To alleviate these
concerns, Fasci wants to establish community police units in all
of Monterrey's neighborhoods. Currently, some of the city's
wealthiest communities privately-fund their own unarmed
"auxiliary police officers" who help deter crime and who work
with citizens to report suspicious behavior to the local police.
Funding is needed, he declared, to make this option open to all
communities, both rich and poor.


6. (C) Similarly, Fasci told the Consul General that he
supports the creation of Metropol, an idea first proposed by the
local PAN leadership in Spring 2007. Metropol will establish a
single metropolitan Monterrey police force with officers from
existing local forces. They will wear the same uniform and
drive the same type of patrol car, but will still report to
their respective chiefs of police. A newly-created Metropol
Director position will rotate between the chiefs of police of
each municipality. NOTE. It is interesting that Fasci supports
this idea, given that it was originally rejected by Governor
Gonzalez and local PRI leadership. END NOTE.


7. (C) State prisons are also under Fasci's purview as
Secretary of Public Security. He wants to overhaul Nuevo Leon's

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prisons to take away the privileges enjoyed by criminals who
"continue to operate" and facilitate crimes from inside the
prison. As an example, Fasci supports jamming cell phone
frequencies to prevent prisoners from making or receiving calls
from their mobile phones. Fasci also said that he will now
require prison visitors to not only sign in as they currently
do, but also to be fingerprinted and photographed, so that new
biometric and facial recognition software could track and
identify visitors.

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CREATING A "PARALLEL" POLICE FORCE
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8. (C) While Fasci listed the many steps he will take to
combat corruption and low morale among the Nuevo Leon police
force, the crux of his ambitious plans revolve around the
creation of a "parallel" police force. Fasci estimated that 40%
of the current Nuevo Leon police force is corrupt with officers
who are in the pockets of narco-traffickers. His plan is to
transfer the remaining 60% of "good" officers from the current
police force to a separate, new police corps. The new corps
will conduct the targeted patrols and operations to which Fasci
alluded, while the old, corrupt force will be confined to
low-profile, low-responsibility work, such as guarding public
buildings. To illustrate his concept, Fasci said that the two
police forces will resemble two trees: one that will be
cultivated to bloom and flourish, and another that, without
being tended to, will eventually wither away. The hope, he
said, is that most of the corrupt 40% will just go away (i.e.
quit).


9. (C) Given these ambitious plans, Fasci realizes that he
only has two years left in Governor Gonzalez's sexenio to
realize his goals and that he will have to go at them
aggressively in his first few months. He also acknowledged that
budget constraints will be a large factor in determining how
much he accomplishes. In an effort to generate more revenue to
fund his initiatives, Fasci will propose that the state begin
regulating Monterrey's more than 1000 private security guards
and body guards, perhaps through licensing fees.


10. (C) Fasci also asked for the Consulate's help in
identifying U.S. police forces and agencies from which he can
learn best practices to apply to Nuevo Leon. Fasci requested
that the Consulate's law enforcement agencies help fund his
project to armor all state police vehicles and improve
technology. The Consul General told Fasci that, while the USG
is unlikely to fund expensive armoring, the Consulate's law
enforcement agents would work to identify areas in which
funding, advice, and training could be provided. Monterrey's
RSO and LegAtt suggested that Fasci visit the Texas Department
of Public Safety, the San Antonio Police Department, and the
Bexar County Sheriff's Department to get a better idea of how

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U.S. law enforcement agencies operate.


11. (C) COMMENT. Aldo Fasci's plans to overhaul Nuevo Leon's
police force are perhaps overly ambitious. However, if he can
accomplish only several of his goals, security in Nuevo Leon
will be much better. We believe that his "honeymoon" period
will last approximately six months, after which time it will be
difficult for him to push for real reform. Fasci plans to play
a more public role than his predecessor, who rarely interacted
with the public and who shunned the press. This may help him
win over the state and federal government entities whose support
he needs to fund his initiatives. It is unclear how well he
will be received by his the ranks of state police officers. For
example, some might view his decision to bring with him his
protective detail from his former job at the state Attorney
General's office, rather than entrusting his protection to the
state police he supervises, as a lack of confidence in his own
employees.


12. (C) Comment continued. It is interesting, but not
altogether surprising, that Fasci is content with allowing 40%
of the State's police force that is known or suspected of
corruption to continue working for the state, albeit in a
low-profile capacity. This type of attitude is common among
local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies with which
Post works. The excuse often given is that it is too difficult
to fire police officers in Mexico. Post believes that the
reality has much more to do with possible retribution from
cartels whose leadership is not likely to sit idly by as their
"employees" are let go. Post is concerned that Fasci's
"parallel" system could effectively create an entire police
force that is controlled by drug cartels. Post also questions
Fasci's plan to cede more authority to local police departments,
which are more corrupt and more likely to side with
narco-traffickers. We will continue to monitor Fasci's progress
as he assumes what can only be described as a very important
role in Nuevo Leon. END COMMENT.
WILLIAMSON