NEW NUEVO LEON SECURITY DIRECTOR'S AMBITIOUS PLANS TO

121407 2007-09-07 15:28:00 07MONTERREY828 Consulate Monterrey CONFIDENTIAL VZCZCXRO1249 PP RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM DE RUEHMC #0828/01 2501528 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 071528Z SEP 07 FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2415 RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 3235 INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE RHMFISS/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 7698 C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MONTERREY 000828 SIPDIS SIPDIS 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 MONTERREY 00000828 001.2 OF 003 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. -------------- COMBATING CORRUPTION & LOW MORALE -------------- ¶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 MONTERREY 00000828 002.2 OF 003 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 SIPDIS 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. -------------- CREATING A "PARALLEL" POLICE FORCE -------------- ¶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 MONTERREY 00000828 003.2 OF 003 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