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Column 030209 Brewer

Monday, March 2, 2009

The Mexican Drug War is Decimating Traditional Police

Role

By Jerry Brewer

Implied conventional and sanctioned police procedure and

authority on both sides of the U.S. border with Mexico is
redefining the role of state, county, and local law enforcement.
The continuing escalation in human carnage in Mexico now
surpasses 6,000 lives over the past 13 months. In the true
definition of war, this nightmare was never designed to be
fought by civilian police authorities on either side of the Mexican
border.

The massive and superior weaponry and tactics being utilized

by the narcoterrorists far exceed the skills, knowledge and
abilities of the "protect and serve" police cadre that routinely
patrol the streets and respond to calls for service. In fact, the
police cultural nuance of the last couple of decades, known as
Community Oriented Policing, has been graphically challenged
by the throat.

Let us be emphatically accurate that this wave of paramilitary

styled violence did not sneak up on either side overnight. The
fact is that the threat has been ignored and disguised by
political subterfuge as an illegal alien invasion of immigrants
coming to take U.S. jobs and take advantage of social benefits.
The existing wisdom or knee-jerk reaction quickly decided that a
2,000 mile fence, projecting a potential US$49 billion price tag,
would stop that nonsense.

The intelligence apparatus and related communications missed

the significance and end run by narcoterrorists in the 2005
infiltrating, taking, and occupying of drug turf in the U.S. This
insurgency led by the enforcers recruited via massive drug
profits from the drug barons of Mexico. Those recruited
included Mexican as well as Central American paramilitary
soldiers intricately trained in killing. Their massive and powerful
weaponry has been used routinely to murder those that oppose
them.

Weapons confiscated from these narcoterrorists last year alone

has been described as having the "capability to arm the entire
army of El Salvador."

Although out-and-out terrorism was manifesting itself, via the

narcoterrorists and their actions in 2005 along our Texas border
in Nuevo Laredo, the obvious question is how did we not see
this coming and prepare? In fact, after a brutal gun battle in
Nuevo Laredo on July 28, 2005, the former U.S. Ambassador to
Mexico, Tony Garza, described the battle between armed
criminal groups as "having unusually advanced weapons." The
arsenal of automatic weapons, bazookas and hand grenades
used in the attacks were quite simply the "smoking gun" of
things to quickly escalate, and a huge death toll to ensue.

This was a quick lesson in local policing that clearly

demonstrated that police below the federal levels are generally
ill-equipped, outmanned, outgunned, and inadequately trained
to handle the continued growth and obvious threat posed by
these narcoterrorists. Too, the lessons must include a new
ability to recognize, prepare, and deploy the appropriate
resources to incidents that threaten to totally destabilize a
region or paralyze a government.

A disturbing message from some U.S. law enforcement leaders

over the last two years was for more government money for
"traditional policing," as opposed to additional homeland or
counterterrorism monies proposed. Stark reality in the form of a
head slap wakeup call has sunk in on the U.S. side this month,
as Mexico's ambassador to the U.S., Arturo Sarukhan, stated,
"this is the kind of threat that terrorism poses to Pakistan."

Outgoing CIA Director Michael Hayden listed Mexico alongside

Iran as a top challenge for the U.S. The U.S. Department of
Justice has followed with the statement that "Mexican gangs are
the biggest threat to the U.S., (and) the biggest organized crime
threat."

The Mexican government has been quick to marshal their

military and federal police to the forefront with much success to
counter the lack of preparedness of local police to handle such
an onslaught. Mexican police chiefs have been routinely
murdered as well as scared off the job in Mexico since 2005.
The recent resignation of Chief Roberto Orduña of Ciudad
Juarez graphically demonstrates the pitiful state of affairs in
hindsight. His resignation he says because he does "not want
to be responsible for any more police dying."

U.S. federal officials, as well, appear to be taking the lead in

response. The U.S. Marshals Service as well as other federal
agencies are proactively and strategically increasing their
education in counterterrorist training and surveillance detection,
with related espionage style of tradecraft recognition on
interdicting the sophistication of these insurgents. Properly
trained task forces made up of elite federal and local specialists
of this nature are critical at this time to properly assess the
massive threat posed by these powerful narcoterrorists.

——————————
Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice International
Associates, a global risk mitigation firm headquartered in Miami,
Florida. His website is located at www.cjiausa.org.
jbrewer@cjiausa.org