Police Tactics

San Miguel de Allende elected a new "Mayor" last Fall and he appointed a new Police Chief. As you would expect the new Chief has made some changes.

During the previous Chief's reign, he agreed to supply policemen to man police casetas or sub-stations in neighborhoods where the neighbors got together and provided a suitable building. Our neighborhood, Colonia San Antonio was one of the 'hoods that did just that.

But over time, Ned and I started feeling like the substation wasn't much help in preventing crime. Yes, there was a policeman or two in the station but they didn't leave the station to patrol and they didn't have a phone so you still called 066, the 911 emergency number in San Miguel, to report a crime or ask for help. They then would send police because the one man in the station couldn't leave it. Prior to the substation we saw more patrols through the neighborhood and we would hear the police on horseback clip-clopping down the street during the night. Somehow we felt safer before the sub-station.

The new Chief eliminated the substations and now has several movable trailers that are equipped for a substation with a bit more communication gear. Now he can move them to "hot spots" or into place during festivals. I think this is a good idea and I'm hoping it is going to work better.

The Chief said he was going to put more patrols in neighborhoods and we saw something Saturday night that we think is another new police tactic.....which probably wouldn't fly in the USA but we thought it was pretty interesting to watch from our second story window on the street.

The young men gather on the street at night, drink beer and talk. If you are thinking, "Oh, dear, that is terrible," just remember that these are tiny Mexican houses....they can't gather inside one of them. They can't go to bars because they can't afford that. They are young people...they just want to hang out and talk. Most of the time it is quiet although I'll admit that there have been a few times when someone would have too much and the talk would get loud or there would be a few punches thrown. It is that young testosterone, you know.

On Saturday night four or five guys were across from the Tienda quietly talking and drinking their beers. Suddenly a police pickup came roaring down the street, stopped beside them and about 10 booted-up, suited-up policemen piled out of the truck with their flashlights and billyclubs and had the young men against the wall and patted them down. Within minutes all the policemen were back in the truck and headed down the road and the young men were back to talking and drinking beer.

The policemen were obviously ready and organized to do this maneuver so we are scratching our heads as to what it was all about. Is this a new tactic in gang abatement, in looking for drugs, in letting the neighborhood know they are in charge? Or were they looking for a particular man? I don't know for sure but I don't think the term "probable cause" is a legal concept in San Miguel de Allende.