TIJUANA – Nearly 200 municipal police officers have been suspended since the current city administration began last November, 18 of them suspected of working for organized crime.

All of the officers were taken off their jobs as part of a program to weed out corruption, said Julián Domínguez, the spokesman for the municipal police department.

He spoke Tuesday at a seminar on crime held at the research center College of the Northern Border, after the secretary of public safety, Alberto Capella, cancelled at the last minute.

When the topic came up about the department's anti-corruption initiative, he said 195 municipal agents are under investigation, of which 37 had already been fired.

A total of 106 officers were suspended for having unjustified absences, 38 are suspected of abuse of authority, 18 of having links to organized crime, 11 of extortion, 11 for failing drug tests, two for sex abuse, and the rest for other unlawful functions, he said.

In the previous administration of Mayor Jorge Ramos (2007-2010), nearly 600 municipal officers were dismissed during the first years of the unprecedented municipal program to "cleanse" the department of corruption.

The role of the municipal officer -- traditionally focused on preventing crime -- evolved during this time to participating more in law enforcement raids.

This period of 2008 to 2010 was a deadly one as drug cartels battled each other and clashed with police and military authorities. There were 2,327 killings in the city in that time, 48 of them officers who were assassinated.

Currently, the city's police department has 2,237 officers on active duty. Authorities say that a city like Tijuana, with 1.6 million residents, should have at least double the number of officers.

The spokesman said that the anti-corruption campaign has been completed at 60 per cent of the substations in the department.

The spokesman outlined the same program to improve the department and reduce crime that was being implemented by the previous secretary of public safety, army Capt. Gustavo Huerta, who was fired on Oct. 4 and replaced with Capella.

The program included providing better training, equipment and facilities to the officers, reducing the most frequently committed crimes, and continuing the coordination with state and federal governments.

Another researcher at the College of the Northern Border, Luis Cervera, said the coordination between the military and city's police department has improved security in Tijuana and residents generally feel more secure despite the fact that kidnappings are still being reported, which does generate some fear, but it's not widely felt.

However, he said, there are signs that some officers' old habits, such as extorting American tourists, have not stopped altogether.

"I don't know if it's not possible for that to stop or there is no interest in doing it. The anti-corruption campaign is targeting officers who have links to organized crime. But what about the other old habits? There is no comprehensive approach," Cervera said.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com