BAJA CALIFORNIA.- Yesterday, local news outlets Frontera and La Crónica published various articles discussing the supposed lack of a security plan of state government, and disguising data in order to hurt the image of the governor.
The articles are, in effect, a blatant attack against Governor Francisco "Kiko" Vega de la Madrid for not having a security agenda, or for not coordinating with Congress. The reports cite that crime rates in this jurisdiction, but completely failed to publish any sources.
The report mainly consists of an interview with local congressman Rene Mendevil of the PRI party (the opposition of the governorship), who accuses Vega and his administration of not coordinating with local congress in matters of security. Primarily, the accusation is that a Public Security Program has not been drafted for the state.
But no sources are cited, nor are any comparisons with prior years shown, and in that same report they admit that the municipalities have a great responsibility in terms of security. So, apart from giving congressman Mendivil a forum to rant against the government, what is it that these articles reporting?
Normally, we don't question the motives of local media outlets. They may have their reasons to occasionally publish articles on insecurity. But, with only one or two figures cited it is hard to take them seriously (especially as some sources tell us that the reason is actually dozens of millions of pesos worth of publicity as a driving force).
But, it is news when the Tijuana Business Coordination Committee, led by Juan Manuel Hernandez Niebla (a man that is not shy when it comes to criticizing politicians that he sees fit) comes out and defends the State Government in a strong-worded bulletin, as it has.
"The Governor is the security chief of the state, which means that it is his responsibility to coordinate these efforts. But the execution is the responsibility of each municipality. We need their will, talent and public resources to rise to the task", reads the bulletin.
The bulletin also states that the State has, without a doubt, improved in terms of security, "becoming one of the leaders nation wide. Although there is room to improve, Baja Californians live today in a situation very different in terms of security than a decade ago."
"We have accepted tough facts and worked to fix them. Our critics have been constructive, with proposals and the will to work together."
And as if there was any doubt about what they think of Mendivil's comments reported by Frontera, they finalize by stating that "we recognize the State Governor as the leader of Baja California not only in terms of security but in terms of topics related to economic development and the well being of our community as well, and we welcome the opportunity to work with him and his entire team."
Now that we see that this type of criticism against the Governor does not come without its descentors, what of the figures cited in the report?
Without a doubt, Baja Calfornia is not where we would like to be in terms of security in the state and in homicide rates, but we must not forget that we have witnessed much improvement when compared to the worst years experienced by the five municipalities in the state during the crime wave.
Diego Ovalle, a Mexican American statistician with an excellent blog on insecurity in Mexico has compiled the statistics about crime in the country from different sources and demonstrates very clearly that there has been overall progress, despite fluctuations year to year.
In terms of homicides in 2013, Baja California ranked well below that of other states like Michoacan, Chihuahua, and Tamaulipas.
In terms of premeditated murder, it is worth noting that Baja California ranks in second place with 714 incidents, second to Chihuahua with 1087 and followed by Coahuila with 673. Frontera and La Cronica merged the premeditated and non-pre-meditated murder rates in order to increase the number of murders in their report of violent crimes in Baja California.
Additionally, there is more up to date information for 2014 provided by the state government in 2014.
[img srcThumb="http://edgecast.sdr-files.buscafs.com/uploads/news/photos/news_photo_61038_1423772060_630.jpg" srcLink="http://edgecast.sdr-files.buscafs.com/uploads/news/photos/news_photo_61038_1423772060.png" size="medium"]Car Theft Image Courtesy Public Security Secretariat
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These graphs show that during the first year of Kiko Vega's governorship, there was a considerable improvement in terms of crimes committed in the state, such as home invasion and vehicle theft, with a reduction of 7% and 12% respectively. While these rates are higher than Chihuahua (although in fairness Baja California has higher rates of car ownership than Chihuahua) this is still less than 2013. There is nothing much to criticize Kiko Vega for in this regard, especially given that, ultimately, car theft fall under the municipalities' responsibility.
Statistics from the governor's office do show a 3% increase in general in all categories, from 104,029 crimes in 2013 to 107,284 in 2014. Forty-four percent of these were committed in Tijuana, 35% in Mexicali, and the rest in the three other municipalities.
The state governor also indicates that in terms of security, from 2013 to 2014, there has been an increased expenditure in security of 20,532 million pesos.
All of the recent data is available on the Baja California Secretariat of Public Security website and theState Data System, with interactive graphs that can be categorized per each type of crime.
[p]Security in the country is the responsibility of all levels of government, starting with the municipal police force, all the way up to the federal police brigade.
With information from the Baja California Government.
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