TIJUANA The citys new Secretary of Public Safety addressed his officers on Thursday, a day after the City Council ratified his appointment to the post.
Alberto Capella visited the police substation in the Otay district, where he addressed the rank and file. He named the man who will be his second-in command, retired army Capt. Ricardo Hernández Garduño, who will direct the departments day-to-day operations, as well as the transit police.
According to the résumé provided to the news media, Hernández, 39, had previously served as a Tijuana police officer and later as a commander of two substations, Sánchez Taboada and Cerro Colorado, both in the citys troubled east side.
Capella, an attorney and social activist, had served as the Secretary of Public Safety under the previous city administration. He was fired after deadly violence surged in the fall of 2008, violence he failed to reduce.
In announcing his appointment on Tuesday, Mayor Carlos Bustamante said he wanted to return the department to civilian hands. A day later, the City Council ratified that decision, 13 to 2.
Retired military officers had been in charge of the citys security since 2008, after organized crime had infiltrated police ranks and drug cartels waged a bloody war against each other to control the border region.
That year, an army lieutenant coronel took over the department, Julián Leyzaola. Upon his departure, he was followed by Capt. Gustavo Huerta, who led the department from November of 2010 to Tuesday.
Together, they carried out a program to weed out corruption, firing a little more than 600 agents from the force and appointing military officers as the commanders of the substations.
On Tuesday, the director of the department of business administration in the College of the Northern Border, said Capella would have a tough time earning the confidence of military authorities.
However, the commander of the Second Military Zone, Gilberto Landeros, said on Wednesday that the military will continue to coordinate with the
police department because the agreement the two agencies have is between institutions not individuals.
Landeros added that the relationship between city and the Mexican army will be based on the results they obtain working together.
He said that the military would soon begin a fourth training phase of municipal and state law enforcement agencies to help them evaluate their officers and respond adequately to the problems that are detected.
Omar.millan@sandiegored.com
