Waving symbolic flags, Governor Aristoteles Sandoval and other invited dignitaries on Monday initiated the regional operations of the state’s new crack law-enforcement squad, the Fuerza Unica Jalisco.
The ceremony was held in the presence of various mayors, whose municipalities will hope to benefit from response units that have received special training to react swiftly to any emergency situation.
The Fuerza Unica Regional will consist of 1,400 officers and 200 vehicles of various types.
According to Jalisco Attorney General Luis Carlos Najera, the units will be stationed in 19 regional headquarters, each with their sphere of influence. They will serve all the state’s municipalities, even the 20 that have so far failed to sign a collaboration agreement with the state government.
The bases have been selected to be no more than 20 minutes away from any of Jalisco’s 125 municipalities.
According to Chapala Police Chief Ramon del Arco, Chapala falls into a region with five other municipalities: Tuxcueca, Tizapan Jocotepec, Zapoltan el Rey and Poncitlan. Although this force is stationed in Guadalajara for the time being, Del Arcos said he believes Ajijic is well placed to become the regional base in the near future. The unused Army base on the western outskirts of town looks to be a prime location.
Talking to the Guadalajara Reporter in March, Najera explained that the Fuerza Unica’s fleets of five patrol cars carrying ten officers will be able “to deal with any kind of risky occurrence.”
He stressed the huge difference between this and the run-of-the-mill single municipal patrol that “usually carries two officers on board.”
Fuerzo Unica officers have been selected for their abilities from local police forces. Sixteen Chapala officers this week left the municipal force to join up with the regional unit, Del Arcos said.
Officers in the Fuerzo Unica Regional earn 15,000 pesos a month, a good salary compared with other police corporations but less than the 22,400 pesos their colleagues in the Fuerza Unica Metropolitana – deployed in the Guadalajara metropolitan area – take home.
Officers in the special response unit will mostly be deployed for high-impact crimes, having the correct skills to engage heavily armed criminals, work in hostage situations and make high-profile arrests.