A new police force incorporating officers from all nine municipalities that comprise the metropolitan area of Guadalajara will be officially launched on August 1, Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro has announced.
The force will see the nine forces unite under one central command. No longer will officers be confined to the borders of their respective municipalities, Alfaro said. “The police will operate in a single city, not a city of nine parts.”
Salaries of the officers will be “homogenized” to the highest maximum level, Alfaro promised. Currently, Zapopan pays its officers the most – around 18,000 pesos a month.
While funding for the new force will primarily come out of municipal coffers, the Jalisco state government has promised to contribute a significant share, mainly to ensure that the salaries of the police officers are covered.
The Guadalajara metropolitan area is comprised of Guadalajara, Zapopan, San Pedro Tlaquepaque, Tonalá, El Salto, Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Juanacatlán, Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos and Zapotlanejo.
The Policia Metropolitana will work in close coordination with the new federal police force, the Guardia Nacional (GN), Alfaro said. Under the new system, officers from the state police agency (Fiscalía de Jalisco) will be assigned the bulk of their duties outside the Guadalajara metropolitan area, he added.