Chapala Mayor Javier Degollado took a big step forward in creating a municipal traffic department with the October 16 swearing in of Reinaldo Martínez Villanueva as commanding officer.
The agency is being set up to operate independently of Jalisco’s Secretaria de Movilidad (SeMov) and the municipal police force.
The complex process of getting Chapala’s Dirección de Transito up and running will likely continue at least until January of next year. In the meantime, ten prospective officers are already on the ground practicing traffic direction procedures at different points in the community. After the transition, SeMov agents will maintain their mandate for control of state highway systems in the area.
Martínez comes with past experience in the lakeside area with local tours of duty as a state traffic officer.