Anonymous - 5-17-2005 at 06:44 AM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20050517-9...
By Sandra Dibble
May 17, 2005
A dozen Tijuana police officers accused of extorting tourists have been removed from their force's tourism division, the city's secretary of public
safety said yesterday during a visit to San Diego.
"They have been isolated in a certain location so that they can't harass people," Ernesto Santillana said at an event promoting a tourism trade show
set for Saturday in Tijuana.
The police force is striving to make visitors to the city feel safe and welcome, Santillana said. The steps include assigning more bilingual officers,
the addition of video security cameras, and the removal of dishonest police, he said.
Santillana and Alfonso Bustamante, the city's director of international relations, were at a restaurant in Old Town to promote Saturday's Tianguis
Turistico Tijuana 2005. The event is to promote the state of Baja California to the Southern California travel industry.
City officials expect that nearly 300 will attend the events at the Grand Hotel, a local brewery and the Cultural Center.
"The purpose is to let everybody know the good things that Tijuana and the rest of the state have to offer," Bustamante said. "We have had some bad
occurrences happening here, and we'd like to show the other face that we have."
A cornerstone of Mayor Jorge Hank Rhon's crime-fighting has been the installation of 300 high-definition video security cameras. So far, 15 are in the
Avenida Revoluci?n area, Santillana said, and the city expects to install 35 more this month. In two months, Tijuana plans to open a monitoring center
for the videos.
Santillana invited tourists with complaints about Tijuana police to call the following numbers: From Mexico, 01-800-TIJUANA; from the United States:
1-800-TIJUANA. Bilingual staffers at the City Attorney's Office are available weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.