BajaNomad - Baja cities' Tourist Police forces aim to revive tourism

Baja cities' Tourist Police forces aim to revive tourism

BajaNews - 12-18-2009 at 09:50 PM

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_14024593

By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press
12/18/2009

SAN DIEGO—Mexican cities south of the California border on Friday marked the launch of the new Metropolitan Tourist Police in an effort to regain the confidence of Americans looking for lobster dinners, cheap margaritas and pristine beaches.

Twenty-two police officers from Tijuana, Playas de Rosarito and Ensenada were recognized for completing a one-day course at the San Diego police academy to prepare for the April 1 launch of the new force, a joint effort of the cities to patrol a 70-mile stretch of Pacific coastline.

Mexican officials hope San Diego's involvement will provide a boost after three years of drug-fueled violence that has kept many Americans away.

The ceremony occurred amid a surge of killings in Tijuana—66 during the first half of December—that some experts say could spell the end of a truce between crime boss Fernando Sanchez Arellano and a former lieutenant, Teodoro Garcia Simental.

"It won't be magic, but at least we're trying," William Yu, Tijuana's liaison for binational affairs, told the officers Thursday as he prepared them for the ceremony.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said during Friday's event at the city's police headquarters that the new force should ease tourists' understandable concerns about safety.

The officers, who will have their own uniforms and cars, said they liked a visit during the class to a simulated shooting range in which they were asked to react to threatening scenarios played on a video screen.

San Diego police Sgt. David Landman also drew on training material that is widely used by California law enforcement agencies, including role-playing techniques with an emphasis on how to treat people respectfully.

Landman, who oversees training for veteran San Diego officers, quizzed the officers often.

"If a police officer runs a stop sign, it sends a very bad signal to the people," one said.

"You must practice what you preach, set an example for the people," another chimed in.

The officers will return to Mexico to train colleagues in each of the three cities for the special force, which is expected to eventually have 350 officers. Playas de Rosarito, widely known as Rosarito Beach, will begin with 30 officers. Tijuana expects to start with about 60.

Some Mexican officials and American expatriates said the region has been unfairly tarnished, partly by recycled media reports of violence against tourists more than two years ago. Officials said the vast majority of murder victims were small-time drug dealers caught in turf battles.

The battered tourism industry remains an economic pillar of Mexico's northern Baja California peninsula.

Yet in Rosarito Beach, authorities estimated the number of visitors during the high season of April to November slid 70 percent from 2005 to 2009. Tourism accounts for about 60 percent of the economy in the city of 130,000 people.

Traffic on a toll road popular with tourists fell 18 percent to 6.2 million vehicles from January through October compared to the same period last year, according to Tijuana's tourism board.

Woooosh - 12-18-2009 at 10:37 PM

nothing like a one day seminar to revive tourism to our pristine beaches. They taught them high-school driver's ed: "running a stop sign sets a very bad example"- yeah, that's why tourism is down. 66 dead so far this month is a better reason along with economic and border issues. People don't like their kids to see mangled bodies hanging from busy bridges- even if they are Mexican bodies.

Rosarito lost 70% of it's business slowly- over four years (2005-2009). It didn't happen overnight- it was a progression that was predictable.

Rosarito has a huge propaganda machine, but sticking their heads in the their far from pristine sand and blaming the media hasn't gotten them anywhere yet.

k-rico - 12-19-2009 at 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh
nothing like a one day seminar to revive tourism to our pristine beaches. They taught them high-school driver's ed: "running a stop sign sets a very bad example"- yeah, that's why tourism is down. 66 dead so far this month is a better reason along with economic and border issues. People don't like their kids to see mangled bodies hanging from busy bridges- even if they are Mexican bodies.

Rosarito lost 70% of it's business slowly- over four years (2005-2009). It didn't happen overnight- it was a progression that was predictable.

Rosarito has a huge propaganda machine, but sticking their heads in the their far from pristine sand and blaming the media hasn't gotten them anywhere yet.

Nattering naboob of negativism.

"People don't like their kids to see mangled bodies hanging from busy bridges"

Thanks for the newsflash.

"Even if they are Mexican bodies."

YIKES!!!!

I think this is a good move by the Mexican authorities! This kind of stuff is needed.

"The officers will return to Mexico to train colleagues in each of the three cities." Excellent!

[Edited on 12-19-2009 by k-rico]

Woooosh - 12-19-2009 at 08:34 AM

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Originally posted by k-rico

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Come on, get real. Get honest. Those three reasons are exactly the reason no one is coming to Rosarito (or buying real estate).

In Rosarito the Tourist Police don't speak English, they aren't "special police" at all- they simply get the "plum" assignment at the shift duty desk as a reward. If they are so focused on tourism- why is it they always have locals in the back they are shaking down- oh yeah, no tourists.

The Tourist Police in Rosarito are a joke and have been a joke for the year they have been in operation here. They are just part of the Rosarito propaganda machine. This isn't the start of a new program it's just the Rosarito spin so you think they are progressing. I can guarantee you I learned more in my "Laugh and Learn" CA DMV education class than those guys did. Stopping at stop signs- GMAFB!

Now they have moved up to the Three Monkey stage... hear, see and speak no evil. They should just shut up- or report what is really happening in town... The city is a ghost town and crime is rampant. All stores are suggested to close by 7pm due to the crime. And no one stateside has reported the bloodbath now taking place in Rosarito as they try to get TEO, who is hiding out here.

I don't know where you live- but I live in the middle of it- and I'm sticking with my viewpoint.

===

That same Rosarito spin machine was at work last summer with the lifeguard tower donations from IB... remember? After all the hubub and begging for donations- they removed graffiti and painted just one (for their promotion ad). They trained one guard for the six towers, never added stairs to the other five towers, never manned the towers and then never moved the towers back from the surf when the tides rose.

I had to contact IB myself through the UT to get them to pressure Rosarito into moving this tower back before it floated back. Of course it's the only one they moved- the others will be floating home soon...

The UT wanted run this op-ed letter I wrote- but I said no. I'm not anti-Rosarito, I'm just tired of there being no real progress, just spin for a media bump. Spin is easier to produce than change in the third world.

Hope you enjoy it Rosarito spin-worshippers. Go ahead and check the old thread from July on the Lifeguard Towers and see who was right. Me.

"Dear Imperial Beach,

Thank you so much for my summer in Rosarito Beach, but I am returning home. My floating time north should be about three days. As you can see I still have graffiti- I was never painted or even got stairs. I was just happy to get legs and that they opened me up for whole 4 days last summer so I could breathe. I was so lonely. Please look for me back home on my beach soon! I need the love and respect.

Sincerely yours,

Imperial Beach/Rosarito Beach Lifeguard Tower #8580"

[Edited on 12-19-2009 by Woooosh]

Imported Photos 002962.JPG - 42kB

wessongroup - 12-19-2009 at 08:41 AM

It will work if the folks up in the States have enough money to spend.. not sure after the loss of over "6 million jobs" in the past year alone will afford much recovery for the United States, let alone Baja.... just my two cents...

Add on, just what can one do in Tijuana/Rosarito for the day? Medical, Dental, bull whips, tattoo cafe's, internet cafe, brothels, strip clubs, fire crackers, eat..... or are they coming down to fish?

k-rico - 12-19-2009 at 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico

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I don't know where you live- but I live in the middle of it

Tijuana

Bitter old man who has painted himself into a corner

The Gull - 12-19-2009 at 10:35 AM

Now who does that best describe?

Woooosh - 12-19-2009 at 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico

Quote:

I don't know where you live- but I live in the middle of it

Tijuana

Shame on you then- you have eyes and ears. Open them and see the truth and reality. It's going to get much more violent between TEO and AFO. What's the body count in your neighborhood this week?

Woooosh - 12-19-2009 at 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Gull
Bitter old man who has painted himself into a corner
Now who does that best describe?

Not sure. I'm not that old and not at all bitter- so I'm hoping it's the other guy Gull. :saint:

[Edited on 12-19-2009 by Woooosh]

The Gull - 12-19-2009 at 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Originally posted by The Gull
Bitter old man who has painted himself into a corner
Now who does that best describe?

Not sure. I'm not that old and not at all bitter- so I'm hoping it's the other guy Gull. :saint:

[Edited on 12-19-2009 by Woooosh]

Still playing that "mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest..." game, are you?

Woooosh - 12-19-2009 at 11:06 AM

I guess your "high" mood is right-on then.

The Gull - 12-19-2009 at 11:08 AM

Better than being trapped in a self-proclaimed ghetto because of low income and family.

k-rico - 12-19-2009 at 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico

Quote:

I don't know where you live- but I live in the middle of it

Tijuana

Shame on you then- you have eyes and ears. Open them and see the truth and reality. It's going to get much more violent between TEO and AFO. What's the body count in your neighborhood this week?

hohoho - "shame on you"

"Open them and see the truth and reality."

Please, will you stop.

Now you got me angry

I know full well what's going on and of course I'm disappointed.

But I'm really disappointed with your "Even if they are Mexican bodies" comment.

The last thing I'm going to do is give the opinions of people who make such comments any consideration. Their thinking is clouded by hate.

You owe an apology to the Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and the compassionate Americans who read this message board.

Open your eyes.

Woooosh - 12-19-2009 at 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico

Quote:

I don't know where you live- but I live in the middle of it

Tijuana

Shame on you then- you have eyes and ears. Open them and see the truth and reality. It's going to get much more violent between TEO and AFO. What's the body count in your neighborhood this week?

Geesh that's a lot of quotes. I should have made myself more clear. The common spin is that Narco violence is just between gangs and American tourists aren't in danger and aren't being targeted. I don't agree with that, but that's another thread (already started after the American lady was killed in a TJ restaurant yesterday). What I said is having to look at a dead hanging body is bad enough. They don't have to be gringo or tourist bodies to be a tourism deterrent for sure:

From the Union Tribune...

"Dear Editor,

Your Saturday front page story "Mexican marines criticized for shootings" did little to explain how a heavily armed narco convoy of SUV's could disappear from the tourist-heavy toll road between Rosarito Beach and the Lobster Village (Puerto Nuevo) on a Sunday afternoon- let alone how the Mexican Marines could mistake a single Jeep off-roading for that convoy and open fire on the youths inside. That same day both free roads to Rosarito Beach from Tijuana and Otay Mesa had mutilated bodies hanging from the bridges. It may be statistically safe for tourists to visit Rosarito Beach- but the memories and visuals of a trip to Rosarito Beach could take a family a lifetime of therapy to overcome and is hardly worth the deep fried lobster at the other end. "

I agree 1000 percent. Chuck your meds if you don't Gull.

[Edited on 12-19-2009 by Woooosh]

[Edited on 12-19-2009 by Woooosh]

arrowhead - 12-19-2009 at 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Gull
Still playing that "mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest..." game, are you?

Geeze Gull. You and k-rico and a few other sycophants are slipping. It usually only takes you guys a few minutes to discover -- totally after the fact -- some connection to drugs for every American killed or injured in Baja. That way you can keep your mantra "it's only those connected with the drug trade".

It's really pathetic that not only are these innocent people being killed, but they are lulled into a false sense of security by "experts" like you guys. Then when they die, you mock their deaths by connecting them to the drug trade.

Woooosh - 12-19-2009 at 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by arrowhead

Quote:

Originally posted by The Gull
Still playing that "mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest..." game, are you?

Thanks pointy head. I thought it was only me who thought those two were going over the edge. It did distract from my great lifeguard tower photo and emphasis on the misdirected Rosarito Spin Machine.

A lot of lonely people get cranky this week as Christmas arrives. I have the MIL in the house- so that's my excuse. :saint:

The Gull - 12-19-2009 at 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by arrowhead

Quote:

Originally posted by The Gull
Still playing that "mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest..." game, are you?

What drug are you on?

Please provide me the posts where I linked American tourist deaths to the drug trade.

Where have I published this "mantra" you write about?

Where have I mocked their deaths by connecting them to the drug trade?

How did I lull that American woman into that restaurant for tacos?

Please keep your reputation intact and fail to respond to my exact request for you to supply proof of your claim. Be specific, as you are a well established blowhard on this board.

An American woman married to a Mexican National living in TJ should not have had her life ended in violence in a Otay Mesa restaurant. Neither should over a dozen teenagers and younger people be caught in gang and domestic dispute crossfires all over Southern California in the last two months. Does geography mean that much when innocent people die because of crimes being conducted?

It is uncontrolled emotional outbursts from unstable people like you, that adds nothing to the world. Been screaming fire in any theaters, lately? Most of the sky in your area has fallen?

If you can't back-up your vitriolic comments toward me and others, maybe you need to take a "timeout" in your room and come back out when you can play nice with others.

arrowhead - 12-19-2009 at 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Gull
Where have I mocked their deaths by connecting them to the drug trade?

First of all Gull, I said it was you and your sychophants who mock the dead Americans. Your particular style is sarcasm. Whenever something bad happens to an American, you come in with some asinine comment to try to minimalize or mock it. For instance, when that 19-year old kid that drove the meat truck turned up dead on the beach in TJ, what was your brilliant comment? Do you remember? You asked if his hair was red. The poor kid's mother is flying in from the East Coast to collect his body, and that was your contribution to the dialogue?

And as for your sychophants, here is what they said about the poor dead kid, to defile his death:

Quote:

k-rico posted on 4-2-2009 at 10:07 PM

I've been doing google news searches about this story because I'm interested in what happened and nothing new has shown up. The Orange County Register ran a news story, no new information, but you should read the reader's comments. 99% believe this is some poor innocent kid who fell prey to murderous Mexicans. Like he was killed just for being in Mexico. Most posters are condemning the whole country of Mexico because of this.

I think there's a good chance this kid was up to no good and mixed it up with the wrong folks in the drug/prostitute zone. But maybe not. Perhaps he drove the meat wagon into TJ and was killed when someone tried to steal it while he was in it. Also, he was found on the dead on the beach. Of all the murders in TJ in the past few years, he's the first one found on the beach.

http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=37955&pag...

Quote:

bajabound2005 posted on 4-1-2009 at 02:11 AM

I have a problem with this thread's Subject...how do we know he was a "Tourist"? Nothing in any of the news articles describes him as a "toursit". There is a lot missing from this story.

...and as for you, you have already explained where your alleigences lie...with the guy that brings you your Pacifico:

Quote:

The Gull posted on 5-1-2008 at 01:54 PM

Lera,

I was encouraging people to come to Baja to enjoy some of the places and things that whizz by the window too often when they come down. If they cannot open their minds to the possibilities, it is their loss. The extreme lack of Gringo visitor while a blessing in many ways, is still hurting the average local in what was already a marginal quality of life.

Extra bonus points to you for reading my posts and concluding that there are bad boys who must act like children on this section of the board. The board monitoring normally gets them wiped off before long. But the attacks continue under the thin veils of some self justified "convictions".

For many months there was the incessant rehashing of US newspaper tripe over sporatic Baja major crime incidents over more than a year of locals on locals. Worse occur daily in the US. When I raised the spectrum of the involvement of the US in the drug demand and the world's leader in violent crime, I got the label of anti-American and cowardly piling on became the norm on the board.

"Worse occurs daily in the US?" Worse than a few heads found every day? Worse than people hanging naked from bridges over the autopistas? Worse than guys walking into restaurants with automatic weapons and straffing everybody. Daily? In the US?

Do you happen to have any links to prove that up? Please keep your reputation intact and fail to respond to my exact request for you to supply proof of your claim.

Bajahowodd - 12-19-2009 at 04:44 PM

Gull has sycophants????

fishbuck - 12-19-2009 at 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Gull has sycophants????

I doubt if Gull even wears phants. :cool:

The Gull - 12-19-2009 at 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by arrowhead
"Worse occurs daily in the US?" Worse than guys walking into restaurants with automatic weapons and straffing everybody. Daily? In the US?

Do you happen to have any links to prove that up? Please keep your reputation intact and fail to respond to my exact request for you to supply proof of your claim.

Just as I suspected, you failed to support your rants regarding my posts. You are what you are - a blowhard with nothing to back what you write.

Perhaps that arrow in your head has kept you from hearing about three generations of a family being shot to death in Orange County. Perhaps that arrow in your head has kept you from hearing about children in Long Beach, San Fernando valley and Los Angeles being shot and killed in the cross fire in the last two weeks. Perhaps that arrow in your head has kept you from hearing about a recent mass killing at a Texas Army base, last month.

I leave you to dig through the world wide web for these events. I don't have the time to provide you extra reading material. You appear to have lots of time, since you rummaged through hundreds of my posts over the last few years and did not come up with any support for your "claims" regarding me.

Perhaps that arrow in your head has finally moved to a spot where you have lost all persepective about human life.

Perhaps that arrow in your head has created this seething degradation in regards to Baja that you and Whiish need to display on a regular basis. You are pathetic and you two belong together - regular bookends of spite.

Does it make you feel more like a big man when you perform your juvenile "piling on" atop the misfortune of the poor and getting poorer in Baja? Does it give you what you can't get from normal adult interface?

arrowhead - 12-19-2009 at 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Gull
yada, yadad, yada...

OK Gull. You couldn't find anything in the US about heads lined up alongside the highway, or nude bodies hanging from bridges, organized crime gangs that control large swaths of territory and a lack of sovereignty, so you bring up a few examples of the typical love triangle fights, broken marriages gone bad and lunatic jihadist and try to tell us the US is worse than Mexico. The you went on for a few paragraphs of ad hominem attacks on me because you could not produce a cogent argument. I don't know, maybe that style always worked for you at Rene's Sports Bar after a few Pacifico's, and you are just frustrated when you can't get your vacuous debating style to work out in the real world.

Dropping down to name-calling in lieu of an intelligent debate is just a surrender to the superior forces.

Mexican cops train for tourist police force

BajaNews - 12-20-2009 at 03:23 PM

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/dec/19/mexican-cops-...

Three cities plan to launch effort in the spring

By Sandra Dibble
December 19, 2009

TIJUANA — The creation of a Metropolitan Tourist Police spanning the cities of Tijuana, Rosarito Beach and Ensenada is being launched in April with the aim of winning back the confidence of foreign vacationers to Baja California.

With the kickoff still months away, a group of 22 municipal police officers from the three cities was honored in San Diego yesterday for completing a daylong course offered by the San Diego Police Department.

The officers say they benefited from instruction in a range of topics, including patrol tactics, gangs, ethics and how to interact with U.S. tourists.

“Visitors need to know that there is someone who is there for them on the other side of the border,” said Giovanni Malinchrynni, one of 24 members of the existing Rosarito Beach tourism police. “We want to take away the bad image that people have about crossing the border.”

The plan is to create a single force that will grow to as many as 350 officers. They will specialize in assisting tourists who come to visit beaches, restaurants and shops on the corridor that runs from Tijuana to Ensenada. Although drawn from the different police forces, the officers will share a common uniform and coordinate enforcement strategies, including issuing a bilingual traffic ticket.

The metropolitan force will be launched at the traditional opening of the Baja California tourist season, when U.S. spring break visitors mingle with Mexican semana santa travelers.

Julian Dominguez, an assistant chief in Tijuana who took the course, said the initial area of focus for the police will be major roads where tourists travel, including Tijuana’s Avenida Internacional Bulevar 2000, and the toll road from Tijuana to Ensenada. Eventually, he said, the force will span all the tourist areas, such as Avenida Revolucion in Tijuana and Rosarito Beach’s Benito Juarez Boulevard.

The region’s tourism industry has been hit hard in recent years by factors that include violence and police corruption. Local promoters say that tourists have not been targeted by the violence, much of which is drug-related, and say municipal forces have made efforts to root out corruption.

Dominguez said the course was useful in reinforcing previous knowledge, but also allowing the agencies to work together more closely. The idea is that the graduates will return to their own departments and instruct other officers.

“In eight to 10 hours, you don’t learn everything,” Dominguez said. “We came to coordinate among ourselves, and learn about certain things that the U.S. visitors want.”

Photo: Earnie Grafton

police2.jpg - 50kB

Woooosh - 12-20-2009 at 05:35 PM

I still haven't been able to determine if the class was given in English or Spanish.

The Gull - 12-20-2009 at 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh
I still haven't been able to determine if the class was given in English or Spanish.

Who cares what you determine?

At least they are doing something in the community - whether it is working to your satisfaction - matters not.