BajaNomad - Salary of Mexican cops

Salary of Mexican cops

BajaBruno - 9-27-2011 at 11:23 PM

The link is here: http://www.animalpolitico.com/2011/09/%C2%BFdonde-estan-los-...

It is in Spanish and it certainly explains much of the temptation Mexican cops feel to "enhance" their wages.

Baja California has some of the highest paid state police, at about $1,350 a month, while Tijuana police are paid about $1,000 per month.

The lowest paid state police listed are in Tamaulipas, at about $280 per month, and the median of those state police listed is about $770 p/mo.

A first commander (I'm not sure what rank that is, but I would guess maybe a captain or deputy chief?) in the state of Guanajuato or Coahuila earns about $2,900 p/mo, while an investigator makes less than $550 p/mo.

Russ - 9-28-2011 at 07:36 AM

ridiculous !

bacquito - 9-28-2011 at 08:01 AM

What about Federal Police? I have heard they make $50,000 dollars/year.

Woooosh - 9-28-2011 at 09:49 AM

You can rent a nice house in TJ for less than $300 a month, less than 25% of the $1350 monthly income you quote (if correct). If you paid them more, they would just move to Chula Vista and commute.

Dave - 9-28-2011 at 02:48 PM

Considering the qualifications or lack thereof at $1000 per month they are probably overpaid. :rolleyes:

If the suggestion is that they are more susceptible to bribes then how much would be enough? After all, the cartels have unlimited funds and could conceivably pay $1000 per day.

Money doesn't buy morality.

Woooosh - 9-28-2011 at 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dave
Considering the qualifications or lack thereof at $1000 per month they are probably overpaid. :rolleyes:

I believe the highest court judges in Mexico are paid $500K a year for just that reason.

Rosarito has the lowest paid cops in the area and they are considering offering them housing as an incentive. But how much do you have to people that are getting fired anyways? Why waste the money? They all know their jobs are being deleted and none of them have gotten invitations to apply for the new police force they showed of this week. Why throw more bad money after bad?

J.P. - 9-28-2011 at 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Russ
ridiculous !

You canot compare the wage scale of Mexico to the scale in the U.S. But then agin you may if the Tea Party has their way.I know a Federal Highway Patrolman and he makes about 1,500 per mo. salry But the stealing privliges are unlimited.

A big difference

bajaguy - 9-28-2011 at 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bacquito
What about Federal Police? I have heard they make $50,000 dollars/year.

Between their "official" salary.....and what they "make" :lol:

Woooosh - 9-28-2011 at 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by J.P.

Quote:

Originally posted by Russ
ridiculous !

Same goes for any political position, even at the basic local level. I've had people in the current Rosarito Palacio tell me I should give money (bribe) to the Ministerial Police to move things along faster. They don't even see this is wrong, let along understand a reason to change it. It's income and it's the way things have worked in their lifetime. You can't get someone to fix a problem they don't have. This a cultural, institutionalized practice that can't be legislated away. They own if for life and it has grown too big to control. It even got ahead of the legal reforms to the point of rendering prosecutors impotent.

[Edited on 9-28-2011 by Woooosh]

mtgoat666 - 9-28-2011 at 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Originally posted by J.P.

Quote:

Originally posted by Russ
ridiculous !

Same goes for any political position even at the basic local level. I've had people in the current Rosarito Palacio tell me I should give money (bribe) to the Ministerial Police to move things along faster. They don't even see this is wrong, let along change it. It's income and the way things have worked in their lifetimes. You can't get someone to fix a problem they don't have. This a cultural, institutionalized practice that can't be legislated away. They own if for life and it has grown to big to control.

[Edited on 9-28-2011 by Woooosh]

What is wrong with paying your local mexican govt official a service fee to get the service you need? Gringos do it all the time in US - might as well do it in Mexico too!

Most all government services are fee-based in the USA. For example, if you want a building permit, you pay for permit, project review labor, project inspection labor, etc. If you want a tax credit for your company, you pay money to various politicians. Even the current Gov of Texas and his former staff took explicit bribes from Merck to awared contract to Merck for vaccinating Texas school girls with the sex vaccine, and that Gov is still darling angel of the teabag faithful (and that Gov publically announced he could only be bought for amounts over $5K).

Woooosh - 9-28-2011 at 03:50 PM

A fee is not a bribe and Narcos are not Merck.

bacquito - 9-28-2011 at 05:47 PM

I have been traveling most all areas of Mexico since about 1970. The last 20 years most of my time has been spent in Baja Norte. I can only think of a couple of times when I was stopped by local police and one time I did pay a "mordida"
I hope my luck continues!

CaboRon - 9-29-2011 at 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh
You can rent a nice house in TJ for less than $300 a month, less than 25% of the $1350 monthly income you quote (if correct). If you paid them more, they would just move to Chula Vista and commute.

El Norte - 9-30-2011 at 07:43 AM

about 15 months ago I talked to 2 La Paz policia preventiva members on a beat up Quad, on their way to spend 24 hours in el Cardonal. When asked, they said that they were paid the equivalent of US540. per month. Their assignment had them occupying a disused delapitated trailer at night. They did not receive any allowances for the meals they had to buy. There had been several serious and violent criminal incidents in el Cardonal. Would any of us carry a pistol and and look for criminals for $540? Not me!

DENNIS - 9-30-2011 at 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by El Norte
Would any of us carry a pistol and and look for criminals for $540? Not me!

Ohhh, I dunno....When I joined the Army, I was getting paid 78 bucks per month.

I know....it's not the same , but it's not completely different either.
The operative word here for both, the police and me, is "joined." Both of us participated voluntarily knowing full well the pay scale.
What sets us apart is the police are also full aware of the subsidies to their income. It's a part and parcel of the job.....for all of them. Anyone who believes otherwise is trying his best to be naive.

BajaBruno - 9-30-2011 at 11:52 AM

Perhaps one of the problems is that the Mexican people have no respect for the police. By that, I mean that Mexican children do not grow up wishing to be police officers or fire fighters--it is a fate thrust upon them by need, rather than a choice they worked toward.

The recent battles with the cartels have elevated the social status of the Mexican military (which had an even lower image than the police), and Mexican television is now trying out novella-type shows to do the same for the police.

Keep in mind that U.S. policing was highly corrupt not long ago and it was only with higher salaries that higher quality candidates would apply for the jobs. Better candidates were more trainable and less corruptible. The U.S. did not get its current professionalized police force overnight--it took decades of selection and training and some areas are still struggling with sub-par performance, e.g. New Orleans and Washington D.C.

The reform starts with raising salaries to both attract better people and make the job one you don't want to lose.

J.P. - 9-30-2011 at 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBruno
Perhaps one of the problems is that the Mexican people have no respect for the police. By that, I mean that Mexican children do not grow up wishing to be police officers or fire fighters--it is a fate thrust upon them by need, rather than a choice they worked toward.

The recent battles with the cartels have elevated the social status of the Mexican military (which had an even lower image than the police), and Mexican television is now trying out novella-type shows to do the same for the police.

Keep in mind that U.S. policing was highly corrupt not long ago and it was only with higher salaries that higher quality candidates would apply for the jobs. Better candidates were more trainable and less corruptible. The U.S. did not get its current professionalized police force overnight--it took decades of selection and training and some areas are still struggling with sub-par performance, e.g. New Orleans and Washington D.C.

The reform starts with raising salaries to both attract better people and make the job one you don't want to lose.

Dont look as though your theroy is holding up all that well in the greater San Diego metropolitan area. What a bunch of SCUMBAGS,

DENNIS - 9-30-2011 at 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBruno
The reform starts with raising salaries to both attract better people and make the job one you don't want to lose.

No way, Bruno. You can buy a better toothpaste, but it won't get rid of a cavity.
The problem with the police forces in Mexico isn't the quality of the men and women.....it's the system. That won't change with money unless you bury them in the stuff.

BajaBruno - 9-30-2011 at 09:42 PM

J.P., a bit off topic, but you may be interested to know that San Diego PD has about 2,000 officers and their Citizen's [complaint] Review Board received a total of (only) 32 separate citizen's complaint cases for 2009. Only one of those complaints was sustained. Even with the low crime rate of San Diego, that is an enviable record.

Dennis, I understand your pessimism, but I think that if you look at the history of U.S. police corruption, you would see some parallels to the current situation in Mexico. We got better, though not perfect, and Mexico can do the same.

Woooosh - 9-30-2011 at 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBrunoif you look at the history of U.S. police corruption, you would see some parallels to the current situation in Mexico. We got better, though not perfect, and Mexico can do the same.

True, if you look at the police in the USA in the early 1930's when prohibition and the mob ran everything. But you aren't really saying Mexico has that far to go, are you?

[Edited on 10-1-2011 by Woooosh]

BajaBruno - 10-1-2011 at 10:35 AM

Woooosh, certainly some jurisdictions in Mexico do have that far to go, but not the majority. We don't have to look as far back as the 1930's to see corruption in the U.S. The 1994 Mollen report on corruption in the N.Y. Police Dept. (it should be available online) describes police thefts from street drug dealers, thefts from illegal searches, off-duty robberies, cops protecting drug couriers, perjury, and falsification of documents.

The New Orleans PD is currently under federal supervision (at the request of the mayor) because of wide-spread corruption in that force.

The late 1990's LAPD Rampart Division scandal had cops shooting unarmed suspects, planting guns, stealing and then reselling drugs, one bank robbery, at least one murder for hire, and the protection of drug dealers. This sort of misconduct makes traffic stop shakedowns seem pretty tame.

These examples would seem to counter my theory that increasing salaries and training will work to prevent abuses, but it all takes time and vigorous supervision to minimize corruption, just as it did in the U.S.

Dennis makes the excellent point that we Vietnam era veterans were paid very poorly, but he leaves out that there was corruption in the military as well. Petty, and sometimes grand theft were rampant in the military I knew, and alcoholism, drug use and abuse of authority in war zones were common. Military pay is much better now, but I have no idea whether these traits are more or less frequent.

I think there is hope for Mexico and the last two presidents have made great strides in the right direction. Only time will tell if those efforts bear fruit.

J.P. - 10-1-2011 at 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBruno
J.P., a bit off topic, but you may be interested to know that San Diego PD has about 2,000 officers and their Citizen's [complaint] Review Board received a total of (only) 32 separate citizen's complaint cases for 2009. Only one of those complaints was sustained. Even with the low crime rate of San Diego, that is an enviable record.

They seem to blown those stats. out of the tub this year. :lol:

J.P. - 10-1-2011 at 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBruno
J.P., a bit off topic, but you may be interested to know that San Diego PD has about 2,000 officers and their Citizen's [complaint] Review Board received a total of (only) 32 separate citizen's complaint cases for 2009. Only one of those complaints was sustained. Even with the low crime rate of San Diego, that is an enviable record.

Dennis, I understand your pessimism, but I think that if you look at the history of U.S. police corruption, you would see some parallels to the current situation in Mexico. We got better, though not perfect, and Mexico can do the same.