BajaNomad - Thinking about bribing a police officer in Tijuana? Think again - 253 arrested so far in 2013

Thinking about bribing a police officer in Tijuana? Think again - 253 arrested so far in 2013

Gypsy Jan - 6-5-2013 at 12:37 PM

From San Diego Red

TIJUANA. - "The number of people (31) who were arrested and processed for offering bribes to police officers in Tijuana has decreased. And according to the municipal police, it is the lowest figure in a single month so far this year.

From January 1 to May 31, 2013, the total number of people who have been arrested for this crime has amounted to 253. 49 in January, 59 in February, 73 in March, 41 in April and 31 in May.

The Municipal Secretariat for Security and Public Safety (SSPM), said that this figure contains all of those people who offered different amounts of money to officers in order to prevent them from arresting their relatives, friends or even themselves and turning them over to the prosecutor or the Municipal Judge after committing any type of crime.

In the past 24 hours Jose Luis Martinez Gonzalez, 29, Sergio Ivan Lopez Castillo, 30, and Jose Alfredo Martinez, 43, were all arrested for trying to bribe officers.

Gonzalez tried to offer 300 pesos (about $25 USD) to officers who patrol neighborhoods near "La Presa", so that they would release an employee from the hardware store in "El Refugio" for selling several cans of spray paint to two minors.

Sergio Ivan Lopez Castillo tried to bribe officers with 200 pesos (about $15 USD) near the "El Centenario" neighborhood after officers had stopped him for driving a vehicle without the proper documentation.

Finally, with 200 pesos ($15 USD) Jose Alfredo Martinez tried to avoid a citation after being stopped for speeding.

Editorial@Sandiegored.com

Omar.Martinez@Sandiegored.com

Udo - 6-5-2013 at 12:44 PM

Great news for TJ residents and travelers.

Shure would be nice if the rest of the peninsula was the same way.

Great news

bajaguy - 6-5-2013 at 12:56 PM

.......selling several cans of spray paint to two minors.

.......... driving a vehicle without the proper documentation.

.................stopped for speeding.

And they are enforcing the law!!!!!!!

DENNIS - 6-5-2013 at 01:04 PM

They just didn't offer enough money. Inflation ya know. It's everywhere.

Bubba - 6-5-2013 at 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
They just didn't offer enough money. Inflation ya know. It's everywhere.

That's a perspective I hadn't looked at.

bent-rim - 6-5-2013 at 01:49 PM

My brother has a helmet cam video of him bribing a cop in Ensenada who pulled him over for doing wheelies. It lasts about 10 mins and ends with the cop telling him to throw the money in the car rather than handing it to the cop.

DENNIS - 6-5-2013 at 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bent-rim
My brother has a helmet cam video of him bribing a cop in Ensenada who pulled him over for doing wheelies. It lasts about 10 mins and ends with the cop telling him to throw the money in the car rather than handing it to the cop.

Another smart cop. He couldn't see a camera right in his face? You'd think they would be looking for that.
I guess they just don't care.

BajaBlanca - 6-9-2013 at 12:47 PM

When we were in Mexico City, the cop that stopped us about had a fit when I put the cash in my hand and held it out of the window! I can't remember how he had me hand it to him in the end.....but what a farce.

DavidE - 6-9-2013 at 01:01 PM

Try bribing a PFP (highway patrolman) and say hello to las esposas (handcuffs). A substantially wealthy Mexican living in Cuernavaca went to jail for offering 5,000 pesos to a PFP to forget about him driving drunk at double the posted speed limit. The cop arrested him. In jail he offered 10,000 pesos to el sargento. A second charge was added to the first. It (the 2nd bribe attempt) was captured on camera at la commandancia. This made for good headlines in México. The PRD leadership in the state used the incident to the max for PR. Later on I read the rico was a notorious PRIISTA figure.

Bob H - 6-9-2013 at 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
They just didn't offer enough money. Inflation ya know. It's everywhere.

Very good point Dennis... a $20 bribe 25 years ago meant something, but today, $100 MIGHT cut it.

sancho - 6-9-2013 at 01:34 PM

I'm glad the TJ Cops turning altruistic, the only thing
I take from the article is, as D mentions, the mordida
has to be more than lunch $. So if the Officer himself
mentions paying him directly, does that let one off the
hook for offering a bribe?

Lee - 6-9-2013 at 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob H

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
They just didn't offer enough money. Inflation ya know. It's everywhere.

Very good point Dennis... a $20 bribe 25 years ago meant something, but today, $100 MIGHT cut it.

Everything comes down to how good a negotiator you are. Some pay more some pay less.

SFandH - 6-9-2013 at 01:44 PM

Do TJ cops issue traffic tickets to foreign plated cars?

DENNIS - 6-9-2013 at 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SFandH
Do TJ cops issue traffic tickets to foreign plated cars?

I don't know about now, but they used to. I have a mail box at Postal Annex in San Ysidro, and so does/did the city of TJ. They would allow ticket payment to their address in SY.
Surprisingly, they got a lot of mail.

SFandH - 6-9-2013 at 02:43 PM

Thanks for the reply. I'm just wondering if they no longer take on the spot payments of the fine, then what happens? I've read smaller towns take you to a municipal office to pay, but TJ is a huge place. That could be a giant hassle for you and the cop. They must be issuing tickets.

DENNIS - 6-9-2013 at 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SFandH
I'm just wondering if they no longer take on the spot payments of the fine

Ohhh....don't worry about that. Mordida is anything but a thing of the past. It's alive and well, and going nowhere any time soon.
Jans article is tourism propaganda.

.

[Edited on 6-9-2013 by DENNIS]

WE won't pay no Stinking Bribes

MrBillM - 6-9-2013 at 07:15 PM

NEVER HAVE - NEVER WILL.

Many times however, at the suggestion of LE personnel, I Have paid for numerous infractions directly to the officer who said that he would be HAPPY to pay the court on my behalf.

Talk about GREAT customer service.

It's a far superior and more efficient system.

Although, that ONE occasion when I was stopped for 41 mph in a 60km (36 mph) zone did seem a bit picky.

Given that there was only one such over hundreds of trips in 49 years, No Complaints.

ANYBODY who suggests a bribe to a Mex Cop deserves whatever he gets.

Another example of Darwinism.

durrelllrobert - 6-10-2013 at 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SFandH
Do TJ cops issue traffic tickets to foreign plated cars?

Under a reciprocity agreement the US will not ticket Mexican plated cars unless Mexico tickets US plated cars :lol:

DaliDali - 6-10-2013 at 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by durrelllrobert

Quote:

Originally posted by SFandH
Do TJ cops issue traffic tickets to foreign plated cars?

Under a reciprocity agreement the US will not ticket Mexican plated cars unless Mexico tickets US plated cars :lol:

The "promise to appear" part, when you sign your name on the citation becomes a little dicey when that cited person lives in another country.

I wonder how many Mexicans driving MX plated cars would actually return to say, San Diego, and appear in traffic court.....and conversely, how many Americans would actually return to say, Tijuana, and appear in a court.
If that Mexican were driving on a valid California license, a failure to appear would result in a arrest warrant being issued and the next venture to San Diego or beyond, could result in his/her arrest on the spot, if stopped by law enforcement and the drivers license number fed into the system.

In this day and age of "instant" intelligence concerns, who really knows if the California Department of Justice actually "talks" to data entered in a MX court system or not.

Ask the NSA

MrBillM - 6-10-2013 at 02:20 PM

They KNOW who talks to WHO.

wessongroup - 6-10-2013 at 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MrBillM
They KNOW who talks to WHO.

Ken Cooke - 6-10-2013 at 10:18 PM

I always refused to 'compensate' the Police. This is good news.

It Ain't Broke

MrBillM - 6-11-2013 at 07:34 AM

Don't TRY to Fix it.

Pay to Play and Go on Your Way with no Delay should survive.

It's a shame to see a long-established tradition of Customer Service and Official
supplementary compensation falling into disrepute after so many years of effective
usage.

We can only hope that, as in so many previous assaults on the system, it will continue
(in a modified and more discrete form) so that those of us who have utilized its
convenience with good judgment will not be Inconvenienced.

SFandH - 6-11-2013 at 07:44 AM

Getting a ticket and then mailing in the fine isn't much of a hassle, and it could be cheaper. They might even have an online system that accepts paypal.

[Edited on 6-11-2013 by SFandH]

Check's in the Mail ?

MrBillM - 6-11-2013 at 08:26 AM

I wonder what percentage of Casual visitors would Mail it In ?

DaliDali - 6-11-2013 at 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MrBillM
Don't TRY to Fix it.

Pay to Play and Go on Your Way with no Delay should survive.

It's a shame to see a long-established tradition of Customer Service and Official
supplementary compensation falling into disrepute after so many years of effective
usage.

We can only hope that, as in so many previous assaults on the system, it will continue
(in a modified and more discrete form) so that those of us who have utilized its
convenience with good judgment will not be Inconvenienced.

Bingo.......yet some of the self righteous on here may be the very same people who transport more than $75 bucks in goods, per person, across the border in the NOTHING TO DECLARE LINE.
The horror of hypocrisy!!!

It's a capitol sin to pay a fine on the spot but not to run the border with over $75 clams worth of goods.

[Edited on 6-11-2013 by DaliDali]

[Edited on 6-11-2013 by DaliDali]

DENNIS - 6-11-2013 at 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DaliDali

Bingo.......yet some of the self righteous on here may be the very same people who transport more than $75 bucks in goods, per person, across the border in the NOTHING TO DECLARE LINE.
The horror of hypocrisy!!!

It's a capitol sin to pay a fine on the spot but not to run the border with over $75 clams worth of goods.

The only thing you forgot in your sweeping assumption was names. Would you tell us exactly to whom you're referring? it would make your assertion so much more clear.

DaliDali - 6-11-2013 at 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

The only thing you forgot in your sweeping assumption was names. Would you tell us exactly to whom you're referring? it would make your assertion so much more clear.

I was sure the words SOME and MAY would be readily apparent that names don't matter.
This particular statement should apply ONLY if the shoe fits and nothing more.

DENNIS - 6-11-2013 at 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DaliDali
I was sure the words SOME and MAY would be readily apparent that names don't matter.

No. You're wrong. Everybody knows you're wrong........just plain wrong.
Not incorrect....not mistaken........just plain 'ol wrong.

..........................................................WRONG...................................

sancho - 6-11-2013 at 11:48 AM

One of the better one's I heard was a guy followed into
a parking lot on Revo Ave. TJ by a motorcycle cop.
Wanting $20 or so, the Gringo driver said he would flip
a coin to decide if the cop got his mordida, the cop lost
and in a gentlemanly manner walked away

Urban Tales

MrBillM - 6-11-2013 at 02:08 PM

Should include all of those Innocents pulled over by the Mex cops for Mordida.

In 50 years of crossing the southern border, I have NEVER experienced THAT.

Every time I had committed the offense noted.

Although a couple were close calls. One especially.

Nonetheless, I haven't been stopped for a contrived reason.

The odds of life would dictate that I would have been if the practice were widespread.

Do the Crime and pay the Dime.

On the spot.

Make a poor Mexican cop's children happy.