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JumpJoey
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: 1-24-2011
Location: Southern Oregon
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C C
I got pulled over twice within 5 minutes last year just before Valentines day going north through Constitution. The first time , there were four of
them and I insisted they write me a ticket or we go to the station for it."NO , 700 pesos , right now!" Of course they had my license and after awhile
it got passed down to the youngest cop who , after the others walked away , basically begged me for 200 pesos for his family . I gave him 100 pesos
and got my license back. The second stop I had to count to 10 to stay calm , and got out and walked over to the cops . Same thing , started out at 700
pesos . I told them I just gave some money to the other cops down the road. We all stood there for 6 minutes {I guess they don`t pool their
resources}. I was not giving out any more money . A white van pulled up and the passinger looked at me and I said "mas mordidos!" He got out and got
the cops version of what is occurring . And then he got my version. I think he must have been watching the whole thing from the government van . He is
a local politician and sent the cops on their way and apologized to me for what happened . He realizes that tourists being shaken down like that by
law enforcement will cause damage to the tourism industry in Mexico. But when you consider that the average cop there makes approx. 8000 pesos a month
, you realize how sketchy things can get. As I just stated in another post , it is one thing to get caught up in a crime as a bystander , and quite
another if , as a tourist , you are the target , whether it is by the Mexican police , people dressed up as police , or just thugs with guns.
Like many people have pointed out , there are far more dangerous places right here in the US , but if things develop in Mexico where the tourists
are the primary target , coupled with the lack of law enforcement resources to actively combat it , well game over...
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by JumpJoey
But when you consider that the average cop there makes approx. 8000 pesos a month , you realize how sketchy things can get. |
So...their choice is, go get another job or turn into a licensed thief. What a dilema for these unfortunate victims.
I have it on good information that they all applied for their job voluntarily.
Sorry....I cut no slack with blame. They're thieves because they want to be. They would do the same thing if they were earning ten thousand dollars a
week. It's their corruption of the badge.
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BAJA.DESERT.RAT
Senior Nomad
Posts: 980
Registered: 11-5-2009
Location: BAJA SUR
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Hola,
thank you for the update.
was the local politicion just happened to drive by or is he, and hopefully others, routinely cruising the streets looking for these situations ?
BIEN SALUD, DA RAT
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BAJA.DESERT.RAT
thank you for the update.
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It was almost a year ago. Before Ifly started his campaign.
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13195
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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we shall be driving by CC at the end of this week.....I shall post if anything happens .... but I sure hope the nightmare is over as things seem to be
quiet nowadays ...
welcome ddawson and JumpJoey to Baja Nomad Land.
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JumpJoey
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: 1-24-2011
Location: Southern Oregon
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In answer to Da Rat and Dennis. First , all I can say is the local Pol didn`t seem surprised by the shakedown by the cops and saw it more as something
that needs to be stopped so that businesses in the area can prosper. It is no small thing that another poster mentioned spending $70.00 or so in that
area. Local businesses rely on that and the behavior of the police is hurting their business.
I certainly don`t use the low pay for police as justification for the shakedowns , but I do think tourists and locals alike would be served better
by a decently paid police force.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by JumpJoey
First , all I can say is the local Pol didn`t seem surprised by the shakedown by the cops |
It's been a part of their life since day one. No...they arn't surprised by the act. It's a cultural thing.
What they may be surprised about is the frequency and greediness of the occurance. It has turned into a frenzy of extortion, far beyond the tolerable
rate.
We won't be able to stop it. All we can hope to do is suppress it to a comfortable point. That might be...... if you break a law, you pay.
Welcome to BajaNomad, by the way.
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Lee
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3495
Registered: 10-2-2006
Location: High in the Colorado Rockies
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Anyone got a story?
B - U - M - P
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dtbushpilot
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3288
Registered: 1-11-2007
Location: Buena Vista BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: Tranquilo
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Drove through Southbound yesterday. Stayed in the middle lane, went slow, stopped at every intersection whether it had a stop sign or not. No
problems, I did see a cop going the other way but he didn't turn around....dt
"Life is tough".....It's even tougher if you're stupid.....
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bajacalifornian
Super Nomad
Posts: 1117
Registered: 9-4-2010
Location: Loreto/Lopez Mateos/Rosarito
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With sons in La Paz, I pass through fairly often. Constitution is confusing with two way center lane and frontage on either side. Stop where you
need to, flow with traffic. No problem.
American by birth, Mexican by choice.
Signature addendum: Danish physicist — Niels Bohr — who said, “The opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.
Jeff Petersen
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JumpJoey
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: 1-24-2011
Location: Southern Oregon
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajacalifornian
With sons in La Paz, I pass through fairly often. Constitution is confusing with two way center lane and frontage on either side. Stop where you
need to, flow with traffic. No problem. |
I am happy for you that you`ve had no problem in Constitution however , there are many of us who stop where we need to and flow with traffic and still
get singled out for a very blatant shakedown. And I am damned sick of it.
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by JumpJoey
| Quote: | Originally posted by bajacalifornian
With sons in La Paz, I pass through fairly often. Constitution is confusing with two way center lane and frontage on either side. Stop where you
need to, flow with traffic. No problem. |
I am happy for you that you`ve had no problem in Constitution however , there are many of us who stop where we need to and flow with traffic and still
get singled out for a very blatant shakedown. And I am damned sick of it. |
If I am reading you correctly, your last incident was over a year ago, right?
I wouldn't fall asleep while driving through there theses days, but given all of the reports from last year, it does appear that by and large, there
has been a vast improvement.
The past few times I traveled through Cd. C, I took the center lane, drove VERY slow, and on those intersections lacking an operating traffic light,
stopped completely, and scanned for any pedestrians. Maybe I was overdoing it, but if I saw a pedestrian in the street, even far across from where I
was, I waited for them to complete crossing. Slow going, of course. But no one molested me.
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Phil S
Super Nomad
Posts: 1205
Registered: 10-28-2003
Member Is Offline
Mood: After 34 years. Still in love w/ my wife
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If you get puller over "stay in the car"!!!!! I know. There are those that will get out for some reason???? Can't argue about a seat belt violation
if your out of the car. It doesn't happen to me, but I would stay in the vehicle with seat belt on. Then let him tell me I didn't have my seat belt
on????? But I do have to admit, as others have. It is very confusing with that vehicular directional thing. When I went down in Nov. & back mid
December, I played it safe, and drove slow, and stopped when needed.
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dtutko1
Nomad
Posts: 341
Registered: 8-26-2009
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Passed through yesterday at noon. No police in site. Stopped at each intersection, no problems.
Dorado Don
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gallesram
Nomad
Posts: 384
Registered: 7-6-2010
Location: Laguna Beach
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This is a really common occurence on the mainland; I got pulled over in Acapulco last week almost daily going into town to buy supplies for our place.
I would be in a pack of cars going down the highway and I would see the transit police literally stare at me going the other way; the next thing I
knew, he had pulled a U-turn and was weaving between the cars to pull me over. Each time I stayed in the car, spoke only English and was clearly mad
at being stopped. I never paid one peso to any of them. In total, I was pulled over 5 times, and I never paid anything. The same thing has happened
to me in CC twice, and each time I did the same thing (only English, stayed in the car, appeared mad and didn't pay anything). The problem is, it
makes no difference if you obey the traffic laws, since if they want to pull you over, they'll pull you over. I have tried everything I can think of
to not stand out (wear a hat, don't wear a hat, rent a white car versus a red one, etc.) but none of it works. Frankly, I come down to Baja to get
away from the stress of life up here, and being pulled over by a policeman in a foreign country is stressful, regardless of whether someone is
innocent or not. So now, I just drive over to the road that parallels the main highway to the east about 4 blocks, and I never see any cops over
there. Someone mentioned that in a previous post and it has worked for me (it's the road with the huge divider in the middle). If I do get pulled
over, I'll use the same technique and hopefully it will work.
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13195
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
Member Is Offline
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We drove thru CC a little over a week ago and we did not see any cops. I was ready with camera on hand, with phone numbers in hand. I fully agree
with gallesram: they know you are gringo from a a mile away and they most definitely single us out
extremely unnerving and most frustrating when you are doing everything right...everyone knows I paid up in Mexico City ..but it will take YEARS for
Les to get over it !! He was so upset over the whole ridiculouslness of it all.
on another note:
WELCOME NEWBIE GALLESRAM TO BAJANOMADS !!!!!!!!
[Edited on 3-21-2011 by BajaBlanca]
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fishabductor
Senior Nomad
Posts: 800
Registered: 5-29-2010
Member Is Offline
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i drove thru today...no issues ....middle lane 5km/hr under to be safe. I saw plenty of cops..they saw me... I drove right on thru town and then
punched it and made up for lost time...
[Edited on 3-20-2011 by fishabductor]
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monoloco
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6667
Registered: 7-13-2009
Location: Pescadero BCS
Member Is Offline
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I also drove through yesterday behind a group of motorcyclists that ran every stop sign and didn't get hassled.
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Iflyfish
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3747
Registered: 10-17-2006
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These reports are indeed good news. We learned a lot from our extensive discussion of Police Extortion in CC.
We learned to drive very, very slowly, stop at every stop sign and stop if there is even a question of a pedestrian THINKING about crossing a street.
We also learned to stay in the car, be calm and ask to go to the station to resolve any issue and let them know you have all the time in the world.
We don't know how this has happened, our Social Networking, local citizens taking on the corrupt cops, our developing an effective strategy that most
of us agree upon??? The good news is that reports of Police Extortion on the only highway linking North and South Baja and the loss of gringo dollars
to local merchants has abated, at least somewhat.
Regardless of the cause for this reduction I think that Nomads should take a moment to reflect upon the power of Nomads and what a vital link this is
to all of us.
Salud
Iflyfishwithprideinmyfellownomads
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13195
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
Member Is Offline
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well put.
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