Pubdate: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Page: A7 Copyright: 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487 Authors: Jose De Cordoba and David Luhnow Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/area/Mexico (Mexico) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon CALDERON PROPOSES STEPS TO FIGHT MEXICO'S CRIME MEXICO CITY -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon met with the nation's governors and security officials and proposed steps to counter a wave of violent crime that has angered citizens and threatens the president's popularity. Among the steps Mr. Calderon announced late Thursday are separate prisons for kidnappers, a reward system for tips that lead to the capture of criminals and a national database for cellphones to track which ones are used in crimes. Politicians were forced to confront the issue after a series of high-profile crimes, including the recent kidnap and murder of the son of a prominent businessman. Civic, business and victims' groups are planning a march in Mexico City at the end of the month to protest the government's efforts at fighting the wave of kidnappings and drug-related violent crime. The crime wave is a setback for Mr. Calderon, who made law and order his priority after taking power in December 2006, proposing tougher sentencing for criminals and sending as many as 40,000 army troops to confront drug traffickers. An estimated 4,900 Mexicans have died in crimes related to the drug trade since Mr. Calderon took power. Most of the dead are members of feuding drug gangs, but the list also includes top law-enforcement officials, scores of police officers, and judges, journalists and bystanders. The number of kidnappings also has risen, from 276 in 2005 to 432 last year, according to Mexico United Against Crime, a citizens group. Since Mr. Calderon took office, crime has risen to 1,454 crimes per 100,000 people from 1,330, according to federal statistics. The public's anger was stoked earlier this month when the body of Fernando Marti, 14 years old, the son of a wealthy entrepreneur, was found stuffed in the trunk of a car. The young Marti had been kidnapped months earlier and was killed despite his parents having paid a ransom. Two of the three suspects arrested were Mexico City police detectives. Every week brings grim news. This week, gunmen from a suspected drug cartel burst into a party in northern Mexico and gunned down 14 people, including a 1-year-old. A recent poll showed 80% of Mexicans believe the country's crime problem is "very serious," said Jorge Buendia, head of polling firm Ipsos-Bimsa. Some 42% think the government is losing the war against drug traffickers. The crime problem could do political damage to Mr. Calderon and his conservative National Action Party, or PAN, which faces midterm elections next year. "There will be a stiff political price to pay in the 2009 legislative elections," said Bruce Bagley, a Latin American expert at the University of Miami. Analysts said the big winner could be the country's former ruling party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which governed Mexico for seven decades until it was unseated by the PAN in 2000. Sensing Mr. Calderon's weakness, PRI leaders are taking Mr. Calderon to task for what they said are his "failed" security policies. A weak president will do little to help the country break out of its drift. Mexico has been a laggard among big emerging markets in areas such as economic growth for years. But Mr. Calderon has accomplished little in pushing through reforms needed to face such problems as declining oil production and the virtual monopoly that a handful of companies hold on many business activities. Basic to tackling Mexico's crime problem is cleaning up deep-rooted corruption of the country's police forces, which consist of some 420,000 local and state police and only 20,000 federal police. "Traditionally, the central government is less corrupt than municipal or state governments," said political analyst Jorge Castaneda, a former foreign minister. He said Mexico should get rid of its local and state police forces, replacing them with a national police force. At the very least, said Alberto Islas, a security consultant for Mexican security agencies, Mexico must enact basic reforms, such as using a comprehensive computer database that would prevent crooked cops fired in one state from getting jobs in the police force of a different state, a situation that isn't uncommon. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake