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Tijuana's Police Force Ordered to Hand Over Weapons

By Amy Isackson / Border Reporter,  KPBS Public Broadcasting
Published January 5, 2007 at 5:27 AM PST
This story was published more than 17 years ago.

Tijuana spent Thursday night without local police. Federal officials in Mexico have ordered Tijuana’s entire Municipal Police force to turn in their weapons. KPBS Reporter Amy Isackson has the story.

Tijuana spent Thursday night without local police. Federal officials in Mexico have ordered Tijuana’s entire Municipal Police force to turn in their weapons. KPBS Reporter Amy Isackson has the story.

The surprise order from Mexico’s Defense Secretary came a day after Mexican President Felipe Calderon ordered a massive operation in Tijuana to crackdown on drug trafficking and organized crime.

All 2,300 municipal officers must turn over their weapons. Federal officials will perform ballistics tests on them, to determine if they’re connected to recent crimes, including murders that are thought to be the work of drug cartels.

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Tijuana Mayor Jorge Hank Rhon has called off police patrols until federal officials return the guns. He says he’s not sure when that’ll be. Hank called the order irresponsible. Though, he acknowledges corruption cuts through the Municipal ranks.

Meanwhile, Tijuana’s Director of Public Security has asked federal officials to root out corruption in the city’s police force. Amy Isackson, KPBS News.

Amy Isackson
Amy Isackson was the border reporter at KPBS from 2004 to 2011. She covered breaking news and feature stories on California-Mexico border issues and immigration, for local and national broadcast. Amy got her start in public radio by pitching a series of stories about rural New Zealand - horse dentistry and sheep sheering - to Radio New Zealand's "Country Life" program. She then worked with Peabody Award-winning radio producers Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, to help create the Sonic Memorial, a series of stories on the World Trade Center before, during and after 9/11. Amy's work has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada, the California Chicano News Media Association, and the San Diego Press Club. She won the Sol Price Prize for Responsible Journalism in 2009 from the Society of Professional Journalists for her story about high school students smuggling people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to venturing into the wonderful world of public radio, Amy worked for Yahoo! Inc. for nearly five years as an editorial surfer, associate producer and broadcast communications manager. She majored in Latin American History at Williams College. She grew up in San Diego and made frequent trips south of the border.
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