Just in time for Spring Break, Rosarito's police force has its guns back. The city’s officers were disarmed in December, almost exactly one year after Tijuana police had their guns taken away. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.
The Mexican Army confiscated Rosarito police agents' guns last December to see if the weapons were tied to any crimes.
Federal officials ran ballistics tests.
Rosarito Mayor Hugo Torres says some guns were tied to a killing in Tijuana.
Torres : But the guns were not identified to a particular policeman here. There was a gun that had been missing, had been stolen from the police. We don't know whether it was a policeman that took it or a delinquent.
Rosarito officers also took polygraph tests. Torres says 30 officers were dismissed or resigned.
Torres says when local police didn’t have their guns in January, crime dropped 8 percent compared to the same time last year.
State and federal agents have been policing Rosarito.
Torres says they've added English speaking tourist police and increased patrols on the toll road to protect tourists.
Amy Isackson, KPBS News.
