Through my head ran, & ldquo;Oh no. Here we go. Good thing I have that cash permanently stashed in the middle console. & rdquo; However, the policeman went on to explain to me -- smiling, I might add -- & ldquo;Now, if you carefully just turn right here and go down about a block, then turn left on Av. Francisco Madero you'll be good to go.
For a second, I sat there stunned thinking, & ldquo;Did that really just happen?" He said, & ldquo;You got it? You know what to do? Have a good night. & rdquo; I drove off, carefully. I turned right and went down about a block. Then, I turned left on Francisco Madero, and I was good to go.
The new state and local administrations that took over in Dec. 2007 have made it their business to make Baja California and Tijuana safer and court tourists back. To that end, Tijuana 's new administration revamped the city's tourist police. Police officials say 128 agents, half of whom speak English, now patrol the most visited areas. &
Officials say further, they cracked down on corrupt agents and extortion complaints dropped. They say under Tijuana's new mayor, Jorge Ramos, just nine people complained during the entire month of December. From January until Sunday, police officials say not one complaint was filed.
Sunday afternoon, two policemen were arrested for extorting about $180 from a U.S. family near the border. That police attempted to take money from the family is not good. But the fact the agents were arrested is. One can only hope that both those arrests and my experience are encouraging signs the new government's efforts to undo years of corruption amongst Tijuana's police is working. However, it's still too soon to tell.
Please help me keep tabs on the situation by sharing your experiences with me: aisackson AT kpbs DOT org &
And please remember to do what I didn't and get agents' names. In my surprise, I forgot. I regret that, and that I didn't stick around long enough to make sure the car in front of me got the same courteous and reasonable treatment I did. &
Should you need the police while you're in Tijuana, dial 066 to reach an agent. Ask for someone who speaks English. For more details, check out Tijuana's Tourist Travel Guide .
