Security Upgrades

Felipe Calderón yesterday sent a bill to the Mexican Congress that would alter the structure of the nation's security apparatus. Excelsior summarizes:

There would be an integral system of police, ministerial, and expert development, like a system of evaluation and controls to grade each of the institutions' integrants, signaling the minimum criteria of trust and expediting a single police certification.

A single system of criminal information would be formulated, and would contain a database shared by the federal, state, and municipal governments.

"It's about concentrating and harmonizing all of the information that the State has about criminals to generate effective strategies, with the goal of defeating them," Calderón said.

The initiative provides mechanisms of societal and citizen participation for the planning and supervision of the security institutions, in addition to police procedures to regulate the use of force, governed by legality and respect for human rights.

I heard more specifics on the radio today, all of which came across sensible steps toward a more comprehensive security framework. Unfortunately, said specifics are all presently rattling around some inaccessible corner of my mind.