The Transformation of the Police as a Security Strategy Undertaken by Genaro García Luna: A Legacy

AVENTURA, Fla., July 20, 2018 (Newswire.com) - For the beginning of President Vicente Fox's term (2000-2006), the police forces were in a state of demoralization and decadence due to the working conditions of their elements: low salaries, lack of strategy, corruption and little confidence in the system. Fox entrusted him with the task of changing this reality to Genaro García Luna (Mexico, 1968), graduated engineer from the Metropolitan University of Mexico with vast experience in institutions such as CISEN and specializations in important international agencies.

During this period, García Luna was appointed to transform the police of the Attorney General's Office or the Judicial Prosecutor's Office into the Federal Investigation Agency (AFI), which was founded at the end of 2001. The main functions of this institution were the struggle against organized crime, kidnapping, drug trafficking and insecurity, objectives that were pursued through the creation of a police force that operated with international standards. Due to its achievements, the Agency was awarded VA 2005 recognition for the practice “Real Time Kidnapping Investigation” and the certification of 33 processes under ISO-9001: 2000 in different areas.

Due to his capacity for vision and innovation, for Felipe Calderón's term of office (2006-2012), García Luna, with only 38 years of age, was appointed Secretary of Public Safety. At that time, according to an interview conducted by The New York Times, García Luna had almost twenty years of career in the security services combating organized crime and drug trafficking. His training as an engineer also gave him knowledge in technology that at the end of the 1990s was beginning to be valued in the circles in which he developed, which allowed him to ascend quickly in his career.

Some of the achievements of his administration were to create a network of connectivity to organize and process information (Plataforma México), the strengthening of the Penitentiary System and the professionalization of the police. The new elements had to be subjected to psychological, toxicological and confidence control tests in order to remain in the institution.

The work of the Secretariat of Public Security under the command of García Luna has been widely recognized nationally and internationally. Among other awards, in April 2006 he received the certificate of the IALEIA (International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts). Also, in April 2011 the president of the International Drug Control Conference (IDEC) and the then administrator of the US Drug Enforcement Agency, Michelle M. Leonhart, presented her on behalf of 120 countries with recognition for their work in the fight against organized crime.

The passage of Garcia Luna by the AFI and the Secretariat of Public Security has also transcended time and political affiliations. His idea to unify the state and municipal police in a single organism, which he expresses in his first book, was retaken by all the governors of the country in the National Conference of Governors (CONAGO) and by the current President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, so that his career, studies and efforts in the field of security have impacted Mexican institutions positively for more than two years.

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Source: GLAC Consulting