Mexico to hire more police

Washington Post:

The Mexican government plans to nearly double the size of its federal police force in order to reduce the role of the military in combating drug trafficking, under a confidential anti-narcotics strategy that officials made available Thursday.

The plan, known as the Comprehensive Strategy Against Drug Trafficking, also involves purging local police forces of corrupt officers and initiating social measures -- such as improving safety in public spaces -- designed to improve public confidence in government agencies tainted by corruption.

Elements of the plan have already been set in motion, including a massive police recruiting and training effort intended to reduce the country's dependence in the drug war on the military, which has been accused of numerous human rights violations. Other aspects are still in formative stages, such as fortifying poorly staffed border checkpoints to stifle the smuggling of arms and money into Mexico from the United States.

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Mexico needs to increase its force to space ratio to stop the drug insurgency and police are one important part of that force. The Mexican army also needs better counterinsurgency operations training so that it can learn the importance of protecting the people. When it accomplishes that, it will generate a wealth of intelligence about the drug insurgents' operations which will cut the insurgents ability to move to contact.

The counterinsurgency training will lessen the need for prosecuting human rights abuses, because there will be fewer to have to deal with. It is the lack of training that is the problem and just sending prosecutors after the troops is a very counterproductive way to deal with the issue.