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Secretary of Public Security, Guillermo Prieto Quintana, said that 180 new cadets will begin police training this Monday. The SSPM has offered the cadets a $750 monthly training stipend, and as new police officers, they will receive a salary of $980 per month. The secretary urged citizens to apply to join the new police force.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, March 23, 2008

The growing psychosis among security forces due to the recent assassinations of police officers is reflected in the collapse of vigilance in the city. Javier Aguirre Reyes, head of a small business association, said that uniformed police are more worried about watching their backs than protecting the citizens.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, March 24, 2008

The bodies of five men, strangled and showing signs of torture, were found discarded in different areas of the city during the past 10 hours. Unofficial sources indicate that the men were abducted, beaten and tortured with sharp objects, strangled and then dumped in open areas. The first victim was identified as Manuel Carranza Montoya, about 30-35. The second murdered man was found along the Juárez-Porvenir highway. He was about 35 and had several tattoos: the name “Herrera” on his upper back, “Mi Madre Alicia” and a heart pierced by a sword on his chest and the word “Juaritos” on his neck. Another victim, 20-30 years old, was found in another place along the Juárez-Porvenir road thrown into a vacant lot. Later, another body was found in the Colonia La Cuesta, his face partially covered by a black plastic bag. He was 45-50 years old with a partially gray beard. The fifth strangled body of a man 25-27 was found yesterday morning with a white electric cord tied around his neck. The bodies were all taken to the Forensic Medical Service, and it is hoped that their families will come to identify them and claim their remains.

El Paso Times, March 24, 2008

JUÁREZ COURTS TAKE HISTORIC LEAP IN ADOPTING LEGAL REFORM

For the first time, the prosecutor, the defense lawyer, the judge and the accused are in the same room and proceedings are open to the public. The parties take turns presenting their case to the judge in the back-and-forth familiar to anyone watching televised courtroom dramas. Lorenzo Villar, a former lawyer and one of 12 newly minted judges, is an enthusiastic believer in the new way. “The biggest difference is the judge doesn’t stay in his office and his assistants do all the work,” he said. “Now the judge decides everything in a public manner. The prosecutor has to tell me about the case, then the defense lawyers and you get to know the victim and the suspect personally. All gets resolved in an hour.”

There are no juries in Mexico. “There is more guarantee (against corruption) in this system. Before, there could be pressures,” said defense lawyer Ulises Soteno Torres.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, March 24, 2008

Due to a lack of sufficient weapons, the SSPM has ruled that only command-level officers may carry their service weapons 24 hours per day. The spokesman said that it is impossible for all officers to retain their weapons when off duty and this privilege will be accorded only those at high risk. This decision was made despite the fact that the last 4 police officers executed were low-level street cops and were not on the “narco-list” of “executables.”

“We are not allowed to keep our weapons, we have to turn them in when we go off duty so that there will be enough for the next shift. If you want to take it, you have to pay 200 pesos per week,” said an officer who asked for anonymity.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, March 25, 2008

PUERTO PALOMAS DE VILLA—The body of a man was found yesterday in a garbage dump. He had been shot 18 times with a type of bullet used exclusively by the army. A man collecting recyclables found the body of a man about 22 years old, wearing an imitation goose down vest, army boots and a military-style haircut.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, March 25, 2008

FAMILIES OF FALLEN POLICE LEFT WITHOUT PENSIONS

Families of executed municipal