U.S. assists in training Mexican police investigators for judicial transition

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City issued the following news release on Wednesday July 27:

MEXICO CITY — Edomex, Nuevo León, Colima, Coahuila, Jalisco, Michoacan and Campeche launched Criminal Investigation Instructor Courses for police investigators, part of a national program to create a cadre of criminal investigation instructors. Officials from the United States Embassy and U.S. Consulates in Mexico joined inauguration events for the program in Toluca, Estado de Mexico; Nuevo León; and Guadalajara, Jalisco. Tobin Bradley, Director, Office of Narcotics and Law Enforcement, US Embassy in Mexico, shared his optimism for the program and its impact on law enforcement in Mexico: “We are grateful for this opportunity to assist Mexico in preparing police investigators to meet their responsibilities under the new criminal justice system. This program will advance the successful consolidation of the new criminal justice system throughout Mexico.”

Over the next three months, all thirty-one Mexican states will have completed similar courses. The three-week course encompasses training in criminal investigation and instructor development and will create a cadre of 1,050 federal and state instructors in criminal investigation who will then go on to train approximately 30,000 investigators throughout Mexico. 

The program is the result of a collaborative effort between the government of Mexico and the Embassy of the United States under the Merida Initiative. It prepares Mexican police investigators to meet their responsibilities under Mexico’s new criminal justice system and the course content has been validated by the Secretariado Ejecutiva de Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública (SESNSP). During the course, police investigators receive instruction in core competencies that are critical to law enforcement and the success of criminal prosecutions, such as the judicious use of force during detention or arrest of individuals, criminal analysis, preservation of a crime scene and evidence, and preparation for giving testimony during oral trials. 

BACKGROUND

Through the Merida Initiative, the United States government provides broad support to the government of Mexico as it consolidates the accusatory criminal justice system. To date, the US Embassy in Mexico has funded First Responder instructor training in the new criminal justice system for nearly 1,500 preventative police officers who will replicate that training for police officers throughout Mexico; since 2011 has provided capacity building visits for 30,000 members of the federal justice system; has funded programs that develop oral litigation skills among law students and professors at over 150 universities; has equipped over 120 courtrooms nationally; and has assisted 14 states to establish the legal framework for the successful implementation of the new criminal justice system. The Embassy continues to support the consolidation of the new criminal justice system with training, technical assistance, and equipment donations that help to institutionalize rule of law and strengthen law enforcement institutions in Mexico.

Source: U.S. Embassy Mexico City.

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