Street vendors harassing tourists in Mérida could be arrested

The Municipal Police of Mérida (PMM) has arrested so far this year up to 14 persons for the charge of harassment. However, only one has been made available to the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE), as he was accused of child molesting, which is a serious offense.

The director of the corporation, Mario Arturo Romero Escalante, informed that the persons held for this crime were placed at the disposal of the qualifying judges to comply with the corresponding provisions of the Police and Good Governance Regulations (Reglamento de Policía y Buen Gobierno), which was amended in September last year .

The 14 people arrested for harassment so far, were detained for 36 hours and had to attend “awareness” talks.

“There are several kinds of street harassment, such as those that involve some kind of sexual interaction, but harassing tourists to sell them something, can also be considered a fault, and at least two people have been detained so far this year for this fact, ” the official said.

He said that the police agents have the order of approaching any street vendor with an attitude of harassment, they should ask the tourists if there is any problem, in addition to explaining them that they can notify the authority.

“If there is a complaint or a nuisance, the police have to intervene,” Romero Escalante stated.

Among those arrested for harassment, there are people who did it verbally, as provided by the regulations; although, others who commit this fault do it under the influence of alcohol, or because they suffer some type of mental disorder.7