Jalisco is safer than ever before, Attorney General Luis Carlos Najera boldly told state lawmakers at a Congressional hearing in which he defended his record as chief of the recently created Fiscalia del Estado during the past 18 months.
Najera was summoned to Congress in the wake of last month’s kidnapping and murder of federal legislator Gabriel Gomez Michel, who was abducted in broad daylight on the city beltway along with his driver. Their charred bodies were discovered 12 hours later in the neighboring state of Zacatecas in the burned out shell of the legislator’s SUV.
Najera blamed Tlaquepaque municipal police officers for the delay in passing on vital information that might have led to the speedy apprehension of the kidnappers. The officers’ initial report suggested nothing had taken place, Najera said. Only when video camera footage was reviewed was the seriousness of the situation fully understood. By that time, Najera testified, the kidnappers were far gone from city limits.
Najera also pointed out that Guadalajara’s video surveillance system, installed during the previous state administration, only serves to gather evidence after a crime has been committed and is of no use during the perpetration of a criminal act. “A camera cannot climb down from its stand and arrest someone,” he joked.
Legislators of the opposition the National Action Party (PAN) were Najera’s fiercest critics at the hearing.
Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.