Pablo Vázquez: “Extortion must be eradicated if we want development in CDMX”

What does your confirmation as Secretary of Public Safety mean to you?
Personally, I am grateful and happy because it is, without a doubt, a sign that the work carried out by the team of the Secretariat of Citizen Security has yielded results, is valued and appreciated by the people. The fact that, through me, this effort is continued speaks well of a team of many men and women to whom I am eternally grateful and whom I personally admire, who give their all every day and have a real commitment and vocation for security.

What is your goal for the first 100 days of Clara Brugada’s government?
At this moment we are very focused on the closing of the administration of Dr. Martí Batres, but we can advance some things that the elected head of government, Clara Brugada, has asked us to do. She has asked us to reinforce our proximity strategies. What does proximity mean? Being close to the people to solve their problems, so that people can go to someone trustworthy, regardless of whether it is a known police officer or not. What we want is that whenever people see the police shield they know that there is someone who can solve their problem and that that person is close by. She has asked us to reinforce that a lot and also to establish more and better mechanisms for dialogue with the citizens, so that we can incorporate the vision of the citizens, the projects of the citizens and, very importantly, be accountable to them in a constant process.

What will this process of accountability to the people look like?
Yes, there are different mechanisms, some with a higher level of institutionality, others with a higher level of formality, but I think that in all of them the common denominator is to encourage interested neighbors to participate in security processes. We are going to open the doors, establish mechanisms for dialogue with the institution, but above all, we are going to empower these groups of neighbors, so that those of us who are in charge of the city know that when that person demands accountability from us, we must respond and that person will also have the means to make it known if we are not acting well.

The elected head of government said it during the campaign: the development of police officers will be greatly deepened, We seek to continue with the salary increase policy and guarantee the comprehensive well-being of those who actually do the security work.

Is the budget sufficient to implement all the projects regarding salary improvements, uniforms and equipment for the police?
I think that there has been an adequate budget allocation in these years and that can be seen on the streets, I think, there has been a significant investment in equipment, in uniforms for the comrades, weapons, vests, patrols. We now surely have to enter into a process of renewing the vehicle fleet, so that there is always adequate equipment on the streets.

How is the coordination with the mayors, especially the opposition ones, who have their own police forces?
I think that there will be a significant emphasis on seeking to have the mayors actively participate in security work. The elected head of government has just headed (Iztapalapa) one of the mayors’ offices that were most successful in terms of reducing crime and increasing the perception of security. No one knows better than her (Clara Brugada) the value of the work that can be done at the mayor’s level.