Police officials from Mexico at the weeklong program organized by Boston College's Global Leadership Institute. (Lee Pellegrini)
A group of 23 police officials, investigators and prosecutors from Mexico came to Boston College last month as part of a U.S. Department of State-funded program, directed by BC’s Global Leadership Institute, to assist the country in professionalizing its police force.
The Mexican police officials, who work in the areas of police standards, internal affairs and anti-corruption investigations, attended lectures with faculty and Boston-area experts and seminars at Boston Police Department headquarters as part of their week-long stay. Following their Boston visit, the participants traveled to Seattle for programs organized in conjunction with Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole ’79.
Funded for two years with $1 million from the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the program will bring 100 police officers from across Mexico during the coming months for discussions on accountability and civilian oversight.
“The message we’re trying to impart is that internal affairs is about more than procedures, rules and due diligence,” said GLI Director Robert Mauro. “We spent the first few days on the big picture: What’s the point of internal affairs? What does it mean to have a police force that’s part of the community?
“We are encouraging the participants to think broadly about internal affairs. Yes, they will get the details of internal affairs – case work, procedures, paperwork – but we want to take a step back and look at the bigger issues of justice, democracy and dignity,” said Mauro.
Boston College was among eight organizations awarded grants by INL as part of an effort to help Mexican police officials address policy and practical challenges while building partnerships and networks across international borders. Other grant recipients included Yale and Stanford universities, the Police Foundation, and the International Association of the Chiefs of Police.
In the past, the Irish Institute – GLI’s predecessor – worked with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Ireland’s Guarda Siochana, said Mauro.
Professor of Political Science Marc Landy gave a talk on American democracy and additional lectures were provided by faculty from Harvard and Northeastern universities, as well as experts from community organizations and businesses. The programs at BPD headquarters focused on accountability, oversight and integrity.
Speaking through a translator, visiting police officials described the professional development opportunity as a prime example of the level of cooperation that has and should continue to exist between the two countries.
Mauricio Alberto Gutierrez Senties, a long-time investigator who now directs evaluation and employment in the Mexico City police force, said police and government officials must confront a number of societal problems – violence, narcotics trafficking and corruption – both in efforts to maintain law and order, but also in their efforts to build effective law enforcement organizations.
“I’m looking forward to learning from the police here and other speakers about how to professionalize our work,” said Gutierrez Senties. “I like to observe the more advanced aspects of society and lifestyles in the U.S. that many of us would like to have in Mexico. These are the benefits of coming here to observe and we appreciate the work that Boston College has done.”
Erika Judith Jasso Carrasco, a prosecutor with the Attorney General’s Office in the State of Chihuahua, said the program offers a chance to improve investigative practices, as well as coordination and cooperation with the U.S.
“It is very important to maintain coordination between Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and the US government through the embassy for any issue of alerts or arrest warrants,” Jasso Carrasco said. “They have supported us and when they ask us for information on individuals we are always in communication and get results within 24 hours.”
Vicente Hiran Blade Morales, chief inspector with the internal affairs unit for police in the state of Nuevo Leon, echoed Jasso Carrasco’s sentiments.
“I hope to learn best practices from the police here in the US and to collaborate with colleagues from other states and forge good relationships and camaraderie on a trip like this,” said Blade Morales.
The program is “very important because you open your chain of communication and all the things you learn in these courses you can replicate in your units and with the police.”
Ed Hayward | University Communications