JUAREZ VIOLENCE: INVESTIGATORS SENT AFTER POLICE UPRISING

A bunch of angry, fed-up federal police in Juarez launched a
mini-rebellion against some of their commanders Saturday, accusing
them of corruption.

That prompted officials in the Mexico Attorney General's Office to
send internal affairs personnel and other investigators to Juarez to
investigate the incident and the allegations of corruption.

It should be a fertile field for the investigators. There have always
been questions about corruption in the ranks of law enforcement in
Juarez and in the rest of Mexico.

Perhaps the last straw was the perception of police officers that
their commanders' corruption and links to drugs and the cartels were
putting the officers' lives in danger. That could be quite a motivation.

While this investigation could be seen as a positive step, there also
have to be questions about those who are doing the investigating. Are
they "clean" or might they also have ties to the cartels that would
skew this investigation? Will this end up with an official whitewash?
Is there any will in Juarez or Mexico City to get this situation cleaned up?

Well, at this time, the situation in Juarez has gotten so bad that
anything is worth a try.

It's a good sign that people "in the ranks" are getting fed up with
the corruption that is fostering and contributing so much to the
bloody chaos in Juarez. However, those 248 officers who took part in
the Saturday mini uprising are also going to be investigated.

It remains to be seen how this incident and its aftermath will affect
the patrolling of Juarez streets by some 4,500 federal police. The
mayor said there aren't any plans to put army troops back on the
streets. The federal police took over patrol duties from the army last
spring.

The bottom line is that nothing seems to be able to stop or even
lessen the violence in Juarez.