ATTACKING COP CORRUPTION: MEXICO CITY ATTEMPTS TO CLEAN UP ITS ACT

MEXICO CITY -- Imagine a businessman in a black BMW convertible running a
red light and being stopped by a motorcycle cop.

As the officer comes to the window, the driver, without even pausing from
his cell phone conversation, hands over a 50-peso bill worth about $5.

"Your bribe is waiting for you," says police ethics instructor Miguel
Alcartar, describing the all-too-common scenario to Marcos Perez of Mexico
City's motorcycle patrol. "In the past you probably would have taken it.
The driver expects you to now. What do you do?"

Perez doesn't hesitate. "As a motorcycle officer of the Federal District, I
would brush off his money and write him an infraction," he yells
triumphantly, stomping his foot for emphasis.

"Give him a hand!" Alcartar tells the class of 100 motorcycle policemen.

Officers have rarely exhibited such enthusiastic honesty on the chaotic
streets of Mexico City, where police corruption is rampant and motorcycle
officers are often viewed as the most corrupt of all.

Things are so bad that the city's Public Safety Department recently ordered
its 815-strong motorcycle force off the streets, banishing officers to the
police academy for more than two months of training in ethics, human rights
and public relations.

"Many of them had become corrupt and overweight and were using cocaine,
amphetamines and marijuana," said Juan Torres, the academy's director.
"They had lost sight of their goals and had forgotten their self-respect."