Mexico’s police search ruling raises concerns
SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Son. — A ruling by Mexico’s highest court upholding broader search powers for police is raising concerns among residents here and those on the other side of the border who visit this city.
Mexico’s supreme court recently ruled that police agencies do not need a judge’s order to do body or vehicle searches if they have reasonable suspicion a crime has been committed.
The ruling came in response to a petition by Mexico’s National Commission on Human Rights, which contends the searches are arbitrary and a violation of individual rights.
Maria Valdez, a San Luis, Ariz., resident who frequently crosses the border to San Luis Rio Colorado, believes the new ruling will further undermine public confidence in police
agencies in Mexico.
“There is already a lot of distrust toward the police. What they approved seems to me to be unconstitutional, and I don’t think it should be allowed. Besides, the police lack the training to be able to enforce a law like that,” Valdez said.
“Now anyone with a uniform can come and say they are the police and force you to submit to a search. And no one knows who they are nor what they are going to do.”
Ismael Solorzano, a resident of San Luis Rio Colorado, fears the ruling will lead to police abuses. His concerns are no less eased by provisions in the law that allow individuals to challenge searches they believe were arbitrary done.
“Those mechanisms don’t apply to people. If you protest, they look for anything else against you.”
In making its ruling, the high court concluded that Mexico’s Code of Criminal Procedures allows for warrantless searches in cases where someone has been caught in the act of committing a crime or in cases where police have reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred, says Jose Amparo, an attorney practicing in San Luis Rio Colorado.
“It’s not like police can search a vehicle or people without some reason,” Amparo said. “A person has to be notified (that his or her car is being searched because) a crime is being investigated and that the characteristics of the vehicle or that person match those of whoever committed the crime.”
Police officers’ obligations don’t end there, he said. Any vehicle searches police do must be documented in an official report, one that is accessible to the vehicle owner and one the owner can use in any complaint filed with a judge.
One issue the high court did not address is whether warrantless searches are permitted at checkpoints police routinely set up on streets and highways around Mexico, said Amparo.
He said police agencies must provide their officers training to ensure they are conducting searches within the limits set by the court. At the same time, he added, people have an obligation to educate themselves about their rights under the law.
Amparo said Mexico’s newly revamped justice system provides tools to promote transparency, and that people who take issue with the searches have means to make their concerns known to the authorities.
Jose A. Navarro, a San Luis Rio Colorado resident, says he has little faith the rights of citizens will be protected.
“This (ruling) will lead to police stopping someone without justification — they already do it now. There will be abuses, because they treat you depending on how they perceive you. They don’t respect the law.”
The municipal police department in San Luis Rio Colorado did not respond to requests for an interview.