San Luis R.C. names new police chief to combat spike in violence
The city recorded 62 homicides in the first quarter of 2022, up from 47 during the same period of 2021
SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Son. – This city has named its fourth police chief in less than four years, in what is seen as a change in leadership aimed at combating a spike in homicides during the first four months of 2022.
The city council, in a special session this week, voted unanimously to appoint Gerardo Camacho Ramirez police chief, replacing Francisco Edgardo Gomez Herrera.
Camacho Rivera, a native of Agua Prieta, Son., most recently served as a Sonora state police commander in San Luis Rio Colorado.
Gomez Herrera was the third municipal police chief serving in that post since Santo Gonzales Yescas took office as mayor of the border city across from Yuma County in 2018.
“This is a very difficult and complicated decision because we would rather have all our officials with us throughout the three years,” said Gonzalez, who won a new three-year term as mayor in the 2021 election.
“We looked at it very closely,” he added. “With the problems of insecurity we have had lately, I believe we did the right thing, and it was done at the request of a wide sector of the community. We spoke with the people with whom we needed to talk and then the decision was made.”
The change of leadership comes amid a surge in homicides and kidnappings in San Luis Rio Colorado attributed largely to fighting among drug cartels and other organized crime groups.
The city recorded 62 homicides in the first quarter of 2022, up from 47 during the same period of 2021 and 31 recorded in the first quarter of 2020. The city is on pace to set a new record for slayings this year.
Gonzalez Yescas appealed to residents for their support for the city council’s decision to name Camacho Ramirez to the post.
“Gerardo Camacho Ramirez has leadership ability. He knows the department very well,” the mayor said. “We want a police chief of excellence and I believe that with his profile and his support, we are going to move forward.”
The city council opted for Camacho over two other candidates for the post, Luis Jacob Torres Marquez and Ernesto Ortiz Aviles.
Gomez Herrera had been police chief since September 2021, having relieved Luis Manuel Lugo Duron. In September 2019, Lugo Duron replaced Edgar Labra Zarate, the first to serve as police chief during Gonzalez’s administration.
Camacho Ramirez served as second-in-command of the municipal police department while Lugo Duron was chief.