Pubdate: Mon, 02 Mar 2009
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Connie Littlefield
Note: Connie Littlefield's films include Hofmann's Potion: The Early 
Years of LSD, and
Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?233 (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition)

IN THE HEART OF A DRUG WAR

A Former Canadian Police Officer Is Experiencing The Horrors Brought 
By Drug Prohibition In Mexico, And Trying To Change Things For The Better

Walter McKay is an all-Canadian hero: currently fighting police 
corruption in Mexico, he is also a conscientious objector to the war on drugs.

Born and raised in British Columbia, after university, he joined the 
Vancouver Police Department. He was a founding member of the "Odd 
Squad," a group of officers who patrolled the Downtown Eastside, 
where he helped make the NFB film Through a Blue Lens.

He quit walking the beat in order to pursue his graduate studies in 
the ethics of law enforcement at Simon Fraser University and then 
later worked on his PhD at UBC in police training and reform. I met 
him later, when he was working with the Police Assessment Resource 
Center in Los Angeles. Eventually, Walter and his wife decided to go 
to Mexico, her homeland, to raise their family.

Currently Walter is the project director for the Instituto para la 
Seguridad y la Democracia (INSYDE), a non-profit, non-governmental 
agency that works to strengthen and support the Mexican police.

To many, fighting police corruption in Mexico may seem like an uphill 
battle. Corruption in the public sector is rampant and well-known. 
The drug war has perhaps taken more of a toll on Mexico than on any 
other country.

This is because it is not only a drug production centre, it is also 
the main distribution point for the rest of Latin America. Every day 
there are news stories about tragedies and conflicts that are 
inherent to drug prohibition. In the city of Juarez, there were 1,600 
prohibition-related deaths last year; 7,000 across Northern Mexico since 2007.

"Even more so than in Canada and the U.S., prohibition is a failed 
policy here in Mexico -- there is no question of that whatsoever. 
America's drug war is devastating to its neighbouring Latin American 
countries," McKay told me.

"In the 1990s, the citizens of Colombia were the ones who paid the 
high price in deaths, corruption and chaos that nearly produced a 
failed state. Now, it is Mexico, a much bigger country and closer to 
the U.S., that is being brought to its knees as a result of the drug 
trade. However, the consequences are far more deadly both to the 
people who live here and in terms of its threat to U.S. security. 
When the narco-traffickers have access to billions of dollars 
annually (estimates from $25 billion to $40 billion) and the most 
advanced weaponry money can buy, then the rhetoric does, and has, 
become a reality. Here in Mexico there is, in fact, a drug war."

Drug prohibition brings with it a ton of temptation. In Mexico, a 
police officer does not earn much money, so corruption is seen as a 
reasonable means of supplementing one's income.

For example, in Mexico City (one of the most expensive cities in the 
world) about $2,000 U.S. a month is required for a family to live a 
modest middle-class lifestyle. Most police officers make between $300 
and $800 a month. Because the pay is so low, the quality of recruits 
is low. Often they are recruited from the poorest regions of the 
country such as Chiapas or Guerrero, and their mother tongue is not 
Spanish. Because the pay is minimal and there is little respect for 
the profession, education is not a priority so many police officers 
have less than a Grade 3 education. There is a large percentage who 
are functionally illiterate.

So why doesn't the government simply pay officers more if it wants to 
combat corruption?

It's a vicious circle. Since the police are poorly trained, lack 
education and are not respected, they are not seen as "worthy" of 
more money. Walter's aim is to break this cycle by introducing a 
national certification program based upon "best practices" developed 
from policing models in Canada, the U.S., and Britain, which will 
give Mexican police agencies a clear focus as to how to improve. They 
can then approach their governments for additional funding based on 
this improvement. It will be slow, but progress will be seen and 
expectations raised as the police become more professional.

Nearly half of the population of Mexico lives in poverty. The drug 
lords have the money and power to buy not only the police officers 
but their superiors, the city council, the politicians, judges and 
anyone else who may threaten their business. The Mexican government 
concedes that many of the municipalities and towns -- as well as some 
of the states -- are directly under the control of the drug traffickers.

Walter's job consists of writing training and auditing procedures for 
police, devising best practices for police management and managers, 
and instilling a commitment to community policing and oversight for 
Mexican police forces.

That would be a daunting task for anyone, but Walter's political 
allegiance to the principles of drug policy reform makes his position 
even more interesting.

As a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Walter believes 
that the war on drugs does more harm than the drugs themselves, that 
the question of drug use and abuse is a social issue rather than a 
criminal one. He is not afraid to voice this opinion:

"My views here are well known, and I give interviews from here to 
radio stations and newspapers in the U.S. and Canada about the situation here.

"Decriminalization and even legalization have been raised by the 
major political parties here, and is very much being considered as a 
resolution to the incredible power that the drug lords now brandish in Mexico."

But wouldn't an end to drug prohibition bring even more chaos?

Actually, the immediate effect of ending prohibition would be to deny 
the drug lords the billions of dollars that finance their violence. 
This violence includes shootings and torture of innocent men, women 
and children, kidnappings (one of the highest rates in the world), 
beheadings, bodies dissolved in vats of acid, bombings, armed 
assaults against homes, businesses, government agencies and police 
stations, and even hand grenades thrown indiscriminately into festive crowds.

It's hard to imagine that Mexico could be more chaotic than it already is.

In 2006, former Mexican president Vicente Fox attempted to make 
personal possession of small amounts of drugs a non-criminal offence: 
that's called decriminalization, not legalization. Even so, the U.S. 
put enormous pressure on Fox and his government to abandon those 
plans, which they did. Obviously, drug prohibition is not going to 
end overnight -- but current President Felipe Calderon seems to be 
trying to revive the idea of decriminalizing personal drug use. If 
nothing else, it would free up the police to go after bigger fish.

Walter McKay represents the finest and most recent incarnation of the 
Canadian peacekeeping tradition. His role could well change the 
course of history -- but it's not a job many would willingly 
undertake. Mexico today is a lot like America in the 1920s, during 
alcohol prohibition: gangsters rule the streets, and anybody in the 
way is expendable. Does he worry about his personal safety?

"If for some reason the drug lords felt threatened by my modest 
efforts (rather than those of the over 45,000 army troops and 
billions of dollars directed at them by the government), I would 
still proceed; although perhaps more cautiously. As Edmund Burke 
said, 'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men 
do nothing'."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom