The operational director of the corporation was attacked when he entered a cafeteria; No detainees were reported
With the murder of the Operational Director of the Zapopan Police, Carlos Manuel Flores Amezcua, which occurred yesterday in an establishment in the La Estancia neighborhood, there are 20 homicides of security elements so far in 2023 in Jalisco.
Flores Amezcua had 27 years of service in the corporation. He was the third in command of the Police Station. He was attacked when he entered a cafeteria located on Patria and Beethoven. In a video from the internal system of the aforementioned business, it can be seen that four diners shot him and escaped.
The commissioner of Zapopan, Roberto López, shared that Flores Amezcua had a bodyguard, who did not have the option to repel the attack.
For its part, the Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office reported that at the site where the commander was killed, they lifted 18 shell casings.
With this crime, there are 20 police officers and elements in charge of public security of the State murdered during this year.
Just last September 23, the homicide of David Javier González Macías, an agent of the Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office, was confirmed, who was attacked with bullets at the intersection of Paseo de Las Casuarinas and Paseo de Las Palmeras streets, in the Rinconadas de Tabachines neighborhood, also in Zapopan.
According to the records of the civil organization Causa en Común, which specializes in the analysis of security issues in the country, 22 agents were executed in Jalisco last year.
Threats against murdered commissioner in Zapopan are ruled out
This is how the deputy operational director of the Zapopan Police, Carlos Flores Amezcua, was described after being shot dead yesterday.
Mayor Juan José Frangie highlighted the leadership of the police command, in a message on social networks addressed to the family and friends of the deceased.
“My deepest condolences, with all my heart I tell you that you have yours truly and Zapopan at this terrible time,” Frangie said.
“I met Carlos and I will always remember him with his characteristic leadership, working as a team, with willingness and commitment,” he added.
For its part, the Zapopan Police Station condemned the homicide and assured that they will work tirelessly to find the attackers.
“He was a good friend, he had almost 28 years in the service, very faithful to his work, he worked very well,” said the general commissioner of Zapopan, Roberto López.
The commissioner ruled out that Carlos Flores had received any type of threat; However, he added that the commander had an escort, although he does not appear in the video of the attack, since apparently, he was parking the truck in a business next to the cafeteria where Flores was murdered.
When asked why the bodyguard did not repel the attack, he responded that “that issue was not raised.”
In the video from the security camera of the establishment where the crime occurred, the victim can be seen wearing sports clothing entering the cafeteria. Immediately, two men and two women, who were sitting in pairs at two separate tables, pulled out their weapons and shot at the officer.
In the recording of just half a minute, it is observed that three of the attackers escape from the place, the remaining one runs into the business. Roberto López indicated that the victim was on duty, had a weapon, was in uniform and had just come from working out at a gym.
THERE ARE NO DETAINEES
The State Prosecutor’s Office (FE) reported that investigations have already begun into the armed attack against deputy operational director of the Zapopan Police, Carlos Manuel Flores Amezcua.
In the information issued by the FE, it stands out that a vehicle was seized after the incident, as well as 18 shell casings; They also reported that they work in coordination with the Zapopan General Security Commissariat.
According to state authorities, the criminal news was reported yesterday at approximately 10:04 in the morning from an establishment located on Patria Avenue at the intersection with Ludwig van Beethoven, in the La Estancia neighborhood; Upon the arrival of the various emergency forces, including paramedics, the death of the victim was confirmed, who had suffered gunshot wounds.
In the FE statement they do not refer to people arrested for the incident.
Assassination of commander is evidence that penal populism does not work
Rubén Ortega, Public Security Specialist at the University of Guadalajara
Jalisco is among the States in which the most police kill, this despite the fact that in 2019 the penalties for this crime increased with up to 70 years in prison. The problem lies in the impunity that exists in Mexico.
According to data from Causa en Común, if we take into account active agents and former police officers, 23 officers have been murdered in Jalisco so far this year, which exceeds the 22 registered in 2022.
For Rubén Ortega, a public security specialist, the murder of the Zapopan commander is an example of the failed state that Jalisco has in terms of security.
“Penal populism does not work. Although the sentences are increased to 150 years, the prosecutor’s investigations are not accurate. We have 99.5% impunity in all cases. For sentences to work, we need at least 50% or 60% of homicides to have a sentence. Impunity shows that anyone can be killed, even police officers,” said the member of the Security and Justice Observatory of the University of Guadalajara.
Statistics from Causa en Común reveal that Jalisco is among the top five states with the most police and former police officers murdered this year. In fact, of the 23 cases that occurred in the Entity, 13 occurred in a municipality in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area.
“The Governor and the prosecutor of Jalisco have maintained that they are isolated events, but previously an official was murdered in the same way at the Sonora Grill. This tells us that within the ZMG criminals move with logistics and intelligence. They cannot be isolated cases,” Ortega explained.
The academic added that officers are usually subject to being corrupted by organized crime, either by threats, by having their work affected by an arrest or seizure, or by some act of corruption in which the agent has not done his part, although does not mean that this is the case of Carlos Flores Amezcua.
Among the evidence that the Prosecutor’s Office has; a secured van, 18 shell casings recovered at the scene and the statement of the bodyguard assigned to the attacked police officer.
Source: El Informador
