LEGAL
TIPS |
Traffic
Police
There
are many reasons our foreign community is growing. Everyone wants a better
life, whether it be the climate, the people, cost of living, easy pace,
or even to get away from the bureaucracy of life north of the border.
However, sometimes we can’t escape the hassles that come with dealing
with officials of one type or other. A
growing concern with some of our growing foreign community is the way
the traffic police, here and most places you travel in Mexico, take advantage
of these foreigners. This actually applies to other people of authority
such as the Military, and other branches or the police. The
instances we will put forth in this article are rare, and only happen
to a handful of people. In general, the police are very effective and
helpful. If you are breaking the law, just remember: The traffic offense
does not go on a permanent record, does not affect your insurance, and
the fines or payments are far less expensive than you would pay back home.
There
was once a government department to protect tourists in these circumstances
called Procuraduria De Proteccion Al Turismo. This organization is no
longer in operation. We contacted the Secretaria de Turismo this month
to describe some of the concern for our foreign community. Some
examples we relayed to them was people being pulled over for no apparent
reason, and the officer really not giving a reason only threatening to
tow the vehicle if some money wasn’t paid. Some people have broken a vehicular
law and wanted a ticket instead of paying the prescribed payment, and
again were threatened to be towed if the infraction wasn’t paid right
away. “They intimidate you to the point you want to leave Mexico” is one
comment we have heard. The
head of tourism in Jalisco was extremely interested in these claims we
brought forward. Sr. Horacio Gonzalez Pardo and his staff work hard promoting
the state of Jalisco wanting more tourism. These complaints are something
him and his staff need to hear about in order to investigate the persons
responsible. “We cannot afford for this type of publicity to continue
to grow”, he stated. We
have prepared a form to help us all with this situation. On this form
we have the Secretaria de Turismo listed at the top, with the name of
the top man. Then we have blanks labeled Identification, Officer, Badge
#, His/Her name, and other miscellaneous information. In the past we’ve
noted that when people start requesting this information for the form,
which is shown to the officer, almost everyone is left alone. This
form can be downloaded from our Website at www.ajijiclaw.com
by clicking on “Forms and Laws”, and then selecting “Police Identification
Form”. You can also e-mail us at info@ajijiclaw.com
and ask for the form, which we will e-mail back to you. Or you can simply
drop by our office and we’ll give you one. You can then make as many copies
as you wish and pass them on to friends and relatives. For
those of you who are not left alone, we have an agreement with the Secretaria
de Tourismo to gather these completed forms and forward them on to his
department. His department will then take the necessary action to investigate
and perhaps enforce some changes in the way the traffic police deal with
foreigners. If you do have the unfortunate circumstance of having to fill
out one of these because you are being treated unfairly, please bring
them to my office with a written description of what happened so we can
forward them to Department of Tourism. Now
please remember, if you did in fact break a traffic law, you are liable
to a fine or dealing with it yourself with the officer. In many cases,
they are very fair in dealing with these offenders. But you may as well
be prepared for the time that they are not being fair by having this form
in your car or on your person. Adriana Perez Flores
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