In order to cut the number of robberies on the Collective Transportation System (STC) Metro and guarantee that thieves are caught, the Metro Seguro operation, which places undercover police on the Metro system, will be permanent.
The head of Mexico City’s Prosecutor’s Office, Edmundo Porfirio Garrido Osorio, said that with the cooperation of Jorge Gaviño Ambriz, the Metro’s director, the permanent placement of security will take place in September.
Launched on August 5 in response to the increase in robberies on the STC, the operation involving 48 undercover agents from the Investigative Police has accounted for the arrest of 83 people, the prosecutor said.
He explained that during 2016 there were two robberies a day on average in the Metro facilities. At the beginning of 2017, there were five robberies a day while in June and July the number soared to 10.
According to Garrido Osorio, the increase robberies without the use of violence is due to the new criminal justice system which allows reparations to be given by the accused to the victim of the crime, without the defendant going to prison if it is their first offense.
He acknowledged, however, that the prosecutors’ own staff within the Metro facilitated settlements without formal complaint in some cases, so there was no record of repeat offenders.
Therefore, as part of the program, undercover investigation police bring detainees to the Central Investigation Office where the complaints are filed and records remain, even if the detainee does not go to pre-trial detention.
Of the total number of detainees during the first month of the operation, 54 have been for robbery, four for injury, one for attempted robbery and one for property damage.
The prosecutor said that the operation will be maintained and that the results will be seen more clearly in the coming months.
The stations with the highest number of complaints at the time of the operation are Pantitlán with seven; Hidalgo and Bellas Artes with five each; while in Pino Suárez and Balderas there were three complaints each.