Just 20, young mother becomes Mexican top cop

[Heracles 417]

Good on her, but what the heck is Mexico coming too?

They need to hire Sl-m and see if he can walk the talk. $1k says Sl-m's killed within the hour of arriving.

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Just 20, young mother becomes Mexican top cop

October 21, 2010 - 8:27AM

Mexican police chief aged 20

20 year-old student and mother, Marisol Valles is the newest chief of police in a drug-plagued region of northern Mexico.

Marisol Valles is just 20 years old, mother of a baby son and still a student, but she is also the newest chief of police in a drug-plagued region of northern Mexico.

"She was the only person to accept the position," said the mayor's office in Praxedis Guadalupe Guerrero, amid the daily threat of violence here which has claimed the lives of police officers and a former mayor.

But Valles, who is studying criminology in nearby Ciudad Juarez - Mexico's most violent city - said she was determined not to be intimidated.

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New chief cop ... Marisol Valles attends a news conference. Photo: Reuters

"We're all afraid in Mexico now. We can't let fear beat us," Valles said, wearing glasses and holding an exercise book after her swearing in yesterday.

The unassuming criminology student took up the post of police chief in a municipality of some 10,000 near the US border because no one else wanted it.

Chihuahua state has borne the brunt of Mexico's spiralling drug-related violence that has left more than 28,000 dead in the last four years.

Marisol Valles speaks with high school students. Photo: AFP

Last week there were at least eight murders in Praxedis. The former mayor was killed in June. And police officers have also been targeted.

Valles officially took on her new post in front of the 19 police officers, including nine recently recruited women, who will be her team.

"I took the risk because I want my son to live in a different community to the one we have today. I want people to be able to go out without fear, as it was before," Valles said.

More than 2500 people have been killed this year in the Juarez valley region, where the town lies, and the area is deemed a high-traffic transit point for illegal drugs, as well as migrants, into the US state of Texas.

With scant resources, Valles said her job will not be to fight drug trafficking because that responsibility falls on soldiers and federal police.

Instead, she will focus on rehabilitating public spaces and improving relationships between neighbours in order to improve general security.

"Praxedis was different in the time of its oldest residents - people walked the streets at night, they knew each other, they talked and met up," she said.

On her first day at work, Valles was out on the beat visiting schools and residents.

"I've been well received and I know people will help me to work on solutions for security problems," she said.

Thousands of towns and villages across Mexico are policed by small, underpaid and under-armed forces, who are notoriously corrupt and often work with drug traffickers.

President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown on the country's powerful drug gangs, involving some 50,000 troops, when he took office in 2007.

He has also sought to clean up the police with a series of purges and stricter training, and is seeking to bring some 2,500 municipalities under the control of state governments, which are considered to be less corrupt.

Valles said she took a month to decide whether to accept her new post, after consulting with her family.

"Young people need to engage with their communities," she said.

http://www.theage.com.au/world/just-20-young-mother--becomes-mexican-top-cop-20101021-16umk.html?autostart=1

AFP

[spookyturtle 9,466]

10K says you wouldn't last 5 minutes.

[Ban Hammer 13,514]

i wish her the best of luck. given how bloodthirsty the drug lords are, she'll need lots of luck.

[Heracles 417]

10K says you wouldn't last 5 minutes.

I'll piss on the cartels.

Give me Just Shooter, Charles, Slim and some serious fire power, I will drive them out myself. Slim and Charles just better not go crying to the UN or Media once there is necessary collateral damage. Some towns might also be wiped off the map, so someone might need to inform google to delete them entirely.

i wish her the best of luck. given how bloodthirsty the drug lords are, she'll need lots of luck.

Tell me about it. This girl deserves to win a humanitarian award.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

You forgot Gary and Natty.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

are we doing a deal pool on this one??????

[Heracles 417]

You forgot Gary and Natty.

A few cruise Missiles and we can fix all of these cartel problems for the rest of Mexico.

[Wayne and Claudia 40]

I think she is either ballsy or has a death wish. I will be rooting for her but God help her.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

A few cruise Missiles and we can fix all of these cartel problems for the rest of Mexico.

Really. The way the drug war is currently being fought is too slow and too many civilian casualties. We need a massive strike at the enemies heart and not worry about the collateral damage.

[Heracles 417]

Really. The way the drug war is currently being fought is too slow and too many civilian casualties. We need a massive strike at the enemies heart and not worry about the collateral damage.

People are dying anyway so we need to go in and go hard. Mexico is clearly not able to handle this and needs some serious fire power.

Tell them we'll send in UAVs to man the sky 24/7. So if they even pass gas, we'll be waiting.

Time to teach them who is boss in this neck of the words. Not to mention, payback for killing that American citizen in Texas who was jet-skiing.

Edited October 21, 2010 by Heracles

[spookyturtle 9,466]

People are dying anyway so we need to go in and go hard. Mexico is clearly not able to handle this and needs some serious fire power.

Tell them we'll send in UAVs to man the sky 24/7. So if they even pass gas, we'll be waiting.

Time to teach them who is boss in this neck of the words. Not to mention, payback for killing that American citizen in Texas who was jet-skiing.

There would be less deaths overall if we did go in and eliminate the problem at the source. A few A-10's some M1 Abrams tanks and we could keep our losses to a minimum. And use agent orange on the marijuana crop.

Edited October 21, 2010 by spookyturtle

[Ban Hammer 13,514]

People are dying anyway so we need to go in and go hard. Mexico is clearly not able to handle this and needs some serious fire power.

Tell them we'll send in UAVs to man the sky 24/7. So if they even pass gas, we'll be waiting.

Time to teach them who is boss in this neck of the words. Not to mention, payback for killing that American citizen in Texas who was jet-skiing.

what's this "we" stuff?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

And a fleet of these patrolling the border.

[Heracles 417]

what's this "we" stuff?

Is in everyone with a military. Rest assured, the private contractors will still sit on their #### and do FA, while looting the US taxpayer.

[Ban Hammer 13,514]

Is in everyone with a military. Rest assured, the private contractors will still sit on their #### and do FA, while looting the US taxpayer.

i'm willing to bet most of those contractors have more military experience than you do