Guliani to Clean up Mexico City

[Manu]

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been hired to help rid Mexico City of its infamously high rates of kidnappings, robberies and murders.

Giuliani, credited with reducing crime in New York by 65 percent, will work as a paid consultant to Mexico City's government for one year. It will be the first international security project for the former mayor's consultancy group.

"The similarities between what Mexico City faces today and what New York City faced in the late '80s and early '90s are striking," Giuliani told reporters at a news conference in New York City. "We're hopeful that we can be of assistance."

Mexico City has long been plagued by crime. Cab drivers have been known to kidnap passengers, holding them for several days and driving them to automatic teller machines until their bank accounts are empty.

Last month, Laura Zapata and Ernestina Sodi, sisters of Mexican actress and Latin Grammy performer Thalia, disappeared from their car after leaving a play in which Zapata had a starring role. A friend of the family said kidnappers have requested a ransom of $1 million.

Thalia and her husband, Sony Music Chairman Tommy Mottola, were reportedly in the Mexican capital after Sodi and Zapata disappeared. The family has declined to report the kidnapping to police.


A police officer guards a bank Thursday in Mexico City.



An estimated two-thirds of all offenses in Mexico City go unreported because many people believe that officials are involved in crime -- or that the justice system is too corrupt and inefficient to do anything about it.

Few reliable statistics on crime in the city exist, but a poll last month found that many Mexicans feel it is on the rise.

President Vicente Fox has made battling criminal activity a priority, and he has pressured Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to crack down on crime.

The two agreed in February to name as police chief Marcelo Ebrard, a former congressman who specialized in investigating corruption cases.

Ebrard will work with Giuliani and more than 15 people on the former mayor's team, including former police commissioner Bernard Kerik and former fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen.

Giuliani is expected to begin work with Ebrard later this year. He will evaluate Mexico City's police force and make recommendations for improvements.

In New York, Giuliani said one of his team's first tasks will be to analyze the crime statistics in Mexico City and "make sure everything is being reported, and reported accurately."

In battling corruption among police officers, Kerik said his team would be looking into setting up a strong internal affairs bureau.

"There has to be accountability within the police department," he said.

Private money donated by a group of business officials will be used to pay for Giuliani's services, but Mexico City authorities did not release the amount on Thursday.

Ebrard said Giuliani and his team will only make recommendations, and he scoffed at the suggestion that Mexico City was turning over administration of the capital to U.S. authorities.

"We aren't going to be importing police," Ebrard said. "We are interested in the organization, the system" of fighting crime.

Giuliani was optimistic that the experiences of a prosperous city like New York could be compared with those of a sprawling, relatively poor metropolis like Mexico City.

"I presided over the city in some very bad economic times, too," the former New York City mayor said. "Sure, there are differences between New York City and Mexico City, but I'm not sure those differences are relevant to crime reduction."
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[Red]

Rudy for President!