Lupita Murillo Reports
FBI trains Mexican police officers in Tucson

May 18, 2007 04:52 PM PDT

The FBI has just finished training a group of Mexican police officers in Tucson to join in the fight against crime.

It's called MALET, or Mexican American Law Enforcement Training, and has been around since 1988.

The officers are trained by FBI Agents, who are border liaisons.

This past week, 29 Mexican officers have been in classrooms as well as field training exercises.

Agent Ben Perez of the FBI says "The training is very useful for them these are things they will use day to day in Mexico."

The officers are a mixture of local, state and federal officers, including members of AFI; an agency in Mexico like our FBI.

Agent Jorge Cisneros of the FBI says "In light of 9/11, this is something we promote and the liaisons we do with these agencies. We teach them also about terrorism and how to look for certain things."

Some of training exercises include high risk vehicle stops, and an exercise called "Action Versus Reaction." That's where officers learn to discern whether to shoot, or not to shoot. Trainers say an officer needs to act fast because the bad guy already knows what he's going to do. Gerry Navarro with the Arizona Department of Public Safety says "It teaches us to think a lot quicker and to realize it's a threat before it is a threat."

The head of AFI for the state of Sonora says this training is invaluable; especially now, during all the violence along the border.







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