Thread: Crime fears drive Mexicans' increase of extreme security mea

Crime fears drive Mexicans' increase of extreme security measures

02:48 PM CDT on Friday, August 29, 2008
By LAURENCE ILIFF / The Dallas Morning News
liliff@dallasnews.com

MEXICO CITY – Fearful Mexicans are injecting rice-sized security chips under their skin, strapping on $400 bulletproof vests under work shirts, and installing satellite trackers in their cars as an unchecked crime wave sweeps the nation.

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Columbian creator of bulletproof clothing shoots public relations consultant in demonstration (DMN-Video/Editing: Laurence Iliff)
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Along the Mexican border with Texas, factory workers are given personal security classes by U.S. trainers, who tell them to alter their routes to work and keep track of reappearing vehicles to make it more difficult for them to be followed.

The upper middle class and the rich are turning to bulletproofing their vehicles, a booming "accessory item" that runs from $20,000 to $100,000 based on what kind of bullets the buyer wants to be able to stop.

An unprecedented wave of narco killings and a series of kidnappings have the Mexican security industry booming, but they're bad news for everybody else, including American investors and tourists, analysts say.

The U.S. Embassy is warning travelers to take extra precautions, as have the embassies of European countries.

Even President Felipe Calderón, who has made crime his top priority, acknowledged this week that taxpayer-funded police forces are involved in not just drug-running but also a rash of abductions, in which uniformed officers sometimes are the executioners of their victims, even children.

Crime has skyrocketed, analysts say, because crime pays in Mexico. About 99 percent of all crimes go unpunished, according to studies by non-governmental groups.

"Criminals have become much more aggressive, more insensitive, and the attacks come with a much greater level of violence," said Mauricio Natale, president of the Mexican Association of Armored Vehicles.

LAURENCE ILIFF/DMN
A mannequin displays bulletproof clothing in the posh Polanco section of Mexico City. Colombian entrepreneur Miguel Caballero sells bulletproof clothing that run from a simple $400 vest to tuxedos and T-shirts that cost thousands of dollars.
View larger More photos Photo store "It's very complicated for people because the criminals know that the police are very corrupt and that nothing will happen to them even if they are caught," said Mr. Natale, who predicts armored car sales nationwide will reach 1,700 this year, compared with 1,500 last year.

More than a million people are expected to join in anti-crime marches in 17 states on Saturday night, including the Mexico-Texas border states of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas.

Part of the outcry, analysts say, stems from the recent kidnap and killing of the 14-year-old son of a sporting goods mogul, and public pleas and billboards put up this week by the mother of 19-year-old Silvia Vargas, who was kidnapped a year ago.

A massive banner across a downtown building bears an image of a smiling Ms. Vargas, whose family has a chain of swimming centers, with the words "Please return my daughter Silvia. A reward will be paid."

But while part of Mexicans' fear may come from the publicity surrounding high-profile crimes, another part comes from the government's own numbers.

The federal Public Security Ministry released figures this week that show reported kidnappings rose to 785 last year, up from 727 in 2006. That's an 8.6 percent increase and more than 50 percent higher than the 500 reported kidnappings per year at the beginning of the decade. And most kidnappings, analysts say, are not reported for fear that police are involved.

Mr. Calderón, in a series of televised spots this week that constitute his "state of the union" message, acknowledged police corruption and promised to do more.

"I know that Mexico faces a great security problem," he said. "It's a cancer that has been incubating during years and one that was not paid attention to, but it is a cancer that we are going to eradicate."

Meanwhile, Mexicans are taking matters into their own hands.

The sales of global positioning system (GPS) units that can be carried or installed in vehicles – and are used mainly for security in Mexico – are rising by 25 percent a year, according to the Mexican Association of Private Security and Satellite Companies. Currently, Mexico has 150,000 of the units functioning, increasingly by private users like families worried about the whereabouts of their children.

The devices have a panic button which alerts police or private guards.

"A GPS is not going to stop a kidnapping or robbery, but it does allow for a reaction to get security to them," said Gerardo Macias Pérez, the organization's treasurer.

A Colombian entrepreneur has another idea: bulletproof clothing.

Miguel Caballero sells raincoats, jackets, tuxedos and even T-shirts with high-tech bullet-stopping equipment from a store in Mexico City's posh Polanco neighborhood.

But it's not just the rich buying, he said. Politicians, business people and even low-level distributors of consumer goods are clients for his creations, which cost from $400 to $6,000 and more.

Sales in Mexico are rising by 20 percent a year, Mr. Caballero said.

But for all the high-tech and hardware growth in the security market, security consultant Jon French, director of Problem Solvers in Mexico, says knowledge is power.

Mr. French gives talks to workers of factories along the U.S.-Mexico border and consults for the rich and powerful.

The famous chip implanted in one's arm bears personal information, but it is useless without an external GPS transmitter, he said.

Mr. French recommends that Mexicans stay out of online social networking groups like Facebook, since kidnappers are looking for any personal information concerning wealth, places frequented and pictures.

He also recommends keeping a low profile in terms of showing off any type of wealth, since some kidnappers are looking for as little as a few hundred dollars and will kill their victims since the likelihood of getting caught is so low.







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Just wonder if any of the American designers are bulletproofing evening gowns or casual wear for women yet? Time to email Project Runway with a new idea for a designer challenge, and it is beginning to sound as if we will all need those kind of garments in the closet, even to be worn during daylight hours.