Mexican Police Officers Are Stripped of Their Guns & Armed With Slingshots & Stones
A troop of Mexican Police Officers have been stripped of their guns and issued with slingshots and stones instead. The move has been initiated by the governor of the Mexican state, Veracruz.
Being a cop is never easy. The day to day activities of a police officer is full of potential danger. Nearly every day, we come across news of cops being hurt or killed while on duty. It takes enormous potential first to secure a job in the department and then to maintain the pride of one's nation. And in any case, you are described as unfit for the service, the repercussion could be worst and embarrassing at the same time. Much like in a recent case when a troop of Mexican Police Officers who have been stripped of their guns and issued with slingshots and stones instead.
The move has been initiated by Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares, the governor of the Mexican state, Veracruz when only 30 officers out of 130-member police department in Alvarado have cleared the control tests and been deemed fit for service; reported The Guardian. In a symbolic act of protest, media outlets of Mexico showed the Mayor Bogar Ruiz Rosas where he issued the police their new sidearms. He was seen giving catapults and small bags of rocks to the officers. Ruiz further stated that such action to disarm the cops was a political dispute.
"This can only be understood as something political, and we have to be prepared to do work in a professional manner," Ruiz was quoted saying the same report. He added, "Today we delivered slingshots to our municipal police. The citizen governor made the decision to take all the weapons, which disqualified him completely, as it violates our autonomy." On the other hand, Veracruz governor Yunes Linares in his defence said that the state seized the weapons from the force because the officers were not suitably accredited.
Despite all the fuss, are slingshots not counted as weapons already? Again, this is not the first time that the Mexican Police will fight evils with slingshots. According to earlier reports, in 2007, over 60 slingshots were issued to the cops in Tijuana after army soldiers confiscated their firearms on allegations of cooperation with drug traffickers.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 11, 2018 06:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).