ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO---With a March 14 ceremony, city officials here launched an 18-member Tourist Police force which will patrol areas frequented by Rosarito’s more than one million visitors a year.

The force will patrol areas including the downtown, Puerto Nuevo Lobster Village and Popotla Boulevard, home to arts and crafts shops and Xploration Studios, where “Titanic” and other movies were filmed.

Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres, who took office Dec. 1, said the new force is composed of the city’s best officers who were personally selected by Police Chief Jorge Montero.

“The city is the main host for our visitors and their security is our first priority,” Torres said.

Tourist police officers will patrol in 12 specially marked 2007 Dodge Chargers equipped with cameras and purchased for $340,000, four ATVS and bicycles for beach areas. They will wear gray and black uniforms identifying them as Policia Turistica.

“They will be very visible and very accessible,” Torres said.

In addition to starting the Policia Turistica and other improvements in the 150-member police department, Rosarito has taken other recent actions to increase security and comfort for its visitors.

More than 300 residents here have volunteered to provide citizens’ watch services for visitors to this popular Mexican tourist destination 30 miles south of San Diego.

Members of the newly formed Citizen Council for Assistance to Tourists were sworn in at a recent ceremony at the Rosarito Beach Hotel. They included both Mexican-born and expatriate residents of the city, tourism officials and business people.

The city of 140,000 includes about 14,000 expatriate residents.

“As the Mexican government cracks down drug cartels, there have been highly publicized incidents of violence between authorities and organized crime in Baja,” Torres “Some people in U.S. have asked if it safe to visit.”

“In reality, we have had very few crimes targeting our visitors, but we believe that any is too many,” Torres said. “There also is the perception of crime being greater than the reality, and we must deal with that as well. Our visitors must feel comfortable.”

“Federal, state and local police patrols have been increased throughout northern Baja. We want people to know that we are doing everything possible to make our visitors feel secure and comfortable when they come here.”

In past years, extortion of motorists and other visitors has been a problem, Torres said. He has pledged to eliminate that with the complete revamping of the police department.

Rosarito also has created a 24-hour-a-day ombudsman office to assist any visitor involved in an accident or crime. Ricardo Moreno, an attorney, heads that office.



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