TIJUANA (Border Report) — The Citizen’s Council for Public Safety is demanding that the state of Baja California recognize the “dangerous living conditions afflicting women in Tijuana.”
Council President Roberto Quijano Sosa says there’s an urgent need for the city and state to step up and provide more safety.
“The first priority for the state should be addressing the insecurity among citizens,” he said. “It has to be more than just notices on social media that go out to the public.”
Quijano Sosa went on to say he is looking to meet with Baja Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda.
“In her six months in office, we’ve been invited only once to participate in a public safety round table,” Quijano Sosa said, adding that public safety agencies have been abandoned by the state in terms of financing over the last eight years with lack of funding for personnel and resources in their budgets.
“Public safety is totally underfunded,” he said.
According to the Citizen’s Council for Public Safety, murders against women are up 85.7 percent during the first six months of this year when compared to the same period in 2021.
And it says kidnappings are up by 60 percent, while auto theft is up by almost 18 percent.
“The worst statistic is 90 percent of all crimes go unpunished — that’s nine out of 10 — it’s terrible,” said Quijano Sosa. “As for public perception, citizens don’t see any coordination among the three branches of government and most don’t even know why the National Guard is here or what its function is, it’s not enough.”
Quijano Sosa also mentioned that communities where crime was not as prevalent such as Rosarito and Ensenada, are now experiencing an increase in violent crimes that also affect visitors.
“There was an incident where there was a shootout and some of those shots hit a car filled with tourists forcing its driver to lose control and two people died, and three others were injured,” he said. “These incidents are affecting tourists innocent people.”
