JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report) – A language barrier didn’t keep Douglas Limas Pithon from sharing with a group of Spanish-speaking Juarez police officers his expertise facing criminals in highly volatile situations.
The Brazilian career police special forces expert gestured, knelt and helped the Juarez officers hold their rifles in the correct position while running from one parapet to another. At times, he led by example, placing himself among the group. On other occasions, he merely observed and gave them thumbs up for a job well done while muttering praises in Portuguese.
Limas was among the handful of experts from Spain and South America who spent this week at the Chihuahua State Police Training Academy helping the local SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) unit sharpen their skills.
“What we are looking for is to exchange experiences and generate additional knowledge so the state police can do a better job for the citizens of Chihuahua,” said Chihuahua Public Safety Director Gilberto Loya.
The state police recently activated a SWAT team. Its members have been spotted during disturbances at the state prison in Juarez and called to shooting scenes after the fact.
The experts talked to local police about the importance of utilizing field intelligence and technology to assess a crisis even before deploying. They also urged alertness because crises can take unexpected turns in a heartbeat.
“Maybe here you don’t see situations that are characteristic in other parts of the world, but our tactics can be used in the future by (law enforcement) personnel here in Chihuahua,” said Eduardo Gabino Ruiz Murillo, a police operations commander in Cataluña, Spain. “And what Chihuahua does can be useful to us in our respective countries. […] Here they use a very measured approach that is yielding good results for the police.”
But criminals in Chihuahua could become more aggressive and take hostages when confronted by the police. That’s when local officers will be able to use the training from visiting experts who have dealt with hundreds of such situations in their own countries, he said.
That’s as far as isolated criminal events go. On the other hand, Spain hasn’t seen drug cartels go out on the streets, torch cars, shoot up businesses and apparently kill people at random like they did during Black Thursday two years ago in Juarez, one of the experts said.
“We don’t have as high of a crime rate in Spain, and we don’t see criminals unleash violence on the streets with high-caliber weapons, with weapons or war. The conflict in Juarez has reached great heights and has police at a disadvantage in terms of resources,” Ruiz said.
The training was part of the Special Forces International Encounter 2024 at the state police training academy. In addition to the drills, gang experts from Chile and El Salvador told Chihuahua state officers how they have dealt with the Mara Salvatrucha and Tren de Aragua.
Chihuahua State Police Officer Ruben Contreras said the training was welcome because it will help him, and his peers complete the job’s most important mission: To go home unharmed at the end of the day.