SAN DIEGO (Border Report) -- The Tijuana Police Department will begin equipping its patrol cars with GPS systems and dashboard cameras, and the mayor says the first units featuring the new technology will go into service by the end of the year.
"We have to make use of available technology, we have to take this step," Tijuana Mayor Ismael Burgueño Ruiz said.
The mayor told reporters on Thursday the city currently leases 262 patrol cars as a way to save money, something he plans to continue doing.
"This guarantees necessary repairs as well as recommended maintenance," he said.
He also said the city will increase its leasing budget for trash trucks to provide more trash collection throughout the city.
"We're looking for more trash trucks so we can initiate new routes and provide consistent service," he said. "I don't think we should charge anyone for trash collection, my objective is to guarantee public services to all."
City treasurer, Víctor Ramos Gómez, said the city has budgeted 365 million pesos, about $19 million, to pay for the 262 police patrol cars and another 200 million pesos ($10.5 million) to lease trash trucks.
He and the mayor added that they are looking into reports about many police cars parked at stations and city yards that are not being used, "wasting money."
Both also said they are also investigating the number of companies and property owners that fail to pay property taxes, stating the number could be as high as 46 percent throughout the city.
Ramos Gómez also stated there are no current plans to lease or purchase police helicopters, something to which the previous mayoral administration alluded.