A Message from Linda Fossi

Fresh off TOB.......

CSI Update – “ANONYMOUS WITNESS HOTLINE” is Live and being tested



We’re very pleased to announce that the Anonymous Witness Hotline went live this week and is currently being tested following proper procedures. We expect the Hotline to be fully functional and available to be used by the Community in early February. At that time, we will also announce a detailed informational/communication program on how to use the Hotline to report tips on crimes committed in our Municipality. You can rest assured that the Hotline will be totally anonymous – no one will know who the caller is or the phone number they are calling from. The Hotline is part of a very successful program called Crime Stoppers International, based in Canada and serving 22 countries including the USA.

Our CSI committee has worked closely with the Chapala Municipality, especially our Police Chief, Captain Reynol Contreras, who has been extremely supportive of this effort. Our team and Captain Contreras have worked diligently throughout the Holiday season to successfully roll out this program.

For the next few weeks, the hotline will be tested by a select group of people, members of the Mexican and Foreign communities, who will be calling in pre-scripted tips in order to verify that the intake, handling, and forwarding of information process is working as intended. Response time by call center representatives, the ability to handle calls in English and Spanish, and the turnaround time between receipt of tips and when they’re forwarded to the Chief of Police will be closely monitored and any adjustments will be made prior to releasing the Mexican Toll Free number to the community in early February.

CSI is also actively working on a Neighborhood Watch program, again borrowing from successful programs in many other locations in the USA, Canada and Mexico. We also plan to implement this program in the February time frame.

The “Boots on the Ground” program is also being actively pursued; however, due to its complexity we expect that it’ll be implemented a few months out. In the interim, there has been a noticeable improvement in police patrolling in the Chapala Municipality.

We at CSI have now formally organized ourselves with equal representation from both the Mexican and Foreign communities. We are working closely with several key members of the Chapala Municipal Government and the State of Jalisco.

Finally, we are happy to report that a voluntary funding program has been setup to collect donations for the improvement of Security in the Municipality. This year, when you pay your “predial” (real estate taxes) at the Municipality, you can also request to make a donation towards security. Just ask the teller and make sure that you receive a receipt. This fund will be managed separately from the other government funds and we’ll have a say on how the funds will be used.

Folks, we are working together with many of you and the authorities to make Chapala/Ajijic a much better and safer community. We look forward to your on-going support. May you have a happy and blessed 2012.

CSI Team

Kudos indeed. This is some great work IMO. The residents from Melaque are taking example from the residents of Chapala and I understand they had a big meeting there today and will be marching to meet with their Mayor tomorrow.

From all the reading that I did regarding the Juaréz Crime Stoppers program, one of the key things was the anonymous phone line being answered in The US. Mexicans have a well developed distrust for the workings of law enforcement and it did take some time for the residents of Juaréz not only to become familiar with the hotline but trust the fact that they were truly anonymous!

in mexico you can not block your caller ID. in the states you can have a permanent block, or just block certain calls. that is one of the problems. i would not want my # recorded.

susan wrote:in mexico you can not block your caller ID. in the states you can have a permanent block, or just block certain calls. that is one of the problems. i would not want my # recorded.

yeah, they might come to get you and do us all a favor.

your headstone would read "Poor susan opened her mouth for the last time"

Thanks to John, I had the dubious pleasure of reading the contents of one of susan's posts. Considering the fact that many Mexicans would not have a home phone, I would think that they would be using a public phone. I can say that I have personally made two anonymous calls here in Albuquerque but never from our home phone or a cell phone. While I am not an overly paranoid person, I would never submit from a personal phone or personal email!

Edit: I have never been motivated by the reward and just wanted/cared to do my part to get the trash off our streets.

interesting. i always wondered if a "blocked" number was automatically UN blocked by the police or a crime hotline. (??) i do not want to get involved w/mexican business. #1) being american, i do not think i would get the reward. they "take" from us, its tradition. not give, thats rare. #2) do not want to spend time w/police. #3) do not 100% believe police would keep my name or # private. #4) it would have to be a very serious crime to consider. my mexican friends can handle it, on their phone. we would share reward. but knowing mexicans, they are more paranoid than me.