Chapala cop cameos

Lots of cop talk lately, always negative and for good reason but I'd like to interject some personal observations as it relates to Chapala's finest. Candace and I have lived across the street from the police station for about 7 years. Being on the third floor overlooking their offices, court yard, jail cells and knowing a few of the cops has given us a differing view of their world. No blinding insights mind you, just some trivial cop stories for a Sunday morning grin.

During our remodel Miguel was one the construction workers who would arrive daily at 8 a.m and work until 5 p.m.. Then he would ride his bicycle home to shower, change and eat before racing back to work the night shift at the police department. Nice guy, spoke English, had a wife and three kids. He said being a cop sucked, low pay, no respect from anyone and if anybody thought he would catch a bullet for the cause they were crazy.

About 6 years ago the newspaper guy could be heard every morning coming down our street shouting the news. One morning when he was about a block away I heard him shouting something like "Corruption corruption, the police are corrupt, bla bla bla!" And I'm thinking what, the guy must be crazy! Well sure enough, he gets right underneath the chief's 2nd story window when 2 uniforms round the corner, back him up against the wall and give him a verbal 15 minutes of what for. I still see the newspaper guy around town shouting the news but not on this street.

There's an elderly and very poor lady who lives nearby. Most mornings before the trash truck makes it's run she will walk the block rummaging through the trash and collecting recyclables. On a good day her bag will be bulging but most days it's a rather meager take. Hearting it is to occasionally see a cop dig deep into his pockets to give her some coins.

Most jail business is during the holidays and on the weekends. Usually about 3:00 p.m. the pickups start arriving with handcuffed young men who have been having too much fun in public. The thing that still amazes me is the lengths the police go to ensure the cuffed drunks are not injured while getting out of the back of the pickup and no cheap shots. One exception was a bull of a fellow who was kicking and swearing at the cops and wouldn't settle down until he was settled down. Think lumpy cabeza.

Fav early morning scenes: Seeing a horse tethered to a jail cell. Well it used to be until Mr. Horsey threw a fit and kicked the frijoles out of a police pickup and some cop bicycles. Now they tether horses to a tree across the street.

A couple of weeks ago an inebriated 'gentlemen' was waiting on the corner for his equally intoxicated buddy to get out of jail when a very attractive young lady happened to walk by. Apparently he couldn't contain himself and said something that didn't please the cop who was working nearby on a police vehicle. In a most uncomfortable fashion and within the minute the miscreant found himself in the pokey with his buddy.

Over the years 'the boys' have helped more than a few of our elderly residents and neighbors with heavy packages, luggage, cars, sticky locks etc. and to my knowledge never expected or accepted a propina. To us they seem to be just regular guys working in a corrupt system. So they have the bad boy reputation but there is some good in them.

Well written. I live very near the Ajijic city hall/police station and have seen
this kind of stuff. Like most of life I think the Chapala Police are grey and
not black and white. Most are actually quite nice as I talk to them everyday
going down Colon. I have also seen the dark side from some of them but
most seem mostly normal.

Z

Mega dittos on the well-written little slice of life you provided. I was watching "Cops" last night & thought how I couldn't have the patience to deal with drunks spitting on me & all the other abuse police suffer daily & these were NOB with decent paychecks. It's sure not the case here. That broad brush sometimes paints too wide a swath. Thanks for the reminder.

OMG, RB, you are VERY articulate and funny first thing in the morning. Love this post, laughed out loud.

The only difference between your town and mine is when the newspaper guy with the megaphone makes the rounds with disparaging news, the cops get sent out to buy up all his papers.

When we were there in the winter, there were Chapala Police Officers guarding a house at the west end of Av. del Parque in Chula Vista. Myself and many local residents would regularly drop off Cokes, bags of chips and other "treats".

I found them very thankful and appreciative. After a while, they became friendly and personable.

Like Police Officers everywhere... they will treat their clients the same way they are treated.

Perhaps we should treat them better, stopping to chat with them and even thanking them for doing a tough job.

Remember, many of them are taking English lessons on their own time to be able to converse with us.

Just sayin'....

BTW - Are they still there?

Great little post Bob. Like it a lot, and spoken from a man who has been around a couple blocks (well maybe a couple hundred).
Anyway, I think you are giving a little balance to the always negative. And I am not naive enough to think that most of the negative aren't warranted.
Like anywhere, from Chicago to LA to wherever, you're gonna find good and bad.
Thanks for pointing out the other side.

Great post! A slice of humanity.

Kudos to all who give kudos to police here - our police presence in Riberas has been most welcome and they seem very appreciative of the smiles and waves we give them on our dog walks.

A very nicely balanced post Bob! Far too often we only hear the negative because that sells news. It is human nature to tell 20 people when something bad happens but to only tell 2 when something good happens. Go figure.
Thanks for a wonderful Sunday morning read.

A great piece of writing, Bob! You are a master story teller and never more so than when you write from the heart. Thank you for this Sunday morning treat.

Garsh amigos, thanks for the kudos. Those things are a rarity in my life and I appreciate 'em. xoxoxoxo

And Oatsie, I don't know if they are still there or not.

Living in Chapala Haciendas and recently out walking a couple of my little dogs around 7pm. The Police patrol our fracc quite a few times a day. Truck stopped, officer got out of the truck and walked over to me handing me a little piece of paper with his cell phone number. He told me that if I ever required assistance to call him. He was very professional, got back into his truck and told me he was going to follow me home. Upon arriving at my gate, I thanked him and went into the house and brought the two officers out a coke each! They seemed surprised, thanked me, waved and drove off!
I was impressed and each time I see them patrol our fracc, I wave and thank them! Maybe if we all start showing a little appreciation for their service. Yes, some are bad but we're just thankful to have the service in our area.

Fantastic RoofBob! I have had nothing but really good interactions with the cops here.

Didn't someone post just recently how awful, corrupt, and undeserving of civilian help the police were?
I thought it was a little over the top. Most Mexicans would rather have a police presence than NO police presence.

slainte39 wrote:Didn't someone post just recently how awful, corrupt, and undeserving of civilian help the police were?
I thought it was a little over the top. Most Mexicans would rather have a police presence than NO police presence.

I believe it was Trailrunner and I was in agreement. I find the naiveté displayed in this thread is a bit of a head in the sand point of view. Yes Mexicans want a police presence but they would much prefer one that they can trust. And very few if any put much trust in the cops. Yes, they can be helpful at times, they're supposed to be.

How much civilian help do they receive from Mexicans? Pretty much squat.

Feeling rather literate and hoping to suck another kudo out of a generous crowd, here's a few more snippets.

My fav cop is a rather portly older guy who resembles Ernest Borgnine, even sporting that same big gappy tooth smile. Well, every morning he gets to work at the crack of dawn and spends about an hour washing his car. It's an old beater, a 70's style family station wagon that should have been put out of everyone's misery long ago but no, it's his baby. Anyway this guy really takes pride in his car and fusses and futzes and shines unto the last lug nut. Once finished he will walk half way across the street then turn around and take one long last look and smile.

A while back one of our residents happened to be an extremely attractive young single lady. She was a body builder with long red hair and she really did have it going on. Well, apparently this was too much for a healthy young cop to handle and he was way past smitten. Long story short, he became a pest, quick chat with the chief and he hasn't been seen since.

For 2 years a former police chief kept is breeder pit bull on the station house roof. She was a beautiful dog, young, healthy and well fed but bored silly as there was noting on the roof but roof. So her only entertainment was to go nutzo when a dog or horse walked by or when the poor schmuck on poopie patrol made his daily rounds. Then one day she found a brick and she and that brick became best friends. She loved that brick and always carried it in her mouth. Sometimes she would whip around and toss it and fetch it and other times she would use it as a pillow. We named her Blockhead and really enjoyed her antics until that one fateful day when the circus came to town. You see, it isn't easy to bark with a brick in your mouth yet Blockhead managed nicely. But the circus just had to parade their menagerie up our street and Blockie blew it when the camels came by. Damn near killed a cop standing on the sidewalk below.

Thanks for reminding us that Chapala cops are people too, Roofbob...I stopped bashing them a while back when I found out that they don't even have life insurance...but their vehicles have full coverage.

For those of you that enjoy the column Vox Populi, Dona Lengua y Dona Vibora discuss the Chapala cop that was arrested in this weeks column...pretty dang funny.

Please continue your View of the Cop Shop vignettes as the spirit moves you. You have a unique view of the cops--literally.

It is the culture of don't snitch and get your family and friends and neibours in trouble until they rob, assault or go after you.

Best practice is to not try to be Mexican by living in the ghetto but a safer area (wherever those are).

Safe areas come and go depending on the moment but if your neighbors have lots of kids, no daddies and don't study or work, then you are high risk as their money is probsably coming from illegsl means.

I commented to my friend in Guad that someone was killed in Chapala today, she said well she was eating in Plaza Andares and I reminded her that 2 were killed there yesterday. If it is your time, it is youir time and people who are politicians, police and in the drug business have a very short life span.

The local area has ita bad parts such as SJC, 6 corners and much of Ajijic whuile the easy to get in and steal and get out (Like LA Freeway systems) is Fl Floresta and Chapala Haciendas.

In Guadalajara the areas to stay away from are Oblatos, Cerro del 4, Miravalle to name a few and El Colli. As wellas the eastern end of the city east of Carretara Chapala coming in to Gonzalez Gallo the streets with the numbers like the 28 and the 51 for example. Small towns have their issues too so beware where you live. . INFONAVIT carckerbox houses have been chaotic with the people moving in. Some times for a foreigner, a little more investigation and a few hundered more in rents will make worlds of difference in where they live. You want to try to live either with the few perecntage of educated people who raise their kids well and who take care of their communcities or risk anarchy and strife.

Great stories, RB, do keep 'em coming. You write well.

I worked today and tonight with the cops and basically everyone who is anyone in that line of work. The Estatales were awesome. Amazing. They were calm, smart, polite, and very professional. Fun too. They even went out and bought the kids hamburgers. The Estatales are impressive.

Great post Bob, thank you for passing on the stories

Intercasa wrote:It is the culture of don't snitch and get your family and friends and neibours in trouble until they rob, assault or go after you.

Best practice is to not try to be Mexican by living in the ghetto but a safer area (wherever those are).

Safe areas come and go depending on the moment but if your neighbors have lots of kids, no daddies and don't study or work, then you are high risk as their money is probsably coming from illegsl means.

I commented to my friend in Guad that someone was killed in Chapala today, she said well she was eating in Plaza Andares and I reminded her that 2 were killed there yesterday. If it is your time, it is youir time and people who are politicians, police and in the drug business have a very short life span.

The local area has ita bad parts such as SJC, 6 corners and much of Ajijic whuile the easy to get in and steal and get out (Like LA Freeway systems) is Fl Floresta and Chapala Haciendas.

In Guadalajara the areas to stay away from are Oblatos, Cerro del 4, Miravalle to name a few and El Colli. As wellas the eastern end of the city east of Carretara Chapala coming in to Gonzalez Gallo the streets with the numbers like the 28 and the 51 for example. Small towns have their issues too so beware where you live. . INFONAVIT carckerbox houses have been chaotic with the people moving in. Some times for a foreigner, a little more investigation and a few hundered more in rents will make worlds of difference in where they live. You want to try to live either with the few perecntage of educated people who raise their kids well and who take care of their communcities or risk anarchy and strife.

Ay licenciado se te pasaron las copas.

Ay los pinches pulques

Intercasa wrote:Ay los pinches pulques

Tambien soy pulquero pero solamente en rancho de mi esposa donde saben hacer buen pulque.jajaja

Spencer
You think much of Ajijic is a bad neighborhood? Please elaborate