Marisol Valles Garcia, 20-year-old Mexican student, becomes town police chief
Criminology student Marisol Valles Garcia is the new police chief of the Mexican municipality of Praxedis G. Guerrero near El Paso, Texas.
The town, which has been torn by the country’s drug war, have had policemen quit and public officials assassinated by drug-cartel hitmen.
The violence in the Juarez Valley area started when drug cartels began waging war over smuggling routes into Texas.
Praxedis G. Guerrero’s mayor chose Valles Garcia, who has an infant son, from several applicants to act as the town’s top police official.
Valles Garcia has 13 agents under her command; most of which are unarmed women. The local police force has only one functioning patrol car, three automatic rifles, and a pistol.
“The weapons we have are principles and values, which are the best weapons for prevention,” Valles Garcia said. ”Our work will be pure prevention. We are not going to be doing anything else other than prevention.”
The new police chief also added: ”The situation can improve if we believe in ourselves and believe there is hope. I want to carry this through and show that we can do this.
“We are doing this for a new generation of people who don’t want to be afraid anymore.”
Valles Garcia has not received threats from drug cartels since taking office last week