Spotlight on security: cooperation between private and public sectors can make everyone safer.

Not long after some 250,000 determined Mexicans marched upon the capital's zocalo in June demanding a solution to the nation's intractable crime problem, commercial television stations began leading their newscasts with a pertinent post-march question--"And now what?" The question, of course, was meant to prod politicians into converting all that citizen outrage into action. But the implied answer was clearly "Probably nothing."

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Well, not quite.

Some federal legislators responded by calling for stiffer penalties, including capital punishment, for perpetrators of violent crimes (forgetting, perhaps, that currently only about one percent of delinquent acts are punished at all).

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State of Mexico Governor Arturo Montiel started peppering the airwaves with TV spots, telling us, through clenched teeth, that he is very serious about combating crime.

Federal District authorities soon implemented a phase of the zero-tolerance-based Giuliani plan that seems to consist primarily of cracking down on franeleros--the rag-waving self-appointed street parking attendants generally viewed more as an annoyance than the crux of the crime problem. The Giuliani plan was devised by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was hired by city officials as a consultant.

The Fox administration chimed in on Aug. 17 with a 10-point plan that includes upping crime-fighting expenditures by a cool billion pesos, to be distributed among the states according to size and need. While the money would be welcome, jaded political observers can't help but wonder if the proposal is just one more candidate for the congressional gridlock that has stymied every major reform proposal since President Vicente Fox took office in December 2000.

Even Hollywood got into the act in the summer, sending us director Tony Scott's "Man on Fire," in which the ultimate four-step solution to kidnapping and corrupt cops in Mexico is offered. Here's how: 1. Hire Denzel Washington. 2. Get him really, really angry. 3. Arm him with high-powered automatic weapons and industrial-grade explosives. 4. Have him blow away the bad guys one by one, with enough fire-power to take out any bystander or building within a 50-meter radius.

Given these less-than-promising responses, a certain amount of cynicism about any turnaround in the security situation might be forgivable. And you'd think that the business community would have the most to be cynical about. After all, anybody running a business in Mexico is not only as susceptible to the one-off random street assaults as anybody else. He or she also has a facility that can be broken into, merchandise that can be stolen in transit, and digitalized information that can be invaded, not to mention the kind of profile that kidnappers prefer.

But there's a surprise punchline: The private sector is not cynical about the crime situation. There has been no exodus of foreign businesses from Mexico. The feeling among security professionals is that the outlook for businesses here--foreign and homegrown--has never been more positive.

Talk to business security consultants in Mexico and you'll hear one indication after another that things are turning around. Not only do they believe that authorities have been taking meaningful steps toward getting a handle on crime, they're also convinced that the technology and know-how exists for companies to protect themselves.

"Business security was a bigger problem in 1996 than today," says Jack Whalen, director general of the security consulting firm Grupo Ackerman de Mexico. "And things are getting even better because the authorities are getting it together and so are the companies."

SEND IN THE PROS

The main factors fueling confidence about achieving a safer business atmosphere have nothing to do with the kind of spectacular overhaul of the criminal justice system that many are looking for. Even the usual social factors are of secondary importance. Yes, the improving economy will help, especially if it translates into better job production; the crime rate has rather consistently gone up and down with the unemployment rate in recent years. And yes, the political opening has been paying off as well, since ambitious politicians now need to show results if they want to get anywhere.

There's even reason to hope that changes are coming to the Ministerio Publico, the antiquated justice apparatus that seems designed to discourage victims from reporting crimes, police officials from investigating them, and prosecutors from pursuing them. "At least they recognize they have a problem there. That's the first step," says Jon French, director general of IPSA International de Mexico--a provider of investigative consulting services in areas including fraud, anti-money laundering, due diligence, asset location and recovery, and intellectual property.

But the real impetus for optimism, experts say, comes from some relatively modest but smart innovations by the authorities, as well as a new spirit of cooperation between the private and public sectors.

Case in point: the role of the Federal Agency for Investigations (AFI) in handling kidnap cases. French, a specialist in kidnap protection for executives, was high on AFI when it was first formed in 2001 (Business Mexico, June 2002). Now, more than three years into its existence, he's even more impressed with AFI's record in diffusing potentially tragic kidnap situations. And he sees the FBI-like organization as a model for the kind of professional and untouchable law-enforcement agency the country needs.

"AFI's made a 180-degree difference," French says. "Before, if there was a kidnapping, the last thing I would do is recommend that a client go to the authorities. Now, if one of my family members is kidnapped, the first phone call I make is going to be to the AFI without hesitation."

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That phone call can now be made because unlike other federal or local law enforcement agencies (and unlike what we see in "Man on Fire"), AFI agents are trained not to make a bad situation worse. "If there's a genuine risk of violence, they will not act unless the family gives the green light," French says. "Previously, the authorities would do whatever they felt like without any restrictions from the victim's family members."

Once in action, AFI can do all the things you see the feds do on U.S. television programs--record the calls and match the voices to databases compiled from previous episodes. They trace calls to find the safehouse. This and other information gives them an advantage in negotiations. And if all else fails, they can send in their own crack SWAT team to rescue the hostage.

Are more kidnappings getting foiled thanks to AFI? Reliable statistics on kidnappings in Mexico are non-existent, but French has compiled enough anecdotal evidence to convince himself that kidnappers are no longer getting a free ride. And as AFI success stories continue to accumulate, potential kidnappers will be less inclined to take the risk.

"The head of the SWAT team told me recently they'd had 15 successful rescues of kidnap victims, all without a shot being fired," French says. "For a Mexican policeman to brag about not firing his weapon is a big change."

WORKING TOGETHER

A prime example of the growing cooperation between law enforcement and the private sector can be found in a humble office inside the Federal District's police (SSP) headquarters in the Zona Rosa. It's there that two or three employees of the GPS association--as the group of 20 suppliers and monitors of global positioning system software and hardware that pinpoint the exact location of trucks carrying a company's merchandise is known--are on 24-hour standby.

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When a drive in trouble hits his panic button, the private GPS monitors immediately notify this "command center" and the truck's precise location comes up on a computer screen, in the form of a red blip on a Guia Roji-type street grid. Since the command center is literally just a few feet removed from the police dispatchers, patrol cars have an excellent chance of getting to the scene in time to stop any attempted hijacking.

That private security personnel is even inside the D.F. police building, let alone working hand in hand with them, is a sign of changing times. More significantly, it was the city authorities, under police chief Marcelo Ebrard, that initiated the cooperative agreement signed in April 2003.

"The GPS command center is a big step forward because the government had never supported our efforts much before," notes GPS association President Jorge Andonie Mena. "They realize now that we're helping to save merchandise, get the trucks back, locate the illegal warehouses and stop the criminals."

The stats bear him out. Cargo theft in the D.F. (where most of the problem is) has dropped dramatically from a high of almost 80 per day in 1996 to under 20 a day so far in 2004. Those figures are for reported incidents, so you can multiply the numbers by five to get a truer picture, since only about 20 percent of crimes are reported. Still, the decline is real, and the increased use of GPS over the last decade is a big reason for it.

If you hire a hauler who's a client of a GPS association company--that is, who has GPS installed in the trucks and a full monitoring service that includes the D.F. command center coordinating capability--you have a 63 percent chance of coming out of any attempted hijack incident with your truck and merchandise intact (with the bad guys getting caught about half the time).

That's less than 100 percent, to be sure, but considerably more than zero percent, which is basically the chances of a truck without GPS or the association/police collaboration.

Andonie says the GPS association is finalizing an agreement to set up a similar command center in conjunction with the Federal Preventive Police. If the project is as successful on a national level as it has been in the Federal District, companies will feel a lot more comfortable about the fate of their merchandise as it moves from point A to B. "This collaboration between public security and private security has really made an order-of-magnitude improvement in preventing truck cargo theft," Whalen said.

CHECKTHEM OUT

As encouraging as the recent stirrings by local and federal government have been, it's still up to each individual company to protect itself by setting up a security system that reflects the reality of the situation in Mexico today. And the first thing that security consultants will emphasize is that the over-whelming majority of business crimes in Mexico--from cargo heists and executive kidnaps to information theft and mysteriously disappearing facility property--are inside jobs.

"You'll often hear that something like 80 percent of the incidents depend on inside information," Whalen says. "In my experience, it's more like 100 percent."

That's why Whalen urges every company of any size to do (or have done) background checks on every potential new employee from maid to vice-president. "You should do a background check on your girlfriend before you get married," he says, and he's not entirely joking. Whalen estimates that when he was hiring for a security guard company he once ran, background checks revealed 80 percent of the applicants to be potential security risks.

And checking does more than help you avoid bad hires. It can keep good employees from going bad. Most workers who make it through the vetting process probably plan on staying honest, but they are subject to temptation or outside influence.

"If they're approached by an outsider to help them steal something, they might think about it or feel pressured to do it," Whalen says. "But if you did a background check on the guy, he knows you've got his finger-prints, you've been to his house, took a picture of it, talked to his mother, did a police record check, and basically know everything about him. He's going to tell the bad guy his hands are tied and he can't help. And he's right. The background check gives him a shield."

Also essential, Whalen says, is enforced confidentiality. That means including confidentiality clauses in employee contracts. "You've got to make sure people who work for you aren't blabbing things that bad guys can use," Whalen says. "If they go to a bar in Iztapalapa after work, they've got no business blabbing about how many laptop computers you're sending out tomorrow and where they're going. If they do, you fire them."

If Whalen sounds a little strict about employee behavior, it's because he's served 10 years in the trenches of the security wars--and even designed a lot of those trenches himself. If it's the case that employees carry out or abet almost all business crimes--which it is--that's where you have to aim your defenses. And that can include placing spies in the workforce.

"I helped a company once that was losing US$350,000 a month in merchandise from its warehouse and had no idea how it was happening," he says. "We infiltrated a couple of agents and after a few months we got everybody who was involved. It's a good measure to have some workers inside who can feed you information."

VIRTUAL SECURITY

Theft of electronically stored information also usually happens with help from the inside.

"Think how easy it is for somebody to pay off somebody on the inside to get them information about your company," says David Cardenas, director general of Telesma Consulting, a Mexico City consulting firm that specializes in information security. "All an employee has to do is copy the information in his machine and send it out on an e-mail. Or put it on a disc and carry it out in his pocket."

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A handicap in Mexico, according to Cardenas, is a still-dim awareness of how big a problem information theft has become. Mischievous hacking and illegal CD and DVD copying get the most media attention, but information thieves can harm companies in lots of other ways. Cardenas points out that more money is stolen from banks with a mouse than a revolver.

Industrial spying can sabotage your best-laid plans, and information in your files--personal or otherwise--can give delinquents what they need for identity theft scams or even kidnap planning. "Any company today--small, medium or large--has to protect its informational assets with the same vigor as it protects its physical assets," Cardenas says.

This is not an area where even a well-functioning public security apparatus could help you much.

"The police can patrol the streets to keep people from climbing over your walls to steal something," Cardenas says. "But they can't do anything to stop somebody from a faraway country getting into your system and looking around to see what's there. And once they do, there's not much legal recourse because laws just don't exist in Mexico to protect the business owner in such a situation."

So the ball is in your court. The biggest mistake you can make, according to Cardenas, is to install some kind of one-step anti-theft software in your system and think you're protected.

"Security is a process, not a product," Cardenas says.

That means first having a thorough risk analysis done to find out where information is coming in, where it's going out, and where the vulnerable spots are. It means installing a detailed code of procedures to guide information handling, and making sure everybody--including you--follows those procedures. And of course it means thorough vetting of new employees and limiting access to certain electronic files to those who need it.

PAY ME NOW OR PAY ME LATER

Security experts agree that one of the most common mistakes companies make is skimping on security expenditures. The tendency to go with the low bidder puts you at risk in Mexico. For example, small mom and pop hauling companies may cost less, but they're unlikely to offer treaded tires and rear-view mirrors, let alone GPS and full insurance. And security guards from on-the-cheap outfits can't be relied on to call for help if an incident occurs. "Pay peanuts, get monkeys," French is fond of saying.

Also, having your security needs analyzed by experienced security consultants is no longer a luxury but a necessity, Cardenas says. That may not be a surprising position for a security consultant to take, but French, Whalen and Cardenas--all members of AMERICAN CHAMBER/MEXICO'S security task force--don't need to scrounge for work these days.

Rather, their point is that it is more cost-effective in the long run to pay preventive measures than lose hundreds of thousands of dollars of unrecoverable merchandise--and then pay to install the security program you now realize you need. "It's like the old Fram Oil Filter commercials," says French. "Pay me now or pay me later."

Private security is still way ahead of public security, but it will be even more effective when the real cops are able to make headway against the insecurity nationwide. That day is coming, and the private sector is doing its bit to speed it along. "You're not completely alone any more, but it's going to be a long process to bring the crime rate down," French says. "It took a long time to get to where we are, and it will take a long time to get out of it."

In the meantime, successful companies in Mexico are doing what successful companies always do--adapting to the current environment. In this case, that means establishing security procedures the bad guys can't penetrate. And most are doing it.

Companies aren't getting mad. They're getting smart.

RELATED ARTICLE: Kidnapping: Four Viewpoints

THE VICTIM

Wealthy businessman "Carlos" was grabbed from his car in broad daylight by masked gunmen wielding semi-automatic assault rifles. He was held for 20 days, until his family--with the help of trained negotiators--arranged his release for a substantial ransom. The Mexican police were informed about his kidnapping, but were asked not to intervene.

This was no random "express kidnapping." It was evident Carlos' abductors had taken painstaking care to build up a meticulous profile of his life, work, routine and habits before pouncing with surgical precision. Carlos concedes that he neatly fit into the stereotype of a successful entrepreneur ripe for the plucking.

"Many times when you have a business and employees and you are working as a manager or director they think you have a lot of money."

Carlos made a pact with the kidnap gang. In return for them removing their masks and thus reducing the fear and intimidation factor, he pledged not to identify them. Now more than three years later, Carlos still feels angry and bitter, but also honor bound to keep his side of the deal. He's the father of grown-up children and says he does not want the kidnappers to return and deal out retribution.

"I have a lot to lose, but what do these people have to lose? Nothing! They don't have any value. So in my opinion the best thing to do is to keep my word."

Carlos has tried hard to put the kidnapping behind him, but his nerves can instantly be put on edge by a door banging loudly, or another vehicle suddenly pulling up to his car in heavy traffic. He has two hulking bodyguards who are with him all his waking hours. But it hasn't given him much peace of mind.

"The day they put the eye on you, they are watching you for two or three months. Then when they want to do something, they're going to do it. Even if you have one or two or four security guards, it's nothing," he said wistfully.

THE SECURITY SPECIALIST

Rolando Soliz is a former U.S. Secret Service agent. During his 23-year career, he guarded five presidents beginning with Richard Nixon. Soliz is now in charge of the Mexico City branch of international security firm Vance International, which protects a variety of clients ranging from business executives to rock stars.

Few people in Mexico go to the police after one of their nearest and dearest is kidnapped. Soliz explains this gives the competitive edge to the kidnappers.

"A private watchdog agency which monitors kidnapping in Mexico reported that last year kidnappers had a 98 percent success rate with kidnappings. That means less than two percent get arrested, and less than that get convicted. So you see, it's a low-risk crime with high returns for the kidnappers," he said.

THE BUSINESSMAN

Jose Antonio Ortega is the president of the Security Committee at the Mexican Employers Association, known as Coparmex. He says the association's carefully gleaned statistics show kidnappings in and around Mexico City, the Federal District and the State of Mexico have increased by 740 percent in the last seven years. He also admits kidnappers are becoming more violent, sometimes even murdering their abducted victims after receiving a ransom to prevent the slightest chance of being identified at a later date.

Ortega says the overall level of kidnapping in Mexico remains static. In Colombia, where authorities are battling the twin hydras of cocaine and civil war, the rate of kidnapping has been reduced by 60 percent over the past two years. He says Bogota is actually matching its words with concerted action.

"The problem in Mexico is not the law or more penalties or the death penalty, it's applying the law."

THE PROSECUTOR

Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, the special prosecutor for serious crime at the Federal Attorney General's Office (PGR) agrees. He says agents have and will vigorously pursue kidnapping cases brought to their attention, and the key to stamping out kidnapping is a concerted and combined effort right across the board.

"The results we have obtained up to now are very positive and we are very optimistic that we can win very easily. And we will win with coordination, with the exchange of information, with prompt decisions and with the combined efforts of all of us."

--James Blears

RELATED ARTICLE: Batiz Reaches Out

Five weeks after the June 27 megamarch, Federal District Attorney General Bernardo Batiz and march organizers co-hosted a meeting with members of civic and church groups, as well as legal and security experts to offer an update and exchange ideas. The meeting was billed as an attempt to establish a working group that would help city officials work more closely with the public.

Batiz's presentation featured a comprehensive review of his tenure with an emphasis on advances made in crime fighting and procedural changes in handling cases.

"We have taken great strides to modernize our crime-fighting efforts, develop data banks and professionalize the quality of our activites," he said. "Our success rate is improving and I think it is necessary to refute the impression of impunity that has gained wide public acceptance."

The attorney general declared that city prosecutors have become significantly more effective in attending to complaints and tracking the cases through the judicial system. Auditors and supervisors monitor performance closely and Batiz asserted that results are expected. He also shared detailed crime statistics which indicated the city is making progress against certain criminal activities.

Batiz also explained the development of the MostWanted lists his office prepared in conjunction with the Mexico City Police Department. The lists--with photos and descriptions--were to be publicized via the media and posted in public buildings.

Fernando Schutte, president of the Citizen's Council for Public Security which organized the march, acknowledged the progress made by Batiz and city prosecutors. Schutte said the next steps are to follow-up and strengthen the procedural changes so that they become institutionalized and, perhaps more importantly, establish public confidence in the judicial system.

"Working together, we can encourage a greater civic conscience and help a sense of lawfulness to take root," Schutte said. "We must evolve from subjects into citizens."

Schutte described a series of measures the Citizen's Council has already put in effect to encourage public involvement and offer recognition to dedicated police officers. The council has begun honoring officers for heroism with a public ceremony and financial awards (scholarships and fully paid vacations).

"We want to help police officers take pride in their work by promoting and publicizing the good deeds they do that often go unrecognized," he said.

--Tom Buckley

Kelly Garrett is a freelance journalist living in Mexico City.