I've been going down to Rocky Point since I was a child in 1970. That said, I always believed that the police were there to protect us American's because we are their primary source for the economy. In addition, I always thought that if you had a run in with the Policia, you must have caused a ruckus or been disrespectful to them. Well, that all changed this weekend. A buddy and I drove down to spend a nice relaxing weekend @ Sonoran Sun. We have a friend that owns a bar in the Malecon and wanted to watch the Super Bowl at his place. We got into town on Friday, we stopped at JJ's for a beer (keeping my wife and my tradition going even though she did not join us on this trip). Afterwards, we stopped by the Condo and our room wasn't ready. She asked us to come back in an hour. So, we drove over to the BooBar to see what was going on there. It was a nice day and thought we'd sit on on their deck and have a couple beers and a bite to eat before heading back to the condo. We stayed for an hour and started to drive back to the Condo. Once we left the Malecon and began driving down the hill, I saw a Municipal Police truck with its lights on behind me. I asked my friend if he thought they were pulling me over and he said I think so but don't know why. I pulled over to the side of the road and 2 armed officers approached us. One spoke broken English and asked if he knew why he pulled me over? I told him no, I had no idea. He said, "you didn't come to a complete stop at the stop sign." To be honest, I don't know if I did or didn't. He then asked, if I had been drinking and I told him I had 2 at BooBar and 1 at JJ's and now we're heading over to check in to our Condo. He pulled my buddy and I out of the car. He asked for my license and registration. He then began to tell me that they have 2 different levels of drinking and driving penalties. He told me he could tell I wasn't drunk but that does not matter, he could inpound my car, and put me in jail until the Doctor takes a blood sample to see if I was over the legal limit. He also said I would have to pay a $500 fine. I'm like, what?! He said, you want to go to the police station? I said no, I don't want to. (This is where I knew the negotiations would start). He said, you pay the fine to me right now and I will let you go. I said, I'm not paying you $500. We finally settled on $200.00. I drove away from that thinking, wow, that was really uncomfortable and expensive. Later that evening we drove to dinner. We pulled off the main drag and onto a side street to go to the restaurant and there was no parking in front of the place, so I made a U turn to park across the street. Boom, another police officer pulls me over for making an illegal U turn. Which is weird because it's not illegal in the states and there are no signs stating it is illegal. In fact, there are no lines on the street at all. So, this time 3 guys get out, AK-47's in hand and start harassing me about the U turn. Lucky for me, it's the 2 cops from earlier and 1 other. I said, I just paid you earlier today. The officer said, you broke the law. I told him I was pulling into a parking spot. He did not care and asked for my license and registration. Once I gave that to them, they asked me to put my hands on the police vehicle, began to pat me down and then asked where the drugs and guns are. I was shocked at first and then said, we don't have any. The one officer began to pull everything out of my glove compartment and console. I stood by patiently because what could I do? Obviously, they didn't find anything but still told us to follow them to the police station. This time I was going because I was completely sober and didn't feel like I had done anything wrong. We got to the police station and we stood outside talking for 45 minutes. They hinted that they wanted more money but I was defiant. They eventually allowed us to leave. Saturday morning we went to Max's for Breakfast and as we drove back to the Condo, we were stopped for a 3rd time in 24 hours. The officer said that I stopped with the front part of my car beyond the stop sign on the corner near Frenchy's. I asked if he was kidding and he said no. He said the only reason he thought I stopped was that I saw him. That was a lie, I never saw him until he pulled up behind me with his lights on. He asked me questions like, do I have family in Rocky Point, and what do I do for a living? He was either fishing to see if I had anyone to represent me down there, if I were a lawyer or if I had money. He took my license and registration again and said let's go to the police station. Off we went, (by the way, they take you down some terrible roads so be prepared for your car to take a beating). When we go there the officer said the fine is 1,600 Pesos. That equated to about $94. I said it was excessive and I wanted to speak to the Judge. So, he takes me to the Judges quarters and the Judge is standing out back, smoking a cigarette with 3 or 4 other guys. The officer spoke to him and then the Judge asked me what happened. I explained that I had been coming down for 50 years and never had any incidents. In 24 hours I was pulled over for very minor reasons and have been asked to pay $294 total in fines. He spoke to the officer in Spanish and waved me on. The officer and I then walked back out and he said you owe $47.00 half of the fine, I told him I was frustrated that I had to pay anything at all but paid it because I was in their country. We took Taxi's everywhere we went for the next 2 days. They are really going after the American's down there. We saw several people getting pulled over all around the city. My concern is for the HS/College kids going down for Spring Break. I'm a pretty big guy and don't get intimidated easily, but if it were my wife or daughter being harassed, they would be terrified. Please be careful.
I'm very sorry to read this. It's discouraging. To be stopped that many times in two days over what are questionable violations, at best, is absolutely ridiculous. In the meantime, the locals cruise through stop signs at will -- no money to be had stopping a local. A shame that being a gringo these days puts a $ sign on your back for the cops.
Sounds like Mexicoruss was right on his recent comment about paying off cops in Penasco. He hinted that once you do it, they tend to meet up with you again. . . and again. That said, I can see why you were tempted to do so, considering the consequences of the initial charges. Sorry to hear . . .
If I had the same experience I would let the police chief know about the cop who took your bribe on the first stop. Apparently the new chief is trying to crack down on this behavior. On the other hand, I would never pay the cop on the street. Always, always go to the police station.
As we were returning to Playa Encanto Saturday afternoon from the Seafood Festival, police pickup went after nice new SUV, BMW I think, like a bat out of hell, lights flashing, that was right in front of us at Las Conchas Pemex. SUV pulled over on the highway and when the police pulled up behind it, within 2 seconds the police shut lights and did reckless U-turn heading back to the intersection. As we went by the SUV on side of road, sure enough, SONORA PLATES.
As far as your question, "Will the corruption/harassment stop?". The answer is no if drivers still give into the mordida on the spot. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Only way this will end is to insist on going to the police station, AND then report the incident to the Mayors dedicated contact for his Zero Tolerance Policy on Bribes, Claudia Ocampo @ [U][COLOR=#0066cc]orientacionc@puertopenasco.gob.mx[/COLOR][/U] . The Mayors office has made it clear that there is nothing to fear when reporting incidents and that you can remain anonymous if you prefer. It is important that you record the following in the e-mail: Police Vehicle # and /or Officer's name, Location of the infraction, and the Date and Time of such infraction.
I've been going to Puerto Penasco since the early 70's and have NEVER been pulled over by a municipal police officer while there.
The check points coming into town are or were some of the dirtiest shakedown operations ever. Sonoita has always been a dirty shakedown but then as everyone knows Hwy 85 between Gila Bend and Lukeville is as bad as it can get with predatory hard headed law enforcement.
So, back to PP. I always stop at every intersection if it has a stop sign or not. Anyone with any survival sense would do this especially when you see the locals speed through them anywhere and everywhere in town. Most times when you see a police vehicle lit up and hauling ass it's to a T-bone crash and likely a death or two.
With the new craze of little quads and other types of sand toys the local PD is totally justified in targeting them as the drivers are just plain stupid getting them mixed up with real traffic. I've seen two crashes this past winter alone where they crossed the path of a heavy vehicle and got knocked over and the passengers spread all over the road.
Don't get me wrong thinking I'm a wuss when driving in Mexico as I speed all of the time on and off the road. Now that I don't do the Yuma to Gila Bend to Lukeville to PP run I have the beautiful Coastal Highway to totally haul ass on. I average around 110 mph. in my Ford Raptor there and back. I did get stopped by a Mexican Highway Patrol officer last December on that road though. He just wanted to check out my Raptor truck and told me that they were considering getting them fairly soon as replacement highway cruisers.
This was a sad story but VERY reminiscent of the old days in Nogales (10-15 years ago) when I personally lived through very similar nightmares to what was described. Things have changed for the better in the last 10 years or so and the cops in general do not pull over gringo plates willy nilly any more- at least during daylight hours. Night time is another story and I only travel with friends or via taxi if I have even 1 beer- or 10...;)
On the other hand, similar to Jim's account I have never had random BS stops in Peñasco, even during night time hours, and I have never been afraid to drive even if I have had 2-3 beers. I assumed as the poster did that they don't want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg, so they let the out of towners be as long as its not a flagrant infraction.
Hopefully this story is an aberration, maybe a greedy newcomer who will quickly be removed or made to fall into line- I hope to God its not a sign of a nasty epidemic...
Always go to the police station. You might end up having to go, but more likely the policeman will suddenly decide to let you go with a warning. We've had it work both ways.
We once had a scary experience in Altar. A friend with a house at Lake Novillo got dropped off in Santa Ana by a north bound American neighbor and met us at a restaurant. He brought his stuff in a cargo carrier that mounts on the back of a truck. Since my camper was already stuffed to the roof, we took a chance and mounted the cargo carrier even though it obscured the license plate. This was Mexico, right? They must see that kind of stuff all the time.
Maybe they do, but gringos ought not try it. We got pulled over by two male officers and a uniformed beauty they said was actually their chief of police. One of the officers quoted us a roadside fine, which was pretty steep, and we said we'd rather take the option of following them to the police station. I considered that a bold move since Altar makes me more nervous than most Sonoran towns. I got even more nervous when the police car turned off the pavement on to a dirt road, but then I noticed a permanent sign reading Policia with an arrow, so we continued on about a mile or so to the station. All of us went inside and one of the arresting officers explained to the captain what we'd done. We explained in our best Spanglish how we came to be in this position while trying to get everyone to Puerto Lobos. The captain pulled out a list of codes and offenses and studied it awhile. Finally he said he couldn't fine us because he couldn't find an applicable code for what we'd done. He made us promise to go straight to Lobos and move the license plate to the back of the cargo carrier as soon as we arrived.
Altar. A town I'd sooner expect to be shot in rather than be cut a break by police, but you just never know.
But always say you want to go to the police station.
Wow, what an awful experience and this bullshit seems to be really increasing as of late and will probably continue to get worse toward the elections in July. With an admin change a lot of the cops will be replaced so they are getting a headstart on padding their bank accounts. The Frenchy's owners ought to put a cam on their wall and record all these interactions...buy a burger and get the footage of your Mordida in action. The $247.00 you paid is the equivalent of an average local working 2.5-3 weeks of wages which is beyond out of line. If they forced locals to pay fines of that magnitude half the town would be living on the streets. That $247 could have been spread around town at restaurants, tiendas, bars, etc. but instead went into dumb and dumber's pockets. Those corrupt cops are an absolute cancer on Penasco and I've had my fair share of dealing with them as well in Penasco but have yet to pay them a peso.
Did you happen to get any names of the idiots or their truck #'s? I believe I posted a long time ago in some other thread about my regular interactions with a cop in Mexicali and my retribution which entailed finding the idiots Facebook page and borrowing his pic for some creative Craigslist personals posts. Every cop in Penasco will have a Facebook page which can be used against them when they pull this crap. Putting these idiots on blast on some of the popular Facebook groups can at least provide a bit of satisfaction and if they are tagged they will know it. Which when called out publicly may curtail their thieving ways.
This crap of course is not only in Penasco...2 weeks ago I crossed into Tijuana and literally 30 seconds after crossing I got pulled over and the 2 cops said they pulled me over for not having 2 hands on my steering wheel. I asked them if this was a joke and they said no it was serious and they proceeded to search my truck and me and pulled all the money out of my pockets counting it and burning time hoping I'd give in. They told me the fine was 3,000 pesos. I asked one of them to show me the fine and the infraction in his rule book. He laughingly proceeded to flip through pages in his book looking for a non existent infraction. I was in no hurry and was actually enjoying their comedic routine while cars were whipping by us on the bridge over the Tijuana river. The one searching my truck found a bottle of Bacardi and proudly held it up and said your drinking and I said SI...tomorrow. They finally said that we needed to go to the police station and I said great which one. They told me 2 cross streets and I knew there was no police station there so I said great let's go. They were following me and when I turned right at the intersection they went straight and blew it off to go look for an easier target. These 2 crooks with badges didn't get 1 peso.
In Tijuana, they have a tourist assistance # to call which is 078 that people often call as they are getting pulled over which is like kryptonite to the TJ cops. I wish I'd gotten their names but completely forgot to look at their badges this time.
If Kiko has a zero tolerance policy then the police force would be 1/4 of the current size and he would establish a # like they have in Tijuana so tourists can call the number and have an English speaking person on the other end of the phone which may help to alleviate these harassing thefts by corrupt city employees.
Here is Victor Arias a corrupt Mexicali policeman. :bart:
UPDATE - I was contacted by the Puerto Penasco Sherriff's Office yesterday as I was driving home from work. They read my post and are interested in my experience. They wanted to know if I could identify the officers that took the $200.00 from us. So, I agreed to look at photos and if I can identify them, I will file a formal complaint. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like they are interested in the other 2 incidents because there was no payment made to those officers.
For what it's worth (and I honestly don't know what it's worth because I haven't actually tried it in Penasco yet)...
I installed a dashcam in my new F-250. It is wifi and connects directly to my cell phone. Has a 64gb chip in it and if it gets to the end of that, it just records over the oldest videos and starts all over again. It keeps recording for a few minutes after you shut the vehicle off AND it records audio as well. The videos are time/date stamped and there is no altering it. For Penasco, I'd pull out my cell phone and say "All respect senor, but I can prove to the judge that I DID in fact stop at that stop sign." Then point to the camera and roll the latest video clip on my phone and say "Shall we go show this to the el jefe and let him decide?"
I have to wonder what the reaction would be. Plus, if the camera picked up them asking for money, I'd INSIST on going to the judge.
UPDATE - I was contacted by the Puerto Penasco Sherriff's Office yesterday as I was driving home from work. They read my post and are interested in my experience. They wanted to know if I could identify the officers that took the $200.00 from us. So, I agreed to look at photos and if I can identify them, I will file a formal complaint. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like they are interested in the other 2 incidents because there was no payment made to those officers.
How did they get your contact info, phone I assume?
You all know by now that filming any law enforcement can get you a fast trip to the morgue as they routinely do dirty deeds and certainly don't want it recorded.
I would put up with their crap and never let them know they were recorded then save it for the judge if and when needed.
That definitely includes our own Border Patrol and US Customs. They have signs posted in plain view prohibiting it. I've had them threaten my wife in the truck twice in the past few months when they saw her with a black electronic hand held poker game that they thought was some form of recording device.
Also, I've never had any doubts about PP law enforcement monitoring this site on a daily basis.
I am an old women that has a place in Penasco. After reading these for the first time in my life, I am afraid to go. I have been going to Mexico for 65 years. My father built sewage treatment plants all over Mexico. I thought PP was pretty safe from this kind of crap. Has anybody sent this to RP Times?
There are lots of fake ones available, just as with the fake home security cameras available at Wall Mart or Home Depot. I have six of them on my property with the corny yellow warning signs that say "smile you are on camera". Lotta good they do when the perps no habla Engles.
Just having one in plain sight on your windshield is enough to get any form LEO pissing down his pants and going into the full on rage mode. Ever think about why they won't talk to you unless you remove your sun glasses? They have cameras doing illegal retinal scans to put into your passport/potential perp database.
And by the way, dashcams ARE illegal in many countries.
There are lots of fake ones available, just as with the fake home security cameras available at Wall Mart or Home Depot. I have six of them on my property with the corny yellow warning signs that say "smile you are on camera". Lotta good they do when the perps no habla Engles.
Just having one in plain sight on your windshield is enough to get any form LEO pissing down his pants and going into the full on rage mode. Ever think about why they won't talk to you unless you remove your sun glasses? They have cameras doing illegal retinal scans to put into your passport/potential perp database.
And by the way, dashcams ARE illegal in many countries.
JJ
JJ: in a lot of countries dashcams are required by the insurance companies.
Update: I spoke to the Sheriff on the phone. Unfortunately, he didn't speak very good English, so I had a Deputy translate. They told me that Internal Affairs will be contacting me to set up a date and time for me to meet them at the Town Hall in Puerto Penasco. They could not send me the photos. So, I have to go down there and identify the officer. I'm guessing they aren't going to be willing to pay my expenses for the trip, or the $200.00 that was taken from us. But, nonetheless, it's the right thing to do.
Update: I spoke to the Sheriff on the phone. Unfortunately, he didn't speak very good English, so I had a Deputy translate. They told me that Internal Affairs will be contacting me to set up a date and time for me to meet them at the Town Hall in Puerto Penasco. They could not send me the photos. So, I have to go down there and identify the officer. I'm guessing they aren't going to be willing to pay my expenses for the trip, or the $200.00 that was taken from us. But, nonetheless, it's the right thing to do.
Just a thought here...are you certain of who you were speaking with?
Well, to be fair, the $200 wasn't taken from you. You paid it to the cop as a bribe. Not a good situation but it wasn't 'taken' from you. That would be theft or robbery.
The "bribe" that you are forced to pay is SOP for cops in any turd world shit hole.
As a matter of fact it is a major source of income for many chicken shit sized cities across the USA today. Yuma, Gila Bend and Ajo included. Considered the daily required "quota" of tickets written by filthy rotten cops. Most people pay up as more than likely they are travelers that don't have time to go back to court and contest it.
I even had a AZ DPS fuck-tard laugh at me as he walked back to his cruizer "with a truck like that what's a hundred dollar ticket to you!" That was between Wellton and Tacna on I-8. Thanks for Karma the Son Of A Bitch was instantly killed a few years back by a drunk wetback in a semi that was engrossed in beaner porn on his handheld device rather than the road. He rear ended the parked cruizer with the cop in between. All details were recorded on his lettuce picker truck dash cam.
It is considered legitimate part of their income. Hell, the police in San Luis Sonora buy their own hand guns here in Yuma at our only gun shop.
Back in the sixties I was stopped a record braking eleven times on a road trip between California and Ohio. Mostly had to pay the cop on the side of the road. All 100% bogus bull shit as I was driving a 1960 VW bus that couldn't do more than fifty miles and hour.
Not to mention the Policia en Penasco really tolerate an enormous amount of very obvious fucking idiots flaunting their stupidity on the roads, both locals and tourists.
I reposted this on a Rocky Point lovefest Facebook page...hundreds of people joined in and the stories multiplied...I played nice and didn't chime in much but the faith these half drunk all the time Pigeon coop dwelling couch riders have in that shifty mini me mayor is laughable...he is on the way out...most likely already stealing the toilet paper from the court house.
I like the cam idea but set it forward till you get stopped and then turn it on your door. Tell the cop " so lets go see the judge" and take the picks in.
