Federal Police (Mexico)

Federal Police
Policía Federal
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AbbreviationPF
Agency overview
FormedMay 30, 2009 (from Federal Preventive Police)
Preceding agencies
DissolvedOctober 1, 2019
Superseding agencyNational Guard
Employees+ 40,000 (at disbandment)
Annual budgetUS$34.6 billion (2010)
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agencyMexico
Operations jurisdictionMexico
Governing bodySecretariat of Security and Civilian Protection
General nature
Notables
Anniversary
  • Federal Police Day, June 2[1]

The Federal Police (Spanish: Policía Federal, PF), formerly known as the Policía Federal Preventiva (Federal Preventive Police) and sometimes referred to in the U.S. as "Federales",[2] was a Mexican national police force formed in 1999. In 2019 it was incorporated into the National Guard and operated under the authority of the Department of Security and Civil Protection.

The Federal Police was formed through the merger of four previously independent federal police agencies — the Federal Highway Police, the Fiscal Police, the Investigation and National Security Center, and the Mexican Army's 3rd Military Police Brigade — and was initially referred to as the Federal Preventive Police.

Throughout its 20-year existence, the Federal Police was dogged by allegations of widespread corruption and abuse — allegations which President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said influenced his administration's decision to disband the force.[3] Since its disbandment, two high-ranking commanders have been arrested for offences they committed while leading the Federal Police.[3][4]

The police force was 1,870,406,000 pesos in debt to creditors, members of the public, and former employees when it was disbanded.[5]

  1. ^ "México conmemora el Día del Policía. La Prensa". Laprensa.com.ni. Archived from the original on 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  2. ^ In a news conference after the Zacatecas prison break in May, spokesman Ricardo Nájera for the Mexican Attorney General stated that the name and acronym PFP (Policia Federal Preventiva) has not been used for a year and a half."YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2017-02-13. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  3. ^ a b "Former top police official in Mexico is arrested for torture". NBC News. 6 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Former Mexican Federal Police Commander Sentenced to 10 Years' Imprisonment for Drug Trafficking Conspiracy". United States Department of Justice. 9 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Hoy, último día de la Policía Federal". Milenio. 31 December 2019.