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AP - City officials in Mexico's Baja California state are drafting plans for a bilingual police force that caters to American tourists headed south of the border.

The plan, announced Monday at San Diego City Hall, is to create a joint Mexican force that patrols a 50-mile tourist corridor from Tijuana through Playas de Rosarito to Ensenada. Tourism in the region has been battered by drug-fueled violence, congested border crossings and a weak economy.

San Diego police officers will help train the officers.

Details have not been worked out, but Tijuana Mayor Jorge Ramos says the joint force could have as many as 350 officers. There is no budget.

Rosarito already has a tourist police unit of about 30 officers, and Ensenada has one with about 20 officers.


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Let's say that we wake up tomorrow, and Tijuana is crime-free. Even then, there is no way that levels of tourism in TJ will ever return to historic levels, unless other steps are taken. It is especially true for the vacationer to San Diego who once may have decided on a whim, to visit TJ, to go to a foreign country. Problem is that US passport requirements, combined with the long delays returning, make it unlikely that the casual San Diego tourist or convention-goer will ever see TJ. Domestic travelers just don't carry passports. Not to mention that the US has an abysmal record as far as the number of its citizens having passports. Locals in SD probably have given up on the extemporaneous trip for margaritas and dinner, just because of the wait in line to return.

I propose that the Feds get involved. Erect a small building, a tent or a kiosk on our side of the border. Devise a tamper-proof and secure one day pass that can be obtained with photo ID. Time and date stamp them. Offer a preferred line for pedestrians returning. Unless something like this is done, TJ will never see a return to historic levels of tourism.

Tourism is dropping everywhere and IMHO has more to do with the economy than narco news or corrupt police. Otherwise how would you explain the demise of the Las Vegas economy? You would think their numbers would be up with less wanting to go to Mexico.

To quote a well known political strategist, It's the economy, stupid...

(can you believe that was 17 years ago???)

I do agree with your point Howard that the passport requirement has played a significant role too. Anybody know if travel to Canada is way down???

The economic aspect to the Vegas decline is really those who fly there. A friend of mine from greater LA just drove to Vegas and spent seven hours driving home last Sunday. So, it's more of a big ticket problem.

I swear I'm not trying to increase my post count. But, Ron, as someone who grew up in Southern California, you must remember the ease of visiting Tijuana. For better or for worse, throngs of young folks would descend on TJ on weekend nights to party. Obviously, there was not only the 18 drinking age, but also the look the other way for those younger.I'm not going to justify that but, it just seems to me that the current generation of parents has cacooned their kids to the point where real life, and/ or street experiences don't exist. Editorializing here, while stats show that kids spend untold hours online, playing video games, Etc., where are they supposed to gain real world experience? Reminds me of a story I just heard on the radio. Animal Control folks, (I didn't catch the location) are looking to arrest someone who place a dead deer dressed in a clown suit and wig on a local lawn. Gotta admit I think that's funny. The infraction involves the legal way to dispose of an animal carcass.

You are right about the drop in young gringos crossing the border but the reality is that they provided little economic benefit beyond enriching a few club owners and street taco vendors. The tourists that are really missed are those who would come down and spend long weekends doling out some serious money in hotels, restaurants, shopping and buying vacation/retirement real estate.

Gambling addicts continue to go to Vegas but they aren't booking high dollar hotel rooms or taking in an evening at any of the expensive restaurants or clubs. Talk to any of the store owners at the Cesar's Palace shopping mall. Sales are way down with talk of many of the shops closing. Condo/Hotel building projects are on hold. Casino expansion plans are canceled. Vegas cannot survive anymore simply on gambling and the economic downturn has driven home values down to where the city ranks as one of the worst ten markets in the country.