My Encounter(s) with TJ’s “Finest”

I’ve been rousted by the cops in TJ before, but never twice the same day. Yesterday (Monday) I got stopped by three beat cops on Constitucion at about 9am and later on as I was driving back to the real world got stopped by a car cop.

1) I emerged from the Hotel Cascadas at about 9am and recoiled from the big bright thing in the sky. This being the second night I had spent in TJ I needed to burn off the groggies so I tossed down a grande cup of café at Tres Garcias and tried to chase away the morning crudo (very drunk!). Not seeing much worth looking at in the alley I decide to walk up to Revolucion and rustle up some desayuno.

I had just cut the right on Constitucion coming out of the alley when I see 3 dark blue uniformed beat cops coming towards me. I figure, “heck I’m cool” and keep walking…the lead guy stops me and the next thing I know I’m being cool with my hands on the wall and the three cops going through my pockets. “Do you have any needles or weapons?” the lead guy asks and I realize this is no ordinary TJ beat cop…this guy has seen Cops! “No” I says with my most innocent tonal inflection….he holds up this lighter I have that’s about twice as long as a normal one and comments “You have a very big lighter” and I reply “Yeah, that Asian stuff is all a myth” , he looked a little confused. Well they looked at my lollipops, my translator, my wallet, my condoms, my hair brush, my camera, my Fargo flashlight, my other condoms and my big lighter…but nothing good. As they were grabbing me they did say “This is routine, if you no have anything we let you go”….this reminded me of what a huge drunken Samoan once said to me in High School just before he nailed me on the side of the head. Fortunately they weren’t drunken Samoans so they let me go, with a warning. “Warning for what?” I thought but didn’t pursue it.

They never touched my cash btw, but the street girls were looking pretty intently at my wallet in the cops hand….guess they’re connoisseurs of wallets or something.

2) I decide to split TJ at about 1pm or so….I get my truck out of the Molino Rojo parking lot…cut a left on Constitucion and make the first left….can’t recall the name of the street. Well I get about half way down the block when I see the blinking fruit salad in my rear view. Bummer. OK, well I’ve never been stopped by a TJ traffic cop before so maybe this will be interesting. I pull over.
Instead of pulling over behind me he drives his car alongside me and says something in Spanish. I actually am able to understand him but decide to just be a dumb American and reply “Sorry, English? English?” He makes some kind of exasperated sound and gets out of his car and walks toward me as I purposely put my hands on the top of the steering wheel so he can see I’m not armed nor am I playing with myself.

He stands by my window, requests my license and reg…which I hand to him. He pretends to look at them for a bit, then actually glances at my license and says “Redondo Beach” and I say “Si, have you been there?” and he replied “No but I have heard it in movies”. I acknowledge with a knowing nod, deep in reflection. Then he says “You went through the stop sign, it’s a 43 dollar ticket” I look back, kind of shrug and say “The chicas got all my money!”.

Well this immediately pulled a big smile of him and he starts laughing so I start laughing….which makes him laugh more and seeing him laugh more makes me laugh more. Now I feel more like I’m talking to one of the Talachero’s at Cascadas than a cop. He says “How many chicas you with this weekend?” and I reply “23 on Saturday and 104 on Sunday” HAH! Nah….I say “2 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday” This brings out all kinds of Spanish that I don’t understand but since there’s a lot of laughing in there I figure what the hell and laugh along with him.

Well we’re just having one hell of a time at that point….then he kinda stops chortling and says “What are we going to do about the stop sign?” I say “I think we should tell me to be more careful and never do that again”. He laughs, although not as hearty and bawdy as before and says “What about my lunch?” so I reach in my pocket and find a 50 peso note “This is all I have left” I say as I hold it up. Well this cop must have had all the David Copperfield tapes cuz that 50 peso note was gone in a flash.

“Be more careful” he said to me sternly as he headed back to his car. “Gracias” I reply….for the life of me I don’t know why I always thank cops who pull me over.

Your chances of getting rousted by the cops have gone up by a factor of 5 since WTC day... since the number of gringos has dropped by an equal number.

Same thing goes with getting hit by scammers. I saw some asshole "helping gringos" at the ATM outside Caliente(on West side of Rev), and I had NEVER seen scammers there before - it had ALWAYS been a safe ATM.

Be very careful out there folks. The natives are getting restless... and hungry!

Story from Friday's UnionTrib.


Tijuana council toughens traffic ordinances


Higher fines to take effect; more ticketable offenses

By Enrique García Sánchez

October 26, 2001


TIJUANA -- Beginning tomorrow, anyone speeding or driving drunk in the city faces fines double the current amount.

And for the first time, those driving without car seats for infant passengers or talking while holding a cellular phone will be cited.

These are some of the 72 amendments to the municipal code made recently by the City Council. The goal is to reduce the number of accidents and the human and material damage they cause when drivers ignore stop signs, follow too closely, speed or drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Councilman Renato Sandoval, president of Commission on Public Safety, which oversees safety and traffic issues for the city, said some of the new rules were adopted from ones in the United States, and Americans should have no problems driving in Tijuana.

The new code also has another objective: to help detect and seize vehicles with foreign license plates circulating illegally in the city -- those improperly imported into Mexico.

Frequently, said Sandoval, criminals use the vehicles, which are difficult to trace by police because they are not registered. For the most part, these vehicles are stolen.

Many of the drivers of the vehicles with foreign plates claim to be Mexican immigrants living in the United States rather than residents of Mexico.

Anyone from California ticketed in Tijuana for a traffic violation will now be able to pay his or her fine by mail within 30 days.

However, those drivers who don't have valid documents relating to their cars will be detained until they pay their fines.

Those without a driver's license will have their vehicles seized unless accompanied by a person who has a valid license and can take charge of the vehicle.

According to a study done by the city, there are approximately 8,000 accidents annually in Tijuana, and an average of nine people die at the scene. Many others are injured, left disabled, or even die of their injuries later.

Of the 8,000 accidents, at least 1,500 are related to alcohol consumption. Last month, an American citizen driving drunk was accused of striking seven young people as they walked across a main thoroughfare, killing two and severely injuring the others.

"A car in the hands of a person can become a lethal weapon, that's how serious a responsibility (driving is)", said City Councilman Jorge Ramos Hernández, the main advocate of the amendments.

For the first time, the city's transit code is divided into three categories: objective, subjective and special, and each can be at a light, medium or serious level.

Under the new rules, those judged to have broken the law at a light or medium level can choose how to pay their fine. They can take a course on responsible driving, for instance, or volunteer for up to three hours of community service as crossing guards in school zones.

Driving under the influence, speeding, or following too closely are considered special, serious infractions, and transgressors will not be allowed these choices. The fine will be at least $258 per infraction.

Throwing litter from a vehicle is now considered a serious offense that can mean up to a $129 fine, an amount that can go up in the future.

Sandoval denied that the higher fines were designed to fatten the municipal treasury. He said that 80 percent of the fines can be dismissed, and the goal of the new transit code is to create a culture of responsible driving in the city.

The speed limits remained the same, 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) in the city, and 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) in school zones, unless otherwise posted.

A driver cited for the first time for having a child on board without a safety seat can have the fine dismissed if he proves that he has obtained the seat.

The new rules also call for cyclists to have a rear-view mirror and a horn on their bicycles, as well as red reflectors and a front white light.

The City Council also ordered the immediate purchase of portable speed detectors to be used in the city's main thoroughfares.

"It's the least they can do," said Guadalupe García of the amendments. She's the mother of a teen-ager who was among the seven people struck and injured by a drunken driver last month. Her daughter suffered two broken legs.

Enrique Garcia Sanchez is a free-lance journalist and a regular contributor to Enlace, the Union-Tribune's weekly in Spanish.


Copyright 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

Wow. I love that Cell-Phone law. I hope Cali follows suit.

-Superman-

Another reason why I always use taxis down there. Leave the driving to professionals. lol.

Harry

This is going to make police corruption and shakedowns even worse than usual. Mexico is following the stupider parts of America.

well their business is hurting too.
and once the word gets out that they are fucking with the whiteys in a big way , tourism will take a bigger hit and then they will really be fucked.

they will come out with a new report in 6 months that the fines are now triple.

and more of the tj clubs will take a bigger hit and rev ave will be a ghost town , more than it is now.

then C.C. club will up thier ficha prices to 13 bucks !!

responsible driving ???
haha how bout ticketing 80 percent of the locals and taxis.
the only people following the rules are the tourists that want to stay out of trouble and driving carefully.

i drive with locals all the time , they drive fuckin crazy especially that damm road going downhill in the playas connecting to rosarito - they fly down that road !!!

i will never understand the way they think

milky

milkman sed;

"i will never understand the way they think"

What are you talking about? - you've got it totally dialed.

As Ren used to say... they are "stoooopid eeeeeeediots!"

The other day I was on a bus that got a ticket. The driver didn't exactly ask the passengers to chip in... (good thing, too)

Weird thing is, of all the hundreds of times I've been to Tijuana, I have not seen one traffic accident there.

-Mr416

Mr416,
The reason you've never seen an accident is that no one is stupid enough to stop. I've see lots of them, but I've never seen anybody exchange insurance. Last year was the first time ever that the city released data pertaining to Mexico city drivers that the police collected. 50% of the drivers sighted didn't have drivers licences and 80% didn't have insurance! That was from the Mexico city news paper "The News".

Also, a few years ago the Hondurian government let US governmet officials check Hondurian DMV records for Vend#'s registured in Honduras and the US officials found that 40% of the cars have been originally reported stollen in the US. They had phony bill of sales, that how the crooks got the cars and busses to Honduras. The Hondurian government to looking in to the situation! I drove a couple of stolen cars to Honduras for my Ex wifes family to Honduras in 1993 and 1994. I had NO idea they were stollen until the uncle confessed! I asked my Ex. Did you know the car's were stollen? She said, Yes, but they do it all the time. There's no way your going to get caught! That's the mentality of the people down there!

Westfargo...

Mr416, I've been in several bus accidents, on both sides of the border. Usually the bus is doing about 10-25 MPH. You are lucky if you even know it happened. The car is damaged heavily. (Mass ratio is the reason why).