Federal Preventive Police

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Federal Preventive Police (Spanish Policia federal preventiva) or PFP, is the uniformed federal police force of Mexico. The agency is directed by the Mexican Attorney General's Office. Typically, PFP officers are heavily armed and clad in fatigues. It was created by the merger of several other federal police agencies (i.e., the Federal Highway Police, Fiscal Police, and Migration Police). On account of its heavily armed agents, its culture, and its origins, the PFP may be considered a gendarmerie.

The Federal Preventive Police was created in 1998 by the initiative of President Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000) to prevent and combat crime throughout the country. The PFP has been assuming its authority in stages over time, as its budget has grown and it has combined and reorganized police departments from major agencies such as those for migration, treasury, and highways. Many large bus stations and airports in Mexico are assigned a PFP detachment. Investigation of federal crimes is handled by Federal Investigations Agency, the Mexican equivalent of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In 2000, the PFP had 10,699 officers or staff:

4,899 from the Mexican army's 3d Brigade of the Military Police (Tercera brigada de policía militar)
4,000 from the Federal Highway Police (Policía Federal de Caminos)
1,500 from the Fiscal Police (Policía Fiscal Federal)
600 from the Interior Ministry's Center for Research and National Security (Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional) - mexican intelligence agency.