Transborder Police Conference brings cooperation between U.S., Mexican police

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS at Thursday’s TIP luncheon included HPD Assistant Chief Michael Dirden

NORTHEAST– An important training conference, between Mexican police authorities, and their American counterparts in federal, state and local police, took place for 5 days at a hotel in Greenspoint last week.
Emceed by an FBI agent, and honoring HPD Sgt. T. J. Salazar for his leadership of this TIP conference, the event was an intense training session as well as a chance for these officers from both sides of the border to get to know each other, and share techniques and information to make their work more effective.

Keynote speakers during the week included Harris County District Attorney and former judge Pat Lykos, and Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia. At the Thursday luncheon, attended by members from the Houston International Chamber, the keynote speakers were HPD Assistant Chief Michael Dirden, and HPD Greenspoint Patrol Captain Victor Rodriguez.
Dirden spoke of the transnational corporate nature of today’s crime syndicates, and how they exist because of the U.S. drug market. “If we didn’t have an appetite for drugs in the U.S.” he said, “there wouldn’t be as much problems south of the border.” And thus he underscored the importance of this type of conference.
This was reinforced by Rodriguez’s remarks, about Houston as a major hub for border crime, including illegal transit of guns, cars, money, and drugs across the border. He said that learning to speak and work together can help solve these crimes.
Illegal family abductions was another area of crime investigated during the luncheon, when Deana Hebert, a Baytown mother of a daughter that was abducted and taken to Mexico 16 years ago, detailed the heartbreak this has brought, and the frustration she has dealing with foreign laws and officials.
The conference dealt with increasing border security and reducing criminal activity, but in his remarks T. J. Salazar admitted that corruption both north and south of the border was a major problem, both in apprahension and prosecution.
In his remarks, a mexican officer Javier Callran mentioned how dangerous it is to be a law enforcement officer in Mexico, and that honest officers are getting killed because of their character.
Attending the training sessions were many members of the Harris County sheriff’s office, including officers from the East Aldine forces.