Police officers and journalists from Mexico held a dialogue to identify common points to strengthen the work of security and preservation of order, as well as freedom of expression, access to information and the safety of journalists, respecting their corresponding tasks. For example: how to interact to preserve the population's right of access to information without compromising security, investigations or the rights of victims and their families, or how to understand journalistic work to act at time but also in advance by being part of the protection measures for journalists. As mentioned by Saulo Misael Martínez Grijalva, Third State Police, when talking about Sonora and journalists with special protection against death threats.
It makes [the workshop] the police very aware that dialogue tables, projects, and programs can be generated to link public security and journalism to work as a team. Carry out better development for the good of society and the country, since security and journalism are basic pillars to continue for the common good
The first National Workshop for Police Institutions on Freedom of Expression, Access to Information, and Safety of Journalists was held from March 15 to 17 in Mexico City and addressed global and national legal frameworks, proposed techniques and strategies, practical and role-play exercises, as well as dialogues between more than 20 police officers formed as instructors from 17 states of Mexico, seven journalists from Mexico City, Hidalgo, Puebla and Tlaxcala, as well as specialists from the Institute for Security and Democracy (INSYDE) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The initiative is part of the training of the UN specialized agency to show that it is possible to build agreements and strategies from the exchange of experiences, in the face of the increase in attacks against the press in the last decade in the world during manifestations and protests, both by law enforcement officers and protesters.
…understanding the work and responsibility of each person, respecting each other in spaces, recognizing each other not as friends, but not as enemies either, but rather as two parties that have to work to inform society with certainty
At the end of the workshop, the police officers recognized the value of integrating journalists into learning processes, as well as the themes in the training bases of cadets. Claudio César, a police officer from the Michoacán State Institute for Public Security, points out that sometimes there is a very fine line between security and limiting the exercise of access to information that can generate controversy, for which he stressed that through the workshop police agents identified the need to generate own action protocols and make them known to the press for the orientation of both parties.
Journalists and police collaborate multiple times and in different ways throughout their careers, such as a natural disasters and crime scenes, in which the police enter their work and the journalists inform the public of the events, explains Mehdi Benchelah, Senior Project Officer at the Section for Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists at UNESCO. It is essential to create spaces to share perspectives, obligations, needs and possibilities of action to maintain an adequate balance between both fields.
Another example is in the Mechanisms for the Protection of Journalists. Preventive police officers are incorporated into the protection measures, although sometimes they do not have specialized training, even when they are only part of an additional surveillance patrol, Miguel Garza shared, the Executive Director of INSYDE, an institute that adapted UNESCO's global methodology not only to national needs but also to consider its integration into the training curricula of different police corporations.
Miguel explained that there is a Master Training Plan with more than 960 hours for the initial training of a Mexican police officer at all levels (municipal, state and federal force) and although there is no specific block on freedom of expression neither work with journalists, there is one on human rights, so pedagogical material based on adult learning and meaningful learning was included to the National Workshop so that it can be integrated to the curricula, although it also indicates that academic load and hours have to increase for optimal integration and with the also known as "community-oriented perspective".
Ana Celia Sandoval Ávila, Officer in the Zacatecas State Preventive Police and instructor, expands the possibilities by mentioning that elements can be incorporated into different blocks or courses, such as those on civil disturbances management, due to the adaptability of the workshop methodology.
During the three days of activities, role-play exercises were carried out that, in addition to seeking recognition of the experiences of others, put in practice care proposals for both groups, for example, the delimitation of spaces for safe media coverage and protection of journalists by of law enforcement officers, the considerations of functions for the delivery of information at the moment, identification mechanisms for timely assistance, among others.
It is a functional exercise that helps us to identify vulnerabilities that exist within the journalistic exercise and also within the police exercise, to understand the circumstances that each of the professionals face in the tasks they have to carry out in specific contexts
At the end of the workshop, police officers and journalists established a series of specific recommendations that they hope to implement in their states:
- Interdisciplinary work (with respect, empathy and through assertive communication).
- Constant training for police officers and journalists (including dialogue tables).
- Incorporate a matter of freedom of expression in the initial training and continuous police training.
- Detection of training needs according to the problems and the political and social circumstances of each state.
- Build a protocol for joint action (police and journalists) and first responder (first authority with public security functions in the place of intervention), to the protection of people in the context of protests.
- Strengthen the communications areas of police institutions.
- Improve access to information and its delivery processes.
It is the first workshop that is done and I hope that it will be replicated not only at the national level, but also in each state, so that freedom of expression and the police behavior can be guaranteed in each state
Learn more about the programme around the world!
Training security forces and the judiciary on freedom of expression
UNESCO continues to bet on the exchange of ideas with the conviction of recovering the experience of key actors and strengthening their links and integrations through multiple evidence-based tools.
