San Luis, Mexico police to have change of command due to rising violence

SAN LUIS, Mexico (KYMA, KECY) - San Luis, Mexico continues to struggle with violence.

Five people were killed in less than a week including two police officers. That's why the Sonoran governor declared a change of command.

Starting this week, state police will be in charge of the security.

The San Luis, Mexico Police Department was taken over by state police since Monday

With the "single command," there will be 130 state agents patrolling the streets of San Luis.

The decision was made by the Sonoran governor because the wave of violence has not declined.

So far this year, there have been nearly 300 deaths related to violent crimes.

The city mayor says this operation could last several months.

"We are not talking about a month, I heard a statement from the secretary of security that says that perhaps it will be for about six months," said Santos Gonzalez, Mayor of San Luis, Mexico.

The preventive officers are going to be on administrative leave while the single command is in place.

They will be part of a three-week training. The traffic police will continue to work on a regular basis.

"The traffic police are going to be very helpful.. Right now there are many checkpoints by the military in many parts of the city, they are working right now, I ask the residents to be calm. This will be normalized soon and we all are going win from this," continued Mayor Gonzalez.

Some residents we spoke to are not optimistic with the state police presence within the city.

"The state police has already been here, they have not done anything, they just kill people," said San Luis, Mexico resident Agustin Alcantar.

"You tell me, you tell me, it's something cruel, something cruel. You can hear the gunshots very often," expressed Juan Ramirez, another resident of San Luis, Mexico.

Meanwhile, the Mexican Army, Marines and National Guard continue conducting random checkpoints throughout the city to arrest people tied to the organized crime.