Breathe
By Sophia Huett
Between the 1980s and 1990s, the Federal Government began to implement systems and technologies for citizen services.
First, 911 was created as a national emergency line and 01 800 to provide general orientation services.
This is how the National Citizen Service Center (CNAC) came into being, with telephone hotlines, online service platforms and other mechanisms to evaluate citizen satisfaction.
Its functions include receiving and channeling requests, complaints and denunciations from citizens, but mainly, to be an emergency support tool in critical situations.
CNAC's 088 has become a fundamental tool for dealing with extortion, cyber incidents, and even providing emergency services on federal highways.
One of the improvements that were made, in accordance with the times, was to include a specialized application: PF Mobile, among the ways of contacting the user.
The application had several functions: to immediately report an incident and request help, but also to consult the conditions on federal highways, to have a catch line for the payment of federal vehicular infractions, user surveys, a complaints mailbox, as well as a directory of institutional information and safety tips. This application was gradually lost until it disappeared around 2021, along with the personnel of the Scientific Division that developed it.
But what matters are the historical figures. And in terms of citizen attention, there is no encouraging data in recent years.
The figures do not have a stable trend nor are they congruent with other data reported by the National Guard itself to INEGI, so we will take for example the case of highway robbery to show some discrepancies detected.
In 2019, 330 thousand 827 calls were received to 088; 2 thousand 793 referred to highway robbery, with 996 highway robberies reported in another section by the institution.
In 2020, the year in which the pandemic began, calls dropped to 260,000 and practically one fifth were to request information about the National Guard. Regarding highway robbery, 1,493 calls were reported to 088 and 1,133 robbery reports were reported by the institution. There is congruence in the figures.
However, in 2021, around 15 thousand fewer calls were received. Again, a quarter were to request information about the Institution, 1,306 to report a vehicle theft on the highway, of which 1,229 were reported.
In the year 2022, when we were all on the street, the lowest number of 099 calls were received, with 186,908. One-fifth were to request information about the National Guard and 1,806 highway robberies. In that year, the institution reported only 241 robberies on federal roads, one seventh.
In 2023, calls for some reason were recovered and reached 257,340, of which 3,204 were calls from citizens to report the theft of a vehicle on the road. The institution reported only 160 suspected thefts.
And if we go to road situations and the ordeal experienced by those who drive on them, 2023 was also the year with the highest number of calls received regarding road situations, reaching 57,724 compared to 33,000 in 2022.
As it is.
Why so much disparity in the figures? If they are true according to the Institution's experience, it could be due to a lack of personnel, a decrease in citizen confidence or even technological problems.
What is real is that, in order to reduce violence in Mexico, it is necessary for citizens to have a reliable, practical and close means of communication to establish contact with the authorities, whether to request support and guidance or to file anonymous complaints and provide information that is very valuable for an investigative body.
This is a challenge that cannot and should not be minimized.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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