(CNN) -- As criticism of his war on organized crime mounts, Mexican President Felipe Calderon is under increasing pressure to introduce a new security policy.
Calderon, who announced a crackdown on cartels shortly after taking office in 2006, has asked his country's congress to approve fresh measures to help in the fight. Police reforms are a key target of his administration.
"Our primary objective is to ensure that no matter who governs or which party he belongs, the Mexicans are protected by an honest and professional police, by an effective and transparent justice system," Calderon told his nation's security council when he announced the proposed reforms in June.
But taking a new tack in the controversial drug war may be difficult for Calderon, as vocal politicians express their skepticism. The president's political future -- and Mexico's security -- hang in the balance.
Calderon, whose term ends in 2012, has proposed a plan to eliminate more than 2,000 local police forces, combine them with state law enforcement agencies and unite them under federal control. He and his top security officials have argued that the move will better combat corruption and crime.
"This initiative is a response to the people's demand to have reliable police, and the necessity to strengthen the institutions of security in order to face the criminals that plague Mexico," he said earlier this year.
Federal officials have said the lower salaries of local police officers make them more susceptible to corruption. More than half of them receive monthly salaries of only 4,000 pesos (about $325).
Government estimates indicate that corruption has caused the dismissal of 3,000 police officers in recent years.
CNN
