Mexico court: army doesn’t have to tell police about arrests

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that the armed forces do not have to advise civilian police when they make an arrest. The issue is a sensitive one, because Mexico’s military is supposed to be participating in civilian law enforcement only as ‘support’ for police. But the court ruled Tuesday that soldiers can make an arrest with telling police, as long as they register the arrest later in a computer system that civilian agencies use. The armed forces have frequently been accused of violating human rights. But Mexico’s underpaid, antiquated police forces can’t handle the country’s well-armed drug cartels alone.