05272015Wed
Last updateFri, 22 May 2015 4pm
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Online tool identifies unfolding trouble spots in Jalisco

In response to the May 1 cartel-provoked disturbances in the state, Jalisco’s Attorney General’s Office (FGE) has launched a web page where citizens can be aware of violent occurrences evolving on the streets in real time.  

The Plataforma Ciudadano Informado is intended to provide precise information as to the location of incidents – such as the burning of buses – and diminish the impact of off-the-mark social media postings and false alarms that Attorney General Luis Carlos Najera says cause “unnecessary panic and hysteria.”

A telephone app will be introduced in the second phase of the project, as well as a number which can be dialed for recorded, up-to-the-minute information.

The site allows users to drag a circular icon around a (Google) map to identify the exact location of incidents.   Users can zoom in and out of the map and change the diameter of the circle from 300 meters to 30 kilometers in seven increments. 

Four icons represent different types of incidents: blockades, intentional torching of vehicles, intentional torching of businesses and shootouts (represented by a gun).

Although the information appearing on the government’s new site will probably be slower than on-the-spot social media postings – and even radio reports – the page will serve as a reliable back up for concerned citizens. 

According to Najera, the organized crime gangs join the social media circus during disturbances, posting their own spurious messages designed to generate panic. 

To view the site go to ciudadanoinformado.jalisco.gob.mx.