Building Security Through Intelligence: A Call to the Business Sector

By: Arturo Ybarra and José Luis Bátiz  Centro de Estudios en Inteligencia Comunitaria (CINCO) www.inteligenciacomunitaria.com

Through the SEP-CONOCER platform, Mexico’s National Council for Standardization and Certification of Labor Skills, our Centro de Estudios en Inteligencia Comunitaria and SEP-CONOCER Certified Evaluation Center reached the municipal police forces of Mexicali and Ensenada with a concrete and timely offering: National Standard of Competency EC1588 Crime Analysis for the Investigation and Prevention of Crime.

This certification integrates Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Artificial Intelligence for mapping and analysis of geographic polygons and risk environments, powerful tools for municipal police in their core mission of crime prevention. The goal: to support security forces with the competencies, strategies, and technological solutions needed to address today’s public safety challenges.

This Standard enables security professionals to acquire technology-driven tools for efficient and effective decision-making, while also contributing to the development of a strong professional profile, reinforcing self-confidence, institutional identity, and the overall level of professionalism within security forces.

As a Center specialized in community intelligence, our mission is to design coherent, viable, and measurable strategies that build certainty for the community.

With that mission in mind, CINCO took the initiative to work collaboratively in the security sector, funding scholarships for 20 of 30 command-level officers (specialized police units) from Mexicali and Ensenada, with the goal of strengthening their decision-making capabilities and their capacity to address the security challenges affecting the population.

From January to April: a transformative challenge

This specialized training program launched in late January 2026 and concluded in April of the same year. It was genuinely rewarding to witness the effort, dedication, and commitment of these officers, who met the challenge of mastering sophisticated technological platforms, tools that demand significant intellectual capacity and analytical intelligence to control crime prevention mapping systems and AI-driven analysis. Their performance exceeded expectations and reflects a growing professional culture within Baja California’s public security forces.

A call to the business sector

It would be unreasonable to demand more from our security forces if we, as business owners, do not give them the tools they need to succeed.

This program raises a broader and urgent question: what is the private sector’s responsibility in building the security we urgently need? As business owners, we are among those most directly impacted by crime and violence.

This is a direct call to the commercial, social, industrial, and business communities of Mexicali, Ensenada, Tijuana, and beyond: invest in your security forces. Knowledge, capacity-building, and critically technology are the ingredients your local police need to respond effectively, improve their performance, and deliver the stability that our communities require to thrive.

Shared responsibility between the business sector and civil society is not optional. It is essential.

Looking ahead

CINCO is prepared to continue this work and support all categories of security professionals: ministerial and state police, preventive officers, forensic experts, fiscal agents, private security personnel, custodial staff, and municipal police throughout Baja California and across the country, as well as any institution that requires capabilities rooted in community knowledge and civic engagement.

Our SEP-CONOCER Certified Evaluation Center and consultancy in community intelligence, theoretical and applied research, places itself at the service of all civic and public institutions committed to elevating the capacity of our security forces and the well-being of our community.

Together, we can build life quality, safer, more resilient communities on both sides of the border.

We extend our gratitude to the Centro de Estudios Superiores en Ciencias Penales (CESCIPE cescipe.edu.mx) for their work on this project, and to the Directors of Public Security of Mexicali, Luis Felipe Chan, and of Ensenada, Alejandro Monreal, for their support and enthusiasm.

Arturo Ybarra and José Luis Bátiz are co-founders of the Centro de Estudios en Inteligencia Comunitaria (CINCO). More information at inteligenciacomunitaria.com