Mexican police campaigns against guns, offers consoles in exchange

Pipboy and his really big guns - Image 1Well, here’s something you don’t see everyday: video game consoles being used as a tool to lower drug-related crime rates and violence. The man behind the whole idea is city police chief Joel Ortega of Mexico City who, having been tasked to deal with the city’s growing number of cases of drug violence, is now trying a new way of curbing the violence. And the first step in the local government’s grand plan? Offering to trade firearms for either computers or video game consoles, just to get the guns off of the streets. (As for which type of console, the report from Reuters refers to “Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox video-game consoles”, though we’re assuming that they mean Xbox 360s.)

Having just launched the program on March 27 in the Tepito area, the police announced that “anyone who turns in a high-caliber weapon like a machine gun will get a computer”, while those who turn in smaller arms like handguns, can choose between either cash or a console. The guns that are to be turned in will be destroyed by the army, while the owner of the weapon is promised anonymity.

Organizers have noted that 100 computers have been prepared for the start of the program, with each unit costing about US$ 769 and containing Microsoft software which was donated by the company itself. The number of video game consoles up for trade was not mentioned.

Meanwhile, the whole project seems to be on a good start as police spokesman Ricardo Olayo noted that they received 17 guns on the first day, 12 of which came from Tepito. They have also noted that if the project proves to be successful, it will also be implemented in the city of Iztapalapa.

Pipboy and his really big guns - Image 1Well, here’s something you don’t see everyday: video game consoles being used as a tool to lower drug-related crime rates and violence. The man behind the whole idea is city police chief Joel Ortega of Mexico City who, having been tasked to deal with the city’s growing number of cases of drug violence, is now trying a new way of curbing the violence. And the first step in the local government’s grand plan? Offering to trade firearms for either computers or video game consoles, just to get the guns off of the streets. (As for which type of console, the report from Reuters refers to “Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox video-game consoles”, though we’re assuming that they mean Xbox 360s.)

Having just launched the program on March 27 in the Tepito area, the police announced that “anyone who turns in a high-caliber weapon like a machine gun will get a computer”, while those who turn in smaller arms like handguns, can choose between either cash or a console. The guns that are to be turned in will be destroyed by the army, while the owner of the weapon is promised anonymity.

Organizers have noted that 100 computers have been prepared for the start of the program, with each unit costing about US$ 769 and containing Microsoft software which was donated by the company itself. The number of video game consoles up for trade was not mentioned.

Meanwhile, the whole project seems to be on a good start as police spokesman Ricardo Olayo noted that they received 17 guns on the first day, 12 of which came from Tepito. They have also noted that if the project proves to be successful, it will also be implemented in the city of Iztapalapa.

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