Limits of vetting. Yet U.S. officials who are responsible for encouraging countries like Mexico to clean up their security forces often act as if salaries and pensions don't matter. Under this procedure, foreign security agencies are trained to carefully screen recruits for criminal background, educational qualifications, and moral fitness through the use of everything from polygraphs and urinalysis to psychological testing. The chosen recruits are then given intensive training in police tactics, surveillance, and electronic gadgetry. These are all good and necessary steps.
Results are better when good salaries are combined with tough vetting.
After invading Haiti in 1994, the U.S. military disbanded the Haitian Army, which had terrorized the populace for years. It then hired and trained thousands of new police officers, paying salaries that put cops among the highest-paid employees in the country. Considering the general disorder in Haiti, this is remarkable testimony to the efficacy of a living wage. These rookies would also be eligible for a pension in hard currency backed by the international agency. The improved salaries and pensions would act not just as carrots but as sticks.