Tijuana Mayor Ismael Burgueño removed Police Chief Cesar Orlando Muñoz Mendoza from his post on Thursday, June 19, replacing him with Fernando Sánchez González in a shakeup that marks the city’s second police leadership change in under a year. The move came just six months after Muñoz Mendoza took command of one of Mexico’s largest municipal police forces.
Muñoz Mendoza Lasted Six Months in a Notoriously Difficult Post
Muñoz Mendoza assumed the role of Tijuana’s Secretary of Public Safety and Citizen Protection in December 2024. He replaced Luis Alberto González Sanmiguel, who held the position during much of the previous administration. Before his appointment, Muñoz Mendoza had served as director of the Baja California State Preventive Police, a role that gave him oversight of statewide operations but not the street-level command demands of Tijuana’s roughly 2,500-officer municipal force.
Tijuana’s police chief position is one of the most scrutinized law enforcement posts in Mexico. The city regularly ranks among the country’s most violent municipalities, and its police force has faced persistent questions about recruitment, training, and internal corruption. Chiefs rarely serve full terms. The position has seen frequent turnover over the past decade, with several holders lasting less than a year.
Mayor Burgueño did not publicly detail the reasons for the dismissal. But the timing coincides with ongoing public pressure over Tijuana’s homicide rate, which remains among the highest in Baja California. Through the first half of 2025, the city has continued to record dozens of killings per month, many tied to organized crime activity concentrated in eastern colonias and along trafficking corridors near the international border.
New Chief Fernando Sánchez González Comes From State Ranks
Sánchez González, the incoming chief, brings a background in state-level policing. He previously served in various capacities within Baja California’s public safety apparatus, though the mayor’s office did not release a detailed résumé at the time of the announcement. His appointment takes effect immediately.
The transition follows a pattern familiar in Baja California politics. Municipal police chiefs in Tijuana, Mexicali, and Ensenada frequently rotate when new administrations take office or when crime statistics draw political heat. Burgueño, who took office in October 2024 as part of a new slate of Morena-affiliated municipal leaders across the state, initially kept several holdovers before installing his own picks. Muñoz Mendoza was one of those early selections, making his removal a notable reversal.
Tijuana’s municipal police operate alongside several overlapping forces. The Guardia Nacional (Mexico’s national guard) maintains checkpoints and patrols along the border zone and major highways. Baja California’s state police handle investigations and highway patrol. The FGE, Baja California’s state attorney general’s office, leads criminal prosecutions. Coordination among these agencies has been a recurring challenge, with municipal police often bearing the most visible public safety burden because they respond to emergency calls and patrol neighborhoods.
Policing Changes Affect Daily Life Across Tijuana’s Colonias
Leadership changes at the top of Tijuana’s police force tend to ripple through patrol assignments, checkpoint placements, and response times. When a new chief takes over, precinct commanders often rotate as well. Residents in areas with high expat concentrations, including Playas de Tijuana, Zona Río, and parts of the Rosarito corridor just south of the city, may notice shifts in visible police presence during the transition period.
The city’s police force has also been dealing with staffing shortages. Tijuana has struggled for years to recruit and retain officers. Pay for municipal police starts at roughly 15,000 pesos per month (about $850 USD), a figure that labor advocates and police unions have called insufficient given the danger of the job. Muñoz Mendoza had pledged to improve working conditions during his brief tenure, but no major salary increases materialized before his departure.
For anyone who regularly crosses the border or commutes through Tijuana, police transitions can also affect traffic enforcement patterns and the operation of checkpoints near the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry. These shifts are typically temporary but can create confusion in the first weeks of a new command structure.
Sánchez González is expected to present his security strategy to the Tijuana city council in the coming weeks. No date has been announced for that presentation. This story was first reported by Debate Tijuana.