By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City’s first female mayor and a member of the now-ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena), took office on Wednesday, Dec. 5, in a public ceremony at City Hall.

Sheinbaum is also the first Jewish mayor on Mexico City, which has a population of about 40,000 Jews.

Her first act as mayor, Sheinbaum said, will be to disband the city’s controversial granaderos (riot police) as part of her key platform promise to reduce crime and provide greater protection for Mexico City residents.

“The police are supposed to protect the public,” she said. “We don’t need a police force to repress them.”

Sheinbaum also said she would improve public transport with a new cable car system and provide better housing for the city’s poor and for those who lost their homes in the Sept. 19, 2017, earthquake.