The entire police force of Ascension, Mexico has resigned after several deadly attacks on the department's officers in recent months.
The Associated Press says state and federal police have taken over for the 20 officers who quit this week in the small northern Mexico town.
Ascension is in Chihuahua state, where Mexico's violent border town of Ciudad Juarez is located.
More than 40 thousand people have been killed in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of soldiers to crack down on drug cartels in 2006.