Mexico City

Public Safety

Crime is one of the most serious problems facing Mexico City, touching the lives of all its citizens, directly and indirectly. Considered one of the least safe cities in the world, Mexico City in the 1990s faced a "crime explosion," in the words of its first elected mayor, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas. While crime grew by 46 percent between 1960 and 1994, it grew by 59 percent between 1994 and 1997, when about 700 crimes were reported daily.

The Cárdenas administration was overwhelmed by the crime wave and embarrassed by its inability to end it. Yet, the government claimed some success by mid-1999. The number of daily crimes reported each day dropped to less than 700 for the first time in several years. In the first two months of 1999, more than 50 banks were robbed, but between March and September, only four banks were robbed. Assaults on drivers dropped from 78 per day in 1997 to 45 by 1999, and car theft dropped from 160 in 1997 to 123 by 1999. Yet, house break-ins remained the same, about 25 per day, and assaults on pedestrians increased from 94 per day in 1997 to 132 per day in the first six months of 1999.

A serious problem for the city is the discredited and highly distrusted police department. The mordida (bribe) that Mexican citizens are often forced to pay when confronted by police is the most enduring symbol of corruption. Police officers in the 1990s have been accused of murder, rape, kidnapping, and many other offenses. "The fight against crime has encountered resistance within the police forces themselves," Cardenas told the Associated Press in September 1999.

The city administration slowly has been trying to reform the police department, retiring and firing many officers. In 1998, the city hired 4,200 new recruits and sought the assistance of French police and university professors to train them. On average, police officers earn $350 per month, but the city has doubled the salary and improved benefits for retrained officers. In August 1999, the city's police chief ordered 900 traffic officers, all of them men, to stop writing tickets. He said women officers would take over ticket-writing duties because they were less likely to be corrupted.

Crime has led to the creation of many private security forces, and it is not rare to see wealthier Mexicans accompanied by bodyguards. The government estimates there are 534 private security companies with 17,500 employees.