Using the National Survey of “Población Privada de la Libertad” 2016 (“Prison population 2016) we analyzed the probability that a person was tortured at the moment of his/her arrest and before his/her presentation to the authorities, taking into account the following variables: a) the police or military institution that was involved in the detention; b) the type of justice system; c) the period of presidential government. At individual level control variables were also considered (age and sex) and at situational level (type of crime and resistance during arrest). Using logit models the findings confirm a major probability of being tortured if the arrest was conducted by marines. In second place if the arrest was made by soldiers and in third place if the arrest was made by the state and the federal police forces were involved. The probability of being tortured was low when they occurred during the new justice system and in early years of the government of Peña Nieto (2013 - 2016). These findings provide evidence to discuss the militarization process of public security in Mexico.

Reformar una Policía para adaptarla a las exigencias de un contexto democrático, es un proceso complejo: las experiencias internacionales de reforma policial demuestran que estos procesos no son unidireccionales, sino que presentan avances y retrocesos. Es en este sentido que el presente artículo expone los resultados de la investigación que tuvo por objeto de estudio el análisis de los procesos de trabajo de la ANSP, con el propósito de determinar si las políticas y programas implementados por la Academia en el periodo 2009–2015, han contribuido al proceso de reforma policial democrática de El Salvador, en congruencia con los planteamientos y compromisos establecidos en los Acuerdos de Paz de 1992.

Mexico’s public security has suffered a militarization process for at least two decades. Although there is consensus on this trend at the national level in the specialized literature, little research has been conducted on its subnational impact. To amend this gap, this article inquires the way in which militarization has permeated the structure and operation of subnational security forces beyond the local autocratic dynamics that reinforce militarization. Specifically, this article focuses on police reconfiguration regarding interaction with military in the six most violent states in Mexico: Jalisco, Nuevo León, Guanajuato, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Zacatecas. The qualitative analysis presented is based on 15 interviews and 18 focus groups with police offices and public security officials of these states. We argue that military presence on the streets and the arrival of the military-to-executive positions in public security institutions contributed to the adoption of military operating modes by the state police during Felipe Calderón (Dec. 2006–Nov. 2012) and Enrique Peña Nieto’s presidential terms (Dec. 2012–Nov. 2018). Additionally, this article aims to explain how the military has permeated the state’s public security institutions at different levels and dynamics (management, training, and operation) that promote the adoption of formal or informal military features that enable state police institutions to behave alike and resemble the army in their everyday activities. From a theoretical and methodological perspective, this article calls for the construction of a research agenda that focuses on the local and subnational processes of the militarization of public security.

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El análisis de la tortura ejercida por policías en México se ha centrado en su relación con el sistema de justicia penal. Sin embargo, las policías desarrollan otros objetivos y ámbitos de actuación donde la tortura también puede ser una práctica común. Utilizando la Encuesta Nacional de Población Privada de la Libertad se construyeron modelos de regresión logística para probar dos motivaciones alternativas: la extracción de renta y la imposición de castigos. Los resultados confirman la importancia de explicaciones de la tortura que trasciendan la perspectiva del sistema de justicia penal y den cuenta de la complejidad formal e informal de la acción policial. Finalmente, discutimos los límites de los resultados y sugerimos nuevas rutas de investigación.