Local Responses to Public Insecurity in Mexico

Hybrid Police Work and Insecurity in the Mexican Federal State

“…This may explain, for instance, the basic, albeit restricted, tolerance of state institutions toward the efforts of indigenous groups in rural parts of Mexico, especially in the states of Guerrero and Michoacán, to build up a so-called Policía Comunitaria. 20 This institution still serves as a localized policing solution in order to address the citizens' skepticism and distrust toward state and federal police forces, which were involved in human rights violations under the PRI regime and which continued to be considered unresponsive toward the needs of the local population and were suspected of being involved in drug trafficking and other criminal activities (see, for instance, Sierra, 2005;Azaola, 2009;Rowland, 2005;Bailey and Dammert, 2005: 8-9;Braig and Stanley, 2007). In this sense, hybrid policing can be interpreted as an occasionally unintended consequence of democratization and decentralization.…”

“…These shortcomings are largely conditioned by the position of the municipalities in the political system of Mexico (see Rowland, 2005;Basombrío and Dammert, 2013: 7). As such, the Mexican municipalities are largely dependent on funding from the federal government despite the rights guaranteed by the constitutional amendment in 1983 to collect municipal taxes (see Rowland, 2005: 189-93;Sabet, 2012: 69-70 guaranteeing municipal security represents a misallocation due to the lack of additional incentive systems, which prevents the police at the municipal level from being professionalized in a sustainable manner (see, for instance, Rowland, 2005: 189).…”

¿Hacia dónde va la economía política en México?

“…Una corriente de trabajo estrechamente relacionada tiene que ver con el reto de la reforma de la policía y el establecimiento del Estado de derecho. Aunque la mayor parte de las contribuciones de esta área proviene de abogados, que tienden a enfatizar los aspectos formales y procedimentales del código legal (en particular en torno a juicios orales y al uso de un sistema acusatorio de justicia en vez de uno inquisitorial) existen importantes estu-dios que analizan el comportamiento de la policía en diferentes contextos municipales (Allison Rowland, 2006), estudios comparativos de reforma de la policía (Bailey y Dammert, 2006) e investigaciones sobre la relación entre democratización y calidad del Estado de derecho. Sobre este último tema, Diane E. Davis (2006) estudia la corrupción en la policía de la Ciudad de México y plantea que la transición a la democracia y el consecuente aumento en competencia electoral, en conjunto con la fragmentación del aparato de justicia del país, evitan que sea posible llevar a cabo una reforma de la policía que logre reducir los conflictos de coordinación entre los diferentes niveles del aparato de justicia mexicano.…”