The Shadow Police: Examining the State of Mexico’s Hybrid Police Forces

• In Event: Policy Panel: Plural Policing in the Global South: Navigating hybridity and security partnerships

Abstract

Police departments across Mexico maintain hybrid forces designed to provide protection to public and private clients in exchange for a fee. The public status of many of these forces is murky and contested, leaving them in a legal gray zone, thus allowing these shadowy forces to operate with little oversight. This study examines Los Cuerpos de Seguridad Auxiliares del Estado de México (CUSAEM), one of the largest and most notorious hybrid police forces in the country. Many of the force’s members have engaged in criminal activity with few consequences. For instance, numerous CUSAEM agents have been connected to high level murder cases, drug trafficking organizations, and campaign intimidation operations. I argue that state actors have intentionally maintained the ambiguous legal status of these hybrid police forces so that they and their associates can effectively wield these extra-legal units for their own personal gain while publicly distancing themselves from their abusive behavior and criminal activities. The existence of the CUSAEM and other similar forces in Mexico continues the state’s long tradition of permitting local strongmen to appropriate public resources for private purposes, act with impunity, and leverage extralegal force. As a result, efforts to reform the police and further democratize the country are limited.

Author

• Logan Puck, George Washington University