The Shadow Police: Crime, Impunity, & Mexico’s Hybrid Police Forces

• In Event: Violent Democracy in the Global South: Evidence from Mexico

Abstract

Police departments across Mexico maintain hybrid forces designed to provide protection to public and private clients in exchange for a fee. In Jalisco and the State of Mexico, the public status of these forces is murky and contested, leaving them in a legal grey zone. The shadowy status of these forces allows them to operate with little oversight. Indeed, many of their members have engaged in criminal activity with few consequences. The Cuerpos de Seguridad Auxiliares del Estado de México (CUSAEM), for instance, has been connected to high level murder cases, drug trafficking organizations, and campaign intimidation operations, while commanders and subcommanders of Jalisco’s Policia Auxiliar have been linked to criminal organizations. These units have also served as private armies for individuals and corporate interests. I argue that state actors intentionally maintain the ambiguous legal status of these hybrid police units so that they and their associates can effectively wield these extra-legal forces for their own personal gain while publicly distancing themselves from their criminal activities. The existence of these forces 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, Bates College