5 ms·

I too live in Mexico and have for over a decade. If you say you feel physically safer here, it's because you live in a bubble of safety that's probably the resu

I too live in Mexico and have for over a decade. If you say you feel physically safer here, it's because you live in a bubble of safety that's probably the result of having enough money to carefully choose where you reside and having picked a place where crime and insecurity haven't quite filtered to yet. Despite this, it's grossly mistaken or even dishonest to paint this country as a safer place than the U.S. The police are almost uniformly corrupt throughout, and where they don't engage in frequently criminal levels of corruption and extortion, they're often simply inept and unresponsive. God help you if a family member should be a victim of a serious crime or kidnapping here. You will very likely receive a terrible if not outrageously corrupt police response. Exceptions exist, but they're not at all the norm. Now moving onto crime: Though certain parts of the country are safer from it and some places are remarkably peaceful, no honest person should understate how generally pervasive violent crime of many types has become throughout a growing percentage of the country. NO, IT IS NOT about just drug cartels or people involved in the black markets. Extortion, kidnappings, assaults and murders have reached a point where they affect many people from all sectors even if they're often careful. Now obviously, Mexico isn't some caricature from a Hollywood movie in which one dodges bullets just by stepping outside, and it's possible to be fairly safe in many parts of the country. However, danger and an inability to respond effectively to crime if you are a victim of it go hand in hand and are much more common than many bubble-ensconced expats claim. The murder rate in the country is 6 times higher than it is in the U.S as a whole, in 2021, murders have reached their highest levels since the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century, and this not to even mention forced disappearances, unreported murders or the numerous types of lesser violent crime that are widespread. To claim that you're physically safer in Mexico than in the U.S is an exercise in extraordinarily selective thinking or very particular, completely non-general circumstances. Again, I live here, have for many years and have many friends throughout this country from all levels of the socieconomic ladder. Many of them have been victims of crime in many situations. All have at some point been the victims of police corruption.

helloworld11 4y ago
Just to add: There are of course many stories and cases of bad police conduct in the U.S and in many incidents, police investigate poorly or react badly to situations, but overall, the general trend is that if you report a serious crime, it will receive a reasonably professional and often very strong investigative response. It will at least be generally incomparably better than how things would be in Mexico if the same were to occur, in this country where only 2% yes, 2% of murders (never mind lesser crimes) are ever solved by police.... People who complain about shitty police service in the United States are right to do so and point it out, but many of them have never seen just how bad it usually is in a country like Mexico. What's more, basic self defense is practically forbidden. One can sniff their nose at U.S gun laws all they want but at least in most places a basic right to self defense when the police don't arrive on time and one's life is in danger exists. In Mexico, we have an absolutely perverse situation in which police barely respond in meaningful ways, crime is rampant, criminals are heavily armed and easily obtain weapons, but normal civilians risk going to prison if they should carry even non-lethal weapons for self defense, or use a gun in their home to protect themselves against and assault. Why do the police arrest them more often? Because such people are much easier pickings than a real criminal and it's an opportunity for safe extortion. This is very common, and grotesque. U.S self defense laws are much better as an alternative. Europeans disdain such gun laws, but at least in most European countries where self-defense with weapons is often essentially forbidden, at least the justice system and policing are both functional. In Mexico they emphatically are not, but with the same sorts of highly restrictive laws against civilians who take defense into their own hands. I challenge anyone to defend such a legal landscape.
dimmke 4y ago
>To claim that you're physically safer in Mexico than in the U.S is an exercise in extraordinarily selective thinking or very particular, completely non-general circumstances. That's fair. And I think my comment was unintentionally misleading. I was not saying that Mexico is a safer country than the United States. I was trying to explain my perspective. I personally feel safer here, because of neurosis I've built up after living in the US for almost 30 years. Even when I've interacted with police. Because a cop potentially wanting a bribe is more predictable/understandable to me than a buzz cut guy with an assault rifle who could kill me like its nothing and get away with it. That's what the police are like in the United States. But I also live in Merida, which yes is a non-general, very safe city. But even when I was in CDMX I felt generally safe walking around, going to restaurants and malls.
- helloworld11 4y ago
  >That's fair. And I think my comment was unintentionally misleading. I was not saying that Mexico is a safer country than the United States. I was trying to explain my perspective. Fair enough, and I'm sorry if I came across as harsh in my own counterargument, but after all these years here, I've grown tired of some expats trying to whitewash how Mexico often is out of misguided political correctness or politeness towards the country. Politeness is fine as long as it doesn't paint dangerously false pictures. >Even when I've interacted with police. Because a cop potentially wanting a bribe is more predictable/understandable to me than a buzz cut guy with an assault rifle who could kill me like its nothing and get away with it. That's what the police are like in the United States. There are many examples of U.S police getting away with legal immunity against killing people who turned out to not be threats, but more often, they at least may face legal consequences if they commit a blatant murder or act of violence, and at least in many cases civil settlements happen that don't often get reported. Your take on Mexican police is almost certainly tainted by how they treat you as a foreigner and particularly in one of the safest cities in Mexico's single safest state, Yucatan. Police in Mexico are more generally very dangerous under the wrong circumstances and have been implicated in more murders and disappearances than I can even number off the top of my head. And victims of their frequent violence can forget things like legal proceedings or civil settlements in all but the most unusual media-hyped cases. I'm sorry, but i'd say there's just no comparison. I'd suggest being more careful in making assumptions about Mexican police when you deal with them in the future. Where I live (a small city close to Puebla), municipal, state and federal police have been implicated in numerous murders, beatings, torture cases and so forth. All this aside from an endless stream of petty abuses that are openly, outright corrupt. As for Merida, as I said above, known to be one of the absolute safest large cities in Mexico. Lovely place too, if you don't mind the heat. Mexico City has a fairly safe central part of it, a sort of bubble of reasonably moderate crime rates and few attacks against foreigners in particular, but remember that a vast other majority of the city is much more dangerous than that, and especially if you try entering the outer urban regions to the east and south of the city, or further out, entering Estado de Mexico. With all that said, I continue to love this country after all these years.

helloworld11 4y ago

Just to add: There are of course many stories and cases of bad police conduct in the U.S and in many incidents, police investigate poorly or react badly to situations, but overall, the general trend is that if you report a serious crime, it will receive a reasonably professional and often very strong investigative response. It will at least be generally incomparably better than how things would be in Mexico if the same were to occur, in this country where only 2% yes, 2% of murders (never mind lesser crimes) are ever solved by police.... People who complain about shitty police service in the United States are right to do so and point it out, but many of them have never seen just how bad it usually is in a country like Mexico. What's more, basic self defense is practically forbidden. One can sniff their nose at U.S gun laws all they want but at least in most places a basic right to self defense when the police don't arrive on time and one's life is in danger exists. In Mexico, we have an absolutely perverse situation in which police barely respond in meaningful ways, crime is rampant, criminals are heavily armed and easily obtain weapons, but normal civilians risk going to prison if they should carry even non-lethal weapons for self defense, or use a gun in their home to protect themselves against and assault. Why do the police arrest them more often? Because such people are much easier pickings than a real criminal and it's an opportunity for safe extortion. This is very common, and grotesque. U.S self defense laws are much better as an alternative. Europeans disdain such gun laws, but at least in most European countries where self-defense with weapons is often essentially forbidden, at least the justice system and policing are both functional. In Mexico they emphatically are not, but with the same sorts of highly restrictive laws against civilians who take defense into their own hands. I challenge anyone to defend such a legal landscape.

dimmke 4y ago

>To claim that you're physically safer in Mexico than in the U.S is an exercise in extraordinarily selective thinking or very particular, completely non-general circumstances. That's fair. And I think my comment was unintentionally misleading. I was not saying that Mexico is a safer country than the United States. I was trying to explain my perspective. I personally feel safer here, because of neurosis I've built up after living in the US for almost 30 years. Even when I've interacted with police. Because a cop potentially wanting a bribe is more predictable/understandable to me than a buzz cut guy with an assault rifle who could kill me like its nothing and get away with it. That's what the police are like in the United States. But I also live in Merida, which yes is a non-general, very safe city. But even when I was in CDMX I felt generally safe walking around, going to restaurants and malls.

helloworld11 4y ago
>That's fair. And I think my comment was unintentionally misleading. I was not saying that Mexico is a safer country than the United States. I was trying to explain my perspective. Fair enough, and I'm sorry if I came across as harsh in my own counterargument, but after all these years here, I've grown tired of some expats trying to whitewash how Mexico often is out of misguided political correctness or politeness towards the country. Politeness is fine as long as it doesn't paint dangerously false pictures. >Even when I've interacted with police. Because a cop potentially wanting a bribe is more predictable/understandable to me than a buzz cut guy with an assault rifle who could kill me like its nothing and get away with it. That's what the police are like in the United States. There are many examples of U.S police getting away with legal immunity against killing people who turned out to not be threats, but more often, they at least may face legal consequences if they commit a blatant murder or act of violence, and at least in many cases civil settlements happen that don't often get reported. Your take on Mexican police is almost certainly tainted by how they treat you as a foreigner and particularly in one of the safest cities in Mexico's single safest state, Yucatan. Police in Mexico are more generally very dangerous under the wrong circumstances and have been implicated in more murders and disappearances than I can even number off the top of my head. And victims of their frequent violence can forget things like legal proceedings or civil settlements in all but the most unusual media-hyped cases. I'm sorry, but i'd say there's just no comparison. I'd suggest being more careful in making assumptions about Mexican police when you deal with them in the future. Where I live (a small city close to Puebla), municipal, state and federal police have been implicated in numerous murders, beatings, torture cases and so forth. All this aside from an endless stream of petty abuses that are openly, outright corrupt. As for Merida, as I said above, known to be one of the absolute safest large cities in Mexico. Lovely place too, if you don't mind the heat. Mexico City has a fairly safe central part of it, a sort of bubble of reasonably moderate crime rates and few attacks against foreigners in particular, but remember that a vast other majority of the city is much more dangerous than that, and especially if you try entering the outer urban regions to the east and south of the city, or further out, entering Estado de Mexico. With all that said, I continue to love this country after all these years.