Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said that major crime in the capital decreased by 60.1% during the first four months of this year, compared to the same period in 2019.
During a presentation of the city’s Criminal Incidence Report at the Museum of Mexico City on Monday, the mayor touted her administration’s security strategy as responsible for the decline, highlighting strengthened local police and greater collaboration between the city’s prosecutor’s office and the public security ministry.
“From January 2020 to date, they have dismantled more than 240 cells from criminal groups in the city,” the mayor said, adding that 2,000 suspected criminals have been arrested. There were 99 operations carried out against criminal groups in the same period.
Sheinbaum emphasized that the local security strategy is based on four fundamental points: attention to the causes of crime, more and better police, the use of intelligence and improved coordination between security agencies.
Sheinbaum said on Twitter that there were only 1.5 homicides per day at the end of March, the lowest rate since 1997. According to figures presented by Mexico City Police Chief Omar García Harfuch, homicides decreased by 51.3% compared to 2019, when there were 489 intentional homicides.
Despite this improvement, official figures show that homicides increased 15% during the first four months of 2023 compared to last year, with the number of intentional homicides growing from 208 to 238.
Government figures show that 147 people were arrested between January and March for homicide this year, a number Mexico City Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said is indicative of her office’s effectiveness in prosecuting the crime. Godoy also emphasized that more people have been arrested for kidnapping.
“Between January and March of this year, we have detained 147 people accused of homicide, 59% more than in the same period in 2019,” she said.
“There has been an 88% decrease in kidnapping compared to 2019. At the same time, arrest warrants have increased 35%, and 23 people have been arrested for this crime between January and March of this year.”
Sheinbaum noted that the perception of insecurity in Mexico City also declined, dipping from 85% in 2019 to 57% in 2023. The decrease was most prominent this year.
“From 2022 to 2023, there was a very substantial decrease, from 67% to 57%. This is almost 10%,” Sheinbaum said.
Improved perceptions of security in the capital follow the national trend. According to data released last week from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, 62.1% of the population in Mexico felt unsafe in their cities, down from 74% a few years ago.
