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After weeks of high-level talks with the federal government of Mexico, the state governor of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama, has announced the new Citizen Security Law has been given the green light.
This huge change in law enforcement and its organization is designed to rapidly improve the security situation in Quintana Roo, with the end goal of restoring the state’s once stellar reputation for safety and peace.
What Is This New Law?
While at first “Citizen Security Law” may sound like a cheap catchphrase, its wording gives us the most important specifics of this new legislation, one that has been lacking in recent years according to locals and tourists alike.
Instead of a sole focus on the protection of places and hotspots alone and expecting the protection of these places to go hand in hand with the protection of citizens and travelers, the new direction takes a more aggressive approach to crime and its perpetrators.
A huge number of new police and military units are being made available to the state, as well as the reorganization of the current law enforcement elements into more specialized departments.
These are the basic differences between the old and new approach to security in Quintana Roo:
Pre-Citizen Security Law
Law enforcement works on a reactionary basis, if an incident happens in a specific area, then the next day the police presence there is increased.
While this approach is important in policing to help avoid a further deterioration in the security of these areas, it alone is not a strong deterrent for the wider area and allows crime to simply shift neighborhoods for a while.
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Post-Citizen Security Law
Law enforcement reacts to the developing security situation as before, except for new departments whose sole directive is to hunt out potential security threats to the state, build a case, and remove them from the equation before they can strike.
At its heart, the goal of this new direction is the protection of the people in Quintana Roo, both locals and travelers, and not just the protection of land and businesses.
Why This Is Important News
This proactive approach has been a huge missing piece of the puzzle when it comes to restoring Quintana Roo’s once spotless security reputation.
Recent years have been difficult for the state, with Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and even the once sleepy fishing village of Tulum all becoming hotspots for organized crime.
The status quo wasn’t giving the desired results, only shifting the crime from one area to the next like a sad game of musical chairs.
And while the state of Quintana Roo, its law enforcement, and business associations work extremely hard to improve the security situation, they had their hands tied by the previous approach.
So important is the cooperation of these three groups that they are all incorporated into the new Citizen Security Law framework, uniting the powers of the public, social, and private organizations of the state.
The Short-Term Goals
To put it simply, the goal is to reduce crime and increase the overall feeling of safety in the state of Quintana Roo.
Easier said than done, but now a much more likely reality with this new direction. There was a survey recently of residents in Cancun which had shocking results.
Over 83% of residents over the age of 18 believe that the city is unsafe to live in. This is a truly shocking statistic that also highlights the huge difference in experience between locals and tourists in the city.
The vast majority of travelers here have the opposite feeling, thanks to the heavy security presence in the hotel zone and at tourism hotspots. In fact, there are many cases where the tourist districts of Cancun rank as much safer than many cities across the United States.
The Long-Term Goals
Long term, the goal is an honest and professional security apparatus and the return of peace to the state.
The state isn’t looking at this as a short-term fight against crime; it’s treating it like the long-term evolution of policing in the state and potentially even the country.
A new training center called the University of Security Sciences and Disciplines is being built with the aim of turning policing into a professional career more in line with Western police forces.
This, along with the restructuring being implemented, will hopefully return the Quintana Roo of old to people.
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Pilar Nuñez
Saturday 22nd of April 2023
Good luck with the “honest and professional security apparatus.” Police are not even required to be literate. I’ve met some, who were being paid by the monster neighbors next door (the ones with a hotel in a residential zone ) to harass me. They didn’t even know Mexico has a constitution and weren’t interested in knowing what it said about arresting and beating up someone powerless just to intimidate me. They don’t get health insurance and all they know how to do is extort and take bribes.
And the upper echelons of Tulum government only care about how much money they can steal, extort and solicit bribe money during their term. They don’t care about the future of Tulum, only how much they can walk away with after 2 years.
And Sr. Miranda Miranda, back in Desarollo Urbano now, stole $20k (USD) from me in 2010 and is forcing somebody I know to pay $18 million (Mxn) for a building permit.
The police guard the narco dealers at their “table” dealing drugs in restaurants.
There’s is nothing that isn’t corrupted! I had to sell my house and get out as I watched the bay being destroyed by idiot owners and caretakers. It’s so sad.