The 5 safest cities in the country of Mexico

Several foreign and domestic agencies such as the International Living magazine, the Coparmex, ICESI, and the National Public Safety Secretariat, among others, carry out studies to determine the incidence of crimes in different cities and countries as well. Rates are obtained at number of homicides per 100 000 inhabitants, the number of thefts reported, the proportion of affected victims, and meaningful data that frame the status of crime and violence associated. These studies, as well as those made about the quality of life and happiness of its inhabitants, made it clear that Mexico is far from the lawless land than many believe it to be.

This is because countries that are perceived as "safer" have bigger crime figures than Mexico. Brazil, for example, has a rate of 25 homicides per 100 000 people (Mexico has 14 per 100 000) or even Arabia and Russia, where thefts are a crime more heavily punished than it is in Mexico (data from International Living and the BBC), demonstrate that there are problems everywhere. Thus, in Mexico there are several cities that have higher levels of security (in terms of crime), and Campeche, Tlaxcala and Chiapas are these three states:

Campeche.- Its official name is San Francisco de Campeche, capital of the same name and has the very low rate of 285 crimes reported per 100 000 inhabitants. In June 2011 a coordinated operation began with the army so that no vehicles with tinted windows were allowed and to stop those who were driving vehicles reported as stolen.

Ciudad del Carmen.- It’s the head of the city and area of exploitation of Mexican crude oil as well as a touristic and shrimp town. Crime statistics are not even on the monthly reports of their website for being so low. Still, given that it is a port, there have been several seizures of illegal goods.

Tlaxcalaof Xicoténcatl.- Is the capital of its state. The state itself has the figure of only 464 crimes per 100 000 inhabitants. It is also one of the municipalities with fewer homicides in the country, and in fact there were only two executions per year (confirmed as organized crime), while the most common crime is robbery.

Tuxtla Gutiérrez.- The capital of the state of Chiapas is also worthy of this list, since it was precisely in March 2011 that it was recognized as the first safe community in the country. This distinction is awarded to cities that have adequate security programs, community integration, transportation, and public places. Chiapas has only 737 reported crimes per 100 thousand inhabitants. Its crime rate is less than 3%: the lowest in all of Mexico.

Puebla de los Angeles.- Officially the Heroic Puebla of Zaragoza, it is also the capital of its state. Although the rate of incidents of common law is higher than in other states (1110 per 100.00) the crimes under federal jurisdiction are low. The state government makes the effort to shield prosecutors from the state of corruption and organized crime.
Foto: RussBowling

Other cities.- Some other cities noted for their low crime rate are Uruapan, municipal head of Michoacán, La Paz, Nogales and others. Likewise, the perception of people of diverse populations is important. One case is Acapulco, which is one of the cities with higher rates in federal crimes and executions, and its inhabitants, until 2009, were happy. So regardless of the figures, studies and statistics, safety is very nearly a matter of perception.




Article produced by the Editorial Team of "Explorando Mexico".
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