• KILLINGS: Murders of police officers in Mexico reached a high in 2019, soaring to a total of 446, a reflection of record-high levels of violence experienced in some areas of the country, including the central state of Guanajuato where two gangs are engaged in a violent turf war.
• PREVIOUS: According to numbers gathered by respected NGO Causa en Común, killings are up by 5.9% from the 415 figure in 2018. Only in the state of Guanajuato -situated in the prosperous Bajío region- killings of police officers went from 66 in 2018 to 73 in 2019.
• MESSAGE: “The message that the state, federal and municipal authorities end up sending is a completely criminal one: Killing a police officer is easy, and there is no consequence”, said María Elena Morera, head of Causa en Común.
• COMPARISON: Meanwhile, the number of police officer killings in 2019 was just 48 according to data presented by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Moreover, the US total population is 327 million, while Mexico’s is estimated to be just 129 million.
