Mexico continues to rely on a militarized approach to public security, a strategy widely criticized for its counterproductive results over the past two decades, while overlooking alternative models that have shown promise, according to a new report.
The report assesses the consequences of militarization, which puts the armed forces’ on the front lines of public security tasks. The model gained traction in Mexico starting in 2006 under President Felipe Calderón as part of his so-called war on drugs.
Since then, military deployments have surged from 43,425 troops in 2007 to 100,226 by November 2024, according to the report, published in late June by the Universidad Iberoamericana. That year, military spending hit record levels after a 39% increase. On June 5, 2025, President Claudia Sheinbaum introduced a proposal in Congress, along with eight draft legal reforms, to further expand the armed forces’ powers through the National Guard, which was originally conceived in 2019 as a civilian institution.
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But this steadfast embrace of a military approach promises to do little to improve with the country’s violence indicators. A slight drop in the homicide rate was offset by a 15% rise in forced disappearances during the first half of 2025 compared to the same period the year before.
High levels of underreporting for extortion and other crimes linked to organized crime also points to a climate of widespread criminal impunity. “We found … an underreporting rate of 92.9%, which calls into question the accuracy or handling of the [official] figures,” said Karime Aguilar, co-author of the report, in an interview with InSight Crime.
The push for militarization is largely fueled by high levels of public trust in the armed forces — over 80% in the case of the main military branches.
“Security policy continues to follow a centralized, top-down logic that ignores local realities and favors media impact over addressing the true drivers of violence,” Aguilar added.
Alternative Public Policies
The poor results of a militarized approach underscore the need to rethink the concept of public security, and to take lessons from successful alternatives that prioritize civilian leadership and citizen participation, and strengthen key institutions to fight impunity.
The systematic expansion of the armed forces into security roles has weakened civilian institutions and democratic oversight mechanisms, leading to arbitrariness, rights abuses, and persistent impunity.
The military’s role in public security should be limited to exceptional support for civilian police forces, according to experts who contributed to the report. But a new security model would also require other elements, such as community engagement and preventive strategies.
In Nezahualcóyotl, a municipality near Mexico City, a citizen security approach launched in 2012 reduced both perceived insecurity and the homicide rate, which fell to just 11.2% in 2024 — well below the national average. The model introduced a “proximity policing” strategy in which 10,000 neighborhood networks work with local police to identify security challenges and propose prevention measures.
In Morelia, Michoacán, where a similar approach reinforced the role of the municipal police, homicides dropped by 37% between 2022 and 2024, according to official sources.
Despite the success of those alternative models, authorities often remain stuck in their ways.
“There’s resistance to learning — good practices in security are not studied or replicated,” Aguilar said.
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Mexico’s security strategies have also failed to tackle impunity. In addition to the high levels of underreporting, law enforcement’s investigative capacity remains weak. In 2022, only 16% of criminal investigations were resolved.
The findings point to the need to reform key institutions like the Attorney General’s Office, which has faced repeated allegations of corruption, collusion with organized crime, and negligence.
“We’re no longer talking about isolated cases or individual wrongdoing — it’s a structural phenomenon that forces us to rethink the entire institutional architecture of the country,” Aguilar said.
Featured Image: Mexican Soliders stand in line, carrying their weapons. Fernando Llano/ AP.