Mexican police force is corrupt due to low wages: Morera

As a result of low wages and an overall lack of resources, Mexico's police force makes ends meet by subsidizing their incomes with corruption and crime, said María Elena Morera, president of the NGO Causa en Común, during her speech at the Fifth National Join Forces Forum, Citizens and Police Officers.

“We need to not only reflect on how we as citizens are affected by all of this, but also how we treat our police officers. Not all police officers have social security benefits, medical insurance and dignified wages.”
“The country's current model for our police force is intrinsically corrupt. It doesn't work at all thanks to the crime and corruption subsidies,” she said.

Morera said that the level of crime and violence in the country are unacceptable and she emphasized figures released by Mexico's statistics agency INEGI that show that one out of every three Mexicans has been a victim to a crime and that seven out of 10 people feel unsafe in their cities.

“Homicide rates have gone up in 22 states this year. September was the most violent month in the last four years with more than 2,000 cases of murder,” she emphasized.