🔗 Share this article Daily Murders in Mexico Decline Over a Third In President Sheinbaum, According to Official Figures The average number of per-day homicides per month in the country has dropped by thirty-seven percent since Head of State Claudia Sheinbaum took office, as stated by fresh official figures. Nevertheless, security analysts have warned that homicide numbers may not point to improved countrywide safety. Notable Drop in Daily Figures There was an mean of nearly 55 killings a day in the month of November versus roughly 87 when Sheinbaum assumed the presidential office in September. This announcement was delivered by the head of the country’s federal safety system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the leader's daily press briefing on Tuesday. “The figures in killings that we’ve had in these months is remarkably notable,” Sheinbaum stated, explaining that in November the lowest amount of homicides were documented for any November in the past decade. Recent Background and Official Plan Violent drug cartel internal conflicts, combined with the government’s highly militarised operations to take on the trafficking organizations, have caused Mexico’s murder rate rise sharply in recent years. The figure peaked at a record high of 36,773 homicides in 2020, as reported by the country’s national statistics office. That meant Mexico a homicide figure more than 4x higher than that of the United States. From that point, homicides have been on the decline, dropping to 33,550 last year. The President has linked her public safety plan for an apparently steeper drop in killings this year. At a news briefing in the summer, the Mexican leader declared: “We have a strategy, there is tracking of the strategy, and there is detailed tracking locality by locality in certain cases. The approach works. And we have to keep working at it each day.” The central pillars of the President's safety strategy involve: Reinforcing Mexico’s federal guard. Improving information gathering and investigative efforts. Enhanced collaboration between government agencies. Analyst Skepticism and Statistical Limitations Nevertheless, public safety analysts cautioned that focusing solely on murder numbers to assess the situation of peace was problematic. This is notably true in light of the uptick in different criminal activities such as people going missing. “It would be positive information if this was a decrease, but I think we shouldn't just focus on the murder numbers and think: ‘Well then, great,’” stated Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an expert on Mexican criminal organizations. “I would be tentatively positive.” As reported by the policy analysis organization Mexico Evalúa, murders overall fell by over 20% in the initial 10 months of the current year compared with the same timeframe last year. Yet, missing persons cases have risen by 15% and in some regions have surged by as much as 200%. “Numbers on murders is not valid for gauging the reality of public insecurity,” stated Armando Vargas, a security expert at Mexico Evalúa. “First, we have law enforcement and investigators who lack the capacity or the inclination to properly identify and categorize bodies. Second, organised [criminals] … have the capability to hide violent acts through abductions.” Vargas pointed out that relying on month-to-month averages of everyday killings was also concerning because it could obscure days when there were notably high numbers of murders. “Relying on the daily average makes spikes of violent crime less visible,” he concluded. Detentions and Seizures as Metrics of Progress An area where the government can cite the success of its security strategy is on detentions and confiscations. Almost 40,000 individuals were apprehended between last October and this past November for high-impact offenses, per official data. Over 20,000 weapons were seized and 311 tons of drugs confiscated. “Trump can't accuse President Sheinbaum of doing nothing, because actually she is accomplishing a lot with these thousands of arrests, many thousands of seizures, and all the tactical weakening of criminal groups. It’s extremely politically profitable,” commented Vargas. Ongoing Violence and Societal Frustration Yet in spite of these efforts, Mexico is still grappling with extreme violence, with several states in the grip of cartel-related bloodshed. In the previous month there was a prominent murder of a well-liked local official in the state of Michoacan, among 10 local leaders killed in the past year. Weeks after, thousands of young people demonstrated in Mexico City and across the country to voice their anger at graft and drug violence. “The administration shares [data] in a way to create a narrative of safety. Politically it’s extremely effective, socially it’s highly problematic,” Vargas remarked.
The average number of per-day homicides per month in the country has dropped by thirty-seven percent since Head of State Claudia Sheinbaum took office, as stated by fresh official figures. Nevertheless, security analysts have warned that homicide numbers may not point to improved countrywide safety. Notable Drop in Daily Figures There was an mean of nearly 55 killings a day in the month of November versus roughly 87 when Sheinbaum assumed the presidential office in September. This announcement was delivered by the head of the country’s federal safety system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the leader's daily press briefing on Tuesday. “The figures in killings that we’ve had in these months is remarkably notable,” Sheinbaum stated, explaining that in November the lowest amount of homicides were documented for any November in the past decade. Recent Background and Official Plan Violent drug cartel internal conflicts, combined with the government’s highly militarised operations to take on the trafficking organizations, have caused Mexico’s murder rate rise sharply in recent years. The figure peaked at a record high of 36,773 homicides in 2020, as reported by the country’s national statistics office. That meant Mexico a homicide figure more than 4x higher than that of the United States. From that point, homicides have been on the decline, dropping to 33,550 last year. The President has linked her public safety plan for an apparently steeper drop in killings this year. At a news briefing in the summer, the Mexican leader declared: “We have a strategy, there is tracking of the strategy, and there is detailed tracking locality by locality in certain cases. The approach works. And we have to keep working at it each day.” The central pillars of the President's safety strategy involve: Reinforcing Mexico’s federal guard. Improving information gathering and investigative efforts. Enhanced collaboration between government agencies. Analyst Skepticism and Statistical Limitations Nevertheless, public safety analysts cautioned that focusing solely on murder numbers to assess the situation of peace was problematic. This is notably true in light of the uptick in different criminal activities such as people going missing. “It would be positive information if this was a decrease, but I think we shouldn't just focus on the murder numbers and think: ‘Well then, great,’” stated Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an expert on Mexican criminal organizations. “I would be tentatively positive.” As reported by the policy analysis organization Mexico Evalúa, murders overall fell by over 20% in the initial 10 months of the current year compared with the same timeframe last year. Yet, missing persons cases have risen by 15% and in some regions have surged by as much as 200%. “Numbers on murders is not valid for gauging the reality of public insecurity,” stated Armando Vargas, a security expert at Mexico Evalúa. “First, we have law enforcement and investigators who lack the capacity or the inclination to properly identify and categorize bodies. Second, organised [criminals] … have the capability to hide violent acts through abductions.” Vargas pointed out that relying on month-to-month averages of everyday killings was also concerning because it could obscure days when there were notably high numbers of murders. “Relying on the daily average makes spikes of violent crime less visible,” he concluded. Detentions and Seizures as Metrics of Progress An area where the government can cite the success of its security strategy is on detentions and confiscations. Almost 40,000 individuals were apprehended between last October and this past November for high-impact offenses, per official data. Over 20,000 weapons were seized and 311 tons of drugs confiscated. “Trump can't accuse President Sheinbaum of doing nothing, because actually she is accomplishing a lot with these thousands of arrests, many thousands of seizures, and all the tactical weakening of criminal groups. It’s extremely politically profitable,” commented Vargas. Ongoing Violence and Societal Frustration Yet in spite of these efforts, Mexico is still grappling with extreme violence, with several states in the grip of cartel-related bloodshed. In the previous month there was a prominent murder of a well-liked local official in the state of Michoacan, among 10 local leaders killed in the past year. Weeks after, thousands of young people demonstrated in Mexico City and across the country to voice their anger at graft and drug violence. “The administration shares [data] in a way to create a narrative of safety. Politically it’s extremely effective, socially it’s highly problematic,” Vargas remarked.