Police Use of Excessive Force in Mexico City

Abstract

This research article analyzes complaints of violations of the right to personal integrity received during five years in the Human Rights Commission of Mexico City. The analysis has two objectives. First, describe differences in police abuse cases according to their place of occurrence. The second objective is find the factors that increase the likelihood of serious abuses, for cases committed in situations of detention or controls a suspect person. The factors emerge from, and allow comparing, different theoretical traditions about excessive use of the police force. The result shows how the presence of the most consolidated factors from the theoretical perspective of the criminal threat at the situational level (active resistance and serious crimes situations), are those that significantly increase the probability of serious police abuses in Mexico City.