Kidnapping decreases by 88% from January to July, in Mexico City

According to our first report about this crime, we reveal that 2021 is the year with the least number of cases since 2017, thanks to the capture of people of interest and a culture of prevention.

Throughout the year, kidnapping in Mexico City has reached its lowest rate in the past four years and it registered decrease of 88 percent in the period of January-July compared with the same period in 2018 when it reached its highest rate.

According to the first report of the Citizen Council for Safety and Justice in Mexico City regarding kidnapping, there were 20 denounces for this crime in 2021, while in 2018 there were 164, and in 2017, the lowest past rate, there were 26.

Since 2018, kidnapping in the nation’s capital registers an evident downward rate, with 128 cases in 2019 and 46 in 2020, as shown by the analysis based on data from the Executive Secretary of the Public Safety National System (SESNSP).

“This crime stopped been profitable for kidnappers for three reasons: on one hand, because strengthening and coordinating safety and justice institutions limits the areas where people can practice this criminal activity; on the other, arrests of people of interest made throughout the ongoing administration in relation with different crimes, including kidnapping, and the advances in a culture of prevention among citizens,” said Salvador Guerrero Chiprés, President of the Citizen Council.

Nationwide, the organism’s report reveals a decrease of 57% during the first seven months of 2021 with 358 denunciations, compared with 839 in 2019.

This year, the kidnapping map –measured per 100 thousand inhabitants– shows a concentration in the central part of the country, in Colima, Michoacán, the State of Mexico, Morelos and Hidalgo, apart from Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Zacatecas. The 358 investigation files that were opened in Mexico also show a decreasing number in comparison with the past 14 years.

In the period of January-July 2007 there were 258 files. “It’s important to notice that since 2015, the Secretary (SESNSP) created a new registry to measure and classify crimes in a more rigorous and methodological way, so it shows a decrease in kidnapping as registered in the present,” Guerrero Chiprés added.

According to reports received by the Citizen Council through the Safety Line and Trustworthy Chat, between 2020 and 2021 they offered legal and psychological support in 114 cases related with kidnapping. Around 52% were for men and 35% of those who called to make the reports were 26 to 40 years old.

The Citizen Council offers free support 24/7, all around the country in its Safety Line and Chat 55 5533 5533.

Find the full report here.