Police Reform in Mexico: Informal Politics and the Challenge of Institutional Change. Stanford University Press (2012).
Winner of the Herbert Simon Book Award
The urgent need to professionalize Mexican police has been recognized since the early 1990s, but despite even the most well-intentioned promises from elected officials and police chiefs, few gains have been made in improving police integrity. Why have reform efforts in Mexico been largely unsuccessful? This book seeks to answer the question by focusing on Mexico’s municipal police, which make up the largest percentage of the country’s police forces. Indeed, organized crime presents a major obstacle to institutional change, with criminal groups killing hundreds of local police in recent years. Nonetheless, Sabet argues that the problems of Mexican policing are really problems of governance. He finds that reform has suffered from a number of policy design and implementation challenges. More importantly, the informal rules of Mexican politics have prevented the continuity of reform efforts across administrations, allowed patronage appointments to persist, and undermined anti-corruption efforts.
“Informality, illegality, and criminality in Mexico’s Border Communities.” Journal of Borderland Studies. 2015.
“Un problema de gobernanza municipal: El reto de la reforma policial en México.” Foro Internacional. Vol. 53(2). 2013.
“Corruption or Security? Explaining Dissatisfaction with Mexico’s Police.” Latin American Politics and Society. Vol. 55(1): 22-45. 2013.
“Confrontation, Collusion, and Tolerance: The Relationship between Organized Crime and Law Enforcement in Tijuana.” The Mexican Law Review. Vol. 2(2). 3-29. 2010.
“Dois passos à frente: liçoes de Chihuahua” Revista Brasileira de Segurança Pública. Vol. 4(6):66-87. 2010.
“Co-Production and Oversight: Citizens and Their Police.” In David Shirk, Eric L. Olson, and Duncan Wood eds. Civic Engagement and Public Security in Mexico. Washington D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center. 2013.
“The Role of Citizens and Civil Society in Mexico’s Security Crisis.” In Tony Payan and Z. Anthony Kruszewski eds. A War that Can’t be Won: A Journey through the War on Drugs. Arizona University Press. 2013.
“Border Burden: Public Security in Mexican Border Communities and the Challenge of Polycentricity.” In Harlan Koff ed. Theorizing Borders through Analyses of Power Relationships. Brussels: PIE/Peter Lang. 2012.
“¿Corrupción o Seguridad? Explicando la falta de confianza en la policía mexicana.” Cuadernos del ICESI. No. 12. 2011.
“Police Reform in Mexico: Advances and Persistent Obstacles” In Eric L. Olson, David A. Shirk and Andrew Selee eds. Shared Responsibility: U.S.-Mexico Policy Options for Confronting Organized Crime. Washington D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center. 2010.
“Two Steps Forward: Lessons from Chihuahua,” In Robert A. Donnelly and David A. Shirk eds. Police and Public Security. San Diego: Transborder Institute. 2009.
“The Border Bottleneck: Drug Trafficking and Incentives for Police Corruption.” in Harlan Koff ed. Deceiving (Dis)Appearances: Analyzing Current Developments in Europe and North America’s Border Regions. Brussels: PIE/Peter Lang. 2007.