Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies

The purpose of this paper is to asses the feasibility of a zero tolerance strategy in Mexico City as it was implemented in New York City during Giuliani time. Main attention goes to those factors that could benefit or reject the implementation of zero tolerance in Mexico City. In the first part, the author highlights some differences between both cities, Mexico and New York, regarding population, criminal justice systems and cultural settings. In the second part, the author develop a list of obstacles that could deter the implementation of zero tolerance in Mexico City. At the end, two preliminary conclusions are drawn. The first one states that while in New York “Zero Tolerance” was a political banner based on criminological knowledge and police tactics, in Mexico City, Zero Tolerance could be just a political banner. The second conclusion states that the implementation of Zero Tolerance in Mexico City is flawed from its conception because the City government chose the strategy, that means “the solution”, before they knew “the problem”. Finally, the article discuss an integral approach to crime control in order to set an agenda for those involved in the field.