The National Public Urban Security Survey tracks the public perception of safety in Mexico every quarter, in March 2017 residents felt safest in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
In January we reported Puerto Vallarta ranked second place with 40.5% of those surveyed having some anxiety over safety, well below the national average in December 2016. In the March 2017 survey, that number dropped to 29.7%.
In March 2017, the cities with the highest percentage of people aged 18 and over who considered living in their city to be insecure were: Ecatepec de Morelos, Villahermosa, Chilpancingo de los Bravo, Northern Mexico City, Fresnillo and Coatzacoalcos, with 93.6, 93.4, 93.3, 92.9, 91.3 and 91.2%, respectively. While the cities with the lowest perception of insecurity were: Puerto Vallarta, Merida, Durango, Saltillo, Piedras Negras and Aguascalientes, with 29.7, 33.1, 36.1, 43.9, 48.7 and 49.9%, respectively.
72.9% of the population aged 18 and over considered that living in their city is insecure, according to information from the National Public Urban Security Survey (ENSU) conducted by the Inegi during March 2017, that number was 74.1% in December 2016.
Regarding the perception of security in specific locations in March 2017, 80.2% of the population aged 18 and over stated that they felt insecure at ATMs, 73.4% on public transport, 66% at the bank and 65.1% on the streets that they usually travel.
In the third month of this year, 36.8% of the population considered that in the next 12 months the crime situation in their city will continue to be as bad (an increase of 2.2 percentage points over the same quarter of 2016), while 33.8% mentioned that the situation will worsen in the next twelve months, which represents an increase in the indicator of 0.5 percentage points compared to March 2016.
ENSU results reveal that in the first quarter of the year, the proportion of the population who reported having seen or heard criminal or antisocial behavior in the neighborhood of their home were: alcohol consumption in the streets (64.7%), robbery or assault (63%), vandalism (51.8%), drug sales or consumption (40%), violent gangs or gangs (34%) and frequent gunshots (32.5%). Percentage points in terms of witnessing frequent gunfire; While for vandalism in housing or businesses and violent gangs or gangs, decreases of 6.4 and 3.8 percentage points were observed, respectively.
