Guadalajara’s most popular zone for after-dark fun also has the dubious distinction of being one of the favored haunts of local villains.
Crime on and around leafy Avenida Chapultepec, and adjacent Colonia Americana, has reached epidemic proportions, say neighbors, who this week staged a 40-minute protest on the wide boulevard to express their concerns.
“There are times when the thieves rob you in the morning and then come back in the afternoon and do it all over again,” one female trader complained. “(The police) don’t do anything.”
The demonstrators made their point by unfurling a large banner urging better crime prevention strategies from authorities, and displaying it to motorists as they waited at the stop light at the intersection of Chapultepec and Lopez Cotilla.
Avenida Chapultepec is home to dozens of restaurants and bars that are usually packed to the rafters with young revelers, often on weekdays as much as weekends. The U.S. Consulate General is just a block away and policing the zone has never been easy, public security chiefs admit. With available manpower in the Guadalajara police force reportedly at an all-time low, things may not get much better any time soon.
Neighbors say robberies and assaults occur on a daily basis. Muggings often take place in the full light of day; the thieves are usually looking for cellphones, purses and other valuables. Violence is frequently used, locals say.
Police point to recent strategies that have given priority to protecting the dozens of businesses in the area, although some traders say they have seen little improvement. One man participating in this week’s protest said his business had been targeted by thieves four times in the past 12 months.
Neighbors and police chiefs have agreed to meet this Saturday to discuss ways of improving security in the zone.