While the average cops-to-citizens ratio in the United States is 230 per 100,000 people, Jalisco’s figure is a dismal 40 per 100,000, Sandoval admitted.
The Guadalajara metropolitan area requires at least 250 officers per 100,000 citizens, Sandoval told representatives of Mexican municipal security forces at a general assembly held in Guadalajara this week.
An issue exacerbating the problem, he noted, was that one in five police officers in Jalisco have failed mandatory “trustworthiness” tests this year. Most of these officers have been laid off, although few have received any financial compensation.