Mexico's crisis of security is unrelenting. Why is it so hard to establish the rule of law, and why does the country's justice system continue to struggle to deliver both security and adherence to democratic values and human rights? To answer these questions, looks at recent Mexican criminal justice reforms, placing this Mexico City case study of the social and institutional realities of the evolving police and justice system within the county's long-term transition from authoritarian to democratic governance. In spite of the democratization on the electoral front, profound distrust has continued to characterize not only the relationship between citizens and state institutions but also social, inter-state, and intra-state relations. Against this background, the book analyses extensive and penetrating police surveys and interviews to offer innovative ideas on how to simultaneously achieve greater community security, democratic policing, and adherence to human rights.