Municipal Police Commander Ambushed in Salamanca, Guanajuato

By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

A Municipal Police commander was killed and his partner was injured by gunfire in an apparent ambush as they left police headquarters at the start of their patrol in Salamanca, Guanajuato. Guanajuato is the most dangerous state in Mexico to be a police officer with 19 police officers killed this year.

According to local news, the two police officers were struck by gunfire as they drove out of police headquarters just before 8:00 PM on Morelos boulevard in the colonia Villarreal neighborhood of Salamanca, Guanajuato. The shift commander was killed, but his partner survived.

@Eco1_LVM Twitter

Security forces and paramedics responded to the scene, but there is no word on the perpetrators.

Borderland Beat Analysis

Guanajuato is by a wide margin the most dangerous state in Mexico to be a police officer. So far this year, 19 police officers have been slain in the state. Since the beginning of the Lopez Obrador presidential administration, that number has reached 340. Police officers can be killed by criminals for many reasons, including honestly performing their duty fighting organized crime, or corruptly working for a rival criminal organization.

Made by El Huaso with Causa en Comun data.

As InSight Crime wrote in 2022, the low salaries and violent threats which make Guanajuato the most dangerous state to be a police officer contribute to the endemic security force corruption in the state. In August 2022, newspaper Milenio reported on an investigation by undercover federal officers which led to the dismissal of around 150 Municipal police officers in the city of Celaya. According to police sources cited by Milenio, the corrupt officers provided intelligence, sabotaged law enforcement operations, and worked as hired security for both the CSRL and the CJNG.

This was hardly an isolated event: a year earlier, 29 officers in the city of Leon were similarly dismissed for having links to organized crime.

Sources: Periodico Correo, @BjxNoticias, @Eco1_LVM Twitter, Causa en Común 2019-2024, InSight Crime 2022, InfoBae