Security Numbers

The annual Inegi survey on citizen confidence in various security agencies is out, with the Marines taking the top spot (with a grade of 8.3), followed by the army (8.1), the Federal Police (6.8), and the new Federal Ministerial Police (6.6). Breaking those grades down a bit further, 43.3 percent of those polled said that the Marines' performance has been very effective, and 55 percent said that they had a lot of confidence in the agency. Those numbers were 41.1 and 52.5 percent, respectively, for the army, 15.1 and 24.6 percent for the Federal Police, and 15.6 and 24.8 for the Federal Ministerial Police. It's interesting to see the Marines at the top. Eighteen months ago, they were a nonentity, at least in the public eye, with regard to security, but now they have been involved in a number of major arrests, which is reflected in their positive image here.

Also, Mitofsky has a poll that it conducted on behalf of Mexicans United Against Crime in which 49 percent say that Calderón's policies to combat drug trafficking have failed, with only 23 percent saying they have worked. That 23 percent is down from 48 percent five months, such a steep decline that one has to wonder if something else was skewing one of the polls.