Policia Vial

While in Zihuatenejo, I rented a scooter.
First issue with the Policia Vial was they claimed I ran a red light, no helmet, alcohol use.
I did pull over, they asked me for my license. My first mistake.
Then they threatened to jail me but I could get out of the tickets and avoid the jail.
Much more to this story but none the less 3,000.00 pesos lighter.
Next one, I was returning the scooter and was in a group of about 6 scooters.
Out of nowhere, the Policia Vial flagged me over.
2nd mistake, gave them my license.
And here we go, full blown accusations of what they thought I did. This time, only 2,000 pesos.
All the transaction were in back lanes out of sight.
The people at the resort said this was a very common thing.
They told me to never give them my driver's license and if I think I'm being hassled, call for the Policia Militero.

Did he have you blow into his cupped hand in lieu of a breathalyzer? That is one of my all time top disgusting practices here in Mexico. At a police filter you can be number 50 blowing into that hand...hard to tell what viruses the last 49 people may have had or where the hand had been. It has only happened once and hopefully never again.

They told me to never give them my driver's license and if I think I'm being hassled, call for the Policia Militero.

This is a bit confusing. We are told not to hand over our driver's license? Do we keep it in our hand and just show it to the officer?

I love the combi's in Zihua!

In Tijuana, the advice is to ask to go see the judge if you believe you are being shaken down. I have only been pulled over once in Tijuana just after crossing into Mexico. This was at the height of the pandemic. I did give them my license. They wanted me to open the trunk. I guess they were looking for guns? In my horrible Spanish, I told them I was going to the physical therapist on Calle Melchor Ocampo (which was the truth, by the way). The two officers had a hearty laugh over my bad pronunciation of the name of the past Governor of Michoacan and I was on my way.

While in Zihuatenejo, I rented a scooter.
First issue with the Policia Vial was they claimed I ran a red light, no helmet, alcohol use.
I did pull over, they asked me for my license. My first mistake.
Then they threatened to jail me but I could get out of the tickets and avoid the jail.
Much more to this story but none the less 3,000.00 pesos lighter.
Next one, I was returning the scooter and was in a group of about 6 scooters.
Out of nowhere, the Policia Vial flagged me over.
2nd mistake, gave them my license.
And here we go, full blown accusations of what they thought I did. This time, only 2,000 pesos.
All the transaction were in back lanes out of sight.
The people at the resort said this was a very common thing.
They told me to never give them my driver's license and if I think I'm being hassled, call for the Policia Militero.

Real sorry to hear about your experience and extortion at the hands of our local Policía de Tránsito aka Policía Vial. Unfortunately our municipal government must condone such behavior because they've been made aware of it over and over, year after year for way too long for it to be anything but officially okey-dokeyed.

Yes, the Guardia Nacional could be good at resolving such problems if people called them from the scene of the crime.

Some photos, names, badge numbers, times, dates and places would be good things to have. The hotel should've helped you to file a proper report with the Policía Turística, not shrugged their corporate shoulder to avoid any unpleasant publicity.

I had a run in a few weeks ago... made a legal left turn and got pulled over and accused of the left not being allowed. They even had the ticket already filled out somehow!

I too made the mistake of giving them my license, but then remembered some tips I had received. Got out of my car and approached theirs calmly, took pictures of the car and faces, told them I was going to go prove there is not a no-left-turn sign. My partner started to walk to the intersection to photo the signs... they pretended to call someone to ask about the left turn there, smirked, gave my license back, and drove away.

My take away: never give my license again, admit nothing, take photos, and tell them to call a higher authority if they want to do something. I can wait and document it all. And thankful my spanish is good enough now to stumble through all that.

muy bueno!

I had a run in a few weeks ago... made a legal left turn and got pulled over and accused of the left not being allowed. They even had the ticket already filled out somehow!

I too made the mistake of giving them my license, but then remembered some tips I had received. Got out of my car and approached theirs calmly, took pictures of the car and faces, told them I was going to go prove there is not a no-left-turn sign. My partner started to walk to the intersection to photo the signs... they pretended to call someone to ask about the left turn there, smirked, gave my license back, and drove away.

My take away: never give my license again, admit nothing, take photos, and tell them to call a higher authority if they want to do something. I can wait and document it all. And thankful my spanish is good enough now to stumble through all that.

That's the ticket!

We have had our drivers licenses duplicated and laminated in town. We show these if we are pulled over but we do carry the original with us as well. We learned our lesson many years ago in Morelia where they took the drivers license and wouldn't return it until we paid a large bribe.

We have had our drivers licenses duplicated and laminated in town. We show these if we are pulled over but we do carry the original with us as well. We learned our lesson many years ago in Morelia where they took the drivers license and wouldn't return it until we paid a large bribe.

Aha! Brilliant! Many thanks! I got it. Make a copy and give them the copy. Why didn't I think of that? I already carry a copy of my passport and visa with me. Why not a copy of your drivers license? You guys are smart!

Many years ago, in our RV days, we did the same thing with our licenses from California. During a stop in Guadalajara, (we had made a legitimate traffic mistake) he gave them the excellent copy of his license. One glance and the cop said it was a fake. In the end, I think it actually cost us more.

We wanted to be legal, but it was a Sunday morning, the next day a holiday, and we were on our way here, just 7 hours away. We paid what he demanded, the only time in 25+ years of travel here that we got "taken."

When we drove to Zihua a number of years ago, I made a duplicate license plate for our SUV by photographing the rear plate which had the tag on it (along with some assorted dead bugs). Then I had the photo enlarged and cropped to the correct size and fitted it into a license plate holder which had a clear plastic protective sheet and had that for my back up plate.

I also installed special screws on my regular license plate which required a key (much like an Allen Key) to remove the plate. However, after watching the police in Zihua use a crowbar to remove another person’s plate along with a huge chunk of their bumper, I quickly swapped out the special keyed screws to easily removable and more fragile plastic screws.

Fortunately for us we didn’t have to use the fake plate.

Roberto!

From all the messages I am seeing, "be sheep". I can't find a social media connection to the governor of Guerrero or the mayor of Zihua.

Unacceptable to me. I get pulled over in just about anyplace else, I know I committed the crime, I pay the fine.

This was a pure shakedown and extortion and racial profiling.

We need to stop this and today.

If you have any political/social contacts, let me know, please.

I feel your pain, but I fear you will be beating your head against a stone wall. Its hard to do but sometimes you have to let go and selectively pick your battles where you have a chance of prevailing. You have a strike against you in a battle with Zihua cops wearing a gringo face.

Your comments Casa Juan are not lost on me.
But, I'm Canadian and have a very firm belief in the uniform a person may wear.
To feel and experience what has become an urban comedy myth about Mexican authority and being corrupt, I gotta call it and bang my head against a brick wall would be worthwhile if I can find that brick wall.

Your comments Casa Juan are not lost on me.
But, I'm Canadian and have a very firm belief in the uniform a person may wear.

Like you, I am Canadian. I also live in Mexico for six months of the year. I have relatives who were involved in policing for decades and relatives who were involved in licensed professions, all in Canada. I share your views in the Canadian context and recognize that when I am in Mexico, I am not in Canada. Some things are different in better ways. Some are different in worse ways.

I think that one major difference is in the establishment and development of a strong public service, including policing. Mexico is a country in which the public service, and especially policing, has been undervalued and under-compensated.

Police officers in Mexico survive not only the growing onslaught of crime but also their shortcomings: salaries that do not exceed 11,000 pesos (an average of 500 USD a month) and with which they also have to replace the equipment they are given incomplete; lack of basic training such as shooting practice that one in five police officers have never received; any growth, few promotions, abuse by bosses, insults, contempt.

https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2020/06/the-harsh-reality-of-the-mexican-police/

That same article says that the average monthly police salary in Guererro is M$9,000 to M$10,000. You can bet that a uniformed policía vial is on the bottom side of that “average”.

I have heard an expression in Canada, “You can pay police well, or someone else will.” Unfortunately, that seems to sometimes be the case in Mexico.

To feel and experience what has become an urban comedy myth about Mexican authority and being corrupt, I gotta call it and bang my head against a brick wall would be worthwhile if I can find that brick wall.

I think there is a difference between “mordida” and true “corruption”. As an example I own a house in Mexico. One time my property manager failed to pay my CFE (electric) bill on time. The consequence was that CFE came and took away my electric meter. To get it back, the property owner has to go to CFE, pay the outstanding bill, then pay a penalty, then pay reinstallation of the meter. This is not only expensive, it is time consuming. My property would have been without electricity for days.

But the property manager noticed a CFE truck at a nearby restaurant. He stopped and had lunch with the CFE guy in his uniform, bought his lunch for him, talked about the situation, and for the price of a case of beer the meter was reinstalled without it ever getting to CFE.

Was that “being corrupt”? I didn’t think so.

I might be naive, but when I have told by police in Mexico that I have done something wrong, I tell them I want to be ticketed and I will pay the ticket. When I have been in the wrong, as I have been sometimes, I have gotten a ticket and paid it. When I have not been in the wrong, as has sometimes been the case, I have been given a warning without a ticket.

If you want to help the role of a strong, professional police service in Mexico, I hope you will start where the problem starts. That is not at the level of some uniform on the street trying to feed their kids. It is at the level of governments first paying for professional policing, and then enforcing professional conduct.

Your comments Casa Juan are not lost on me.
But, I'm Canadian and have a very firm belief in the uniform a person may wear.

Like you, I am Canadian. I also live in Mexico for six months of the year. I have relatives who were involved in policing for decades and relatives who were involved in licensed professions, all in Canada. I share your views in the Canadian context and recognize that when I am in Mexico, I am not in Canada. Some things are different in better ways. Some are different in worse ways.

I think that one major difference is in the establishment and development of a strong public service, including policing. Mexico is a country in which the public service, and especially policing, has been undervalued and under-compensated.

Police officers in Mexico survive not only the growing onslaught of crime but also their shortcomings: salaries that do not exceed 11,000 pesos (an average of 500 USD a month) and with which they also have to replace the equipment they are given incomplete; lack of basic training such as shooting practice that one in five police officers have never received; any growth, few promotions, abuse by bosses, insults, contempt.

https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2020/06/the-harsh-reality-of-the-mexican-police/

That same article says that the average monthly police salary in Guererro is M$9,000 to M$10,000. You can bet that a uniformed policía vial is on the bottom side of that “average”.

I have heard an expression in Canada, “You can pay police well, or someone else will.” Unfortunately, that seems to sometimes be the case in Mexico.

To feel and experience what has become an urban comedy myth about Mexican authority and being corrupt, I gotta call it and bang my head against a brick wall would be worthwhile if I can find that brick wall.

I think there is a difference between “mordida” and true “corruption”. As an example I own a house in Mexico. One time my property manager failed to pay my CFE (electric) bill on time. The consequence was that CFE came and took away my electric meter. To get it back, the property owner has to go to CFE, pay the outstanding bill, then pay a penalty, then pay reinstallation of the meter. This is not only expensive, it is time consuming. My property would have been without electricity for days.

But the property manager noticed a CFE truck at a nearby restaurant. He stopped and had lunch with the CFE guy in his uniform, bought his lunch for him, talked about the situation, and for the price of a case of beer the meter was reinstalled without it ever getting to CFE.

Was that “being corrupt”? I didn’t think so.

I might be naive, but when I have told by police in Mexico that I have done something wrong, I tell them I want to be ticketed and I will pay the ticket. When I have been in the wrong, as I have been sometimes, I have gotten a ticket and paid it. When I have not been in the wrong, as has sometimes been the case, I have been given a warning without a ticket.

If you want to help the role of a strong, professional police service in Mexico, I hope you will start where the problem starts. That is not at the level of some uniform on the street trying to feed their kids. It is at the level of governments first paying for professional policing, and then enforcing professional conduct.

What an excellent response!

I'd simply add that when the PRI had their "perfect dictatorship" for over 70 years, they spent a lot of time making sure they wrote the laws, created the judicial system and the police forces so that they, aka corrupt politicians, could get away with anything. Mexico continues moving forward step by step correcting mistakes of the past, but we still have a lot of work to do. The one thing that extremely hampers progress is the stupid illegal drug policies that simply foment a multi-billion dollar black market controlled by violent organized criminals who get most of their money AND firearms from the USA. But it's the stupid laws of Prohibition 2.0 that empower them. So the criminals have more money at their disposal than any government agency entrusted with detaining them. There's only one way to level the playing field, but neither the U.S. nor the Mexican government has shown any willingness to take it.

I would add that a cash economy like Mexico is a gold-plated invitation to tax avoidance. With not enough coming into the treasury, local, state or federal (and what little that comes in too often finds its way into well-connected pockets), it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to provide basic services, like paying police what they deserve. Who wants to risk his life daily for not much more than minimum wage? I have no idea how to fix this in any practical way.

Someone wrote a book many years ago about the differences between efficient and inefficient corruption. He said that there will always be corruption, and we all have to live with that. But with efficient corruption, that is corruption that is not too pervasive, government will still be able to function and provide basic services. If corruption gets too far out of hand however, then potholes go untended, police aren't paid well enough, bad things snowball and get out of control, and civic life becomes much more difficult. And that kind of corruption at the government level filters down to street level, making life even more challenging. Inefficient corruption. Seems like that fits Mexican culture pretty accurately.

I'd simply add that when the PRI had their "perfect dictatorship" for over 70 years,

The "perfect dictatorship" is a famous statement by Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa that he used to describe the continuous governments of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which dominated politics in Mexico for much of the 20th century.

P.S. Read Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa. It more fun than anything you will ever watch on the tele!

When someone who is BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Colour) engages in minor corruption, they go to jail.

When rich, White, males engage in corruption, they get the nomination to be CEO or President. Sometimes repeatedly.

Geez Z-Rob....... this started out as a traffic ticket scam type of post, and you introduced "black market, firearms, and USA" into it??!!

I'm sorry sir but that's uncalled for and reaching quite a bit.

I wouldn't say sometimes......it's a comin'

I read a few posts here that are disturbing such as having fake licenses.
That's not good but if that is the SOP, I have a few months decide if I want to return to Zihua.
How did this get turned from corrupt people we would like to be to count on into a discussion of race?

It just happens naturally and the calls come from the coach holding the playbook.