BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY
Mexico's recent crime wave is a boon to the private security sector, but not always for the professional kind.
The security business is a booming one in Mexico, though it does not necessarily operate in the most formal of channels. Mexico's need for security has been well-documented, and many private-security services have sought to serve the gaps in public offerings. Unfortunately, many of these security firms work clandestinely, or without any formal permission from the government. A 2018 report published by Inter-American Dialogue found that some 8,000 companies or up to 80% of all security firms were unregistered and thus unregulated. This lack of regulation directly translates into a lack of oversight and enforcement on these firms' activities, leading not only to questionable practices, but also hurting the industry and creating a more unsafe environment for all Mexicans. To fight against this trend, Mexico must increase enforcement of its regulation while increasing incentives for formalization and professionalization in the industry.
According to Mexico's Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, only 1,256 private security businesses are registered with the federal government as of June 2020. However, a 2018 report by Mexcio's National Security Commission and Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law found around 4,000 private security companies operating in Mexico employing at least 450,000 employees. Most of these private firms are to be found in states with the highest economic activity—mainly in the country's north around the US border, the country's center, and its Yucatán peninsula. While these firms may provide services, they do not necessarily provide adequate training or employee benefits, thus promoting unprofessionalism in the business. Without training, workers are also much more likely to make mistakes, which can lead to grave consequences in this business.
Indeed, according to director general of Prosegur Alexis Langagne, professionalizing the private security sector is vital. The company is currently focusing on expanding its reach in the multinational companies in private sector headquartered in Mexico and abroad, especially in the automotive, heavy manufacturing, and financial businesses segments, areas where they have had previous success. The company's main challenge is to grow its market share against these informal, cheaper competitors that have sprung up in recent years as crime in the country has been on the rise.
The increase in crime in Mexico, which saw its deadliest year in 2017, may be partly attributed to Mexico's privatization schemes of public utilities. As explained by Pedro Sanabria, Director General of the Trust Group, when public Pemex facilities, which had previously been guarded by the Mexican army, became private, there was no entity or infrastructure in place to guarantee safety for these facilities. While lack of public security forces and infrastructure is certainly to be lamented, it does show that there is opportunity to be found in Mexico's increasing privatization of its entire economy. What is important now is that the government promotes formalization of these security businesses, as it could promote better hiring standards, better background checks, and employee performance evaluations. It would also help in addressing Mexico's age-old story of corruption and criminal infiltration into the sector.
While government regulation plays a vital role in helping create better security firms, organizations are also stepping up to the plate for those formal firms that want to improve their services. Sanabria, who is also a part of ASIS International, a prominent security organization, says the association's main purpose is to help in the professionalization process. “For that, we have extremely well-defined programs. This is the gold standard in the world of certifications, such as the Certified Protection Professional (CPP), the certificate for professional protection that is valid across the world," he explained in his TBY interview. For a safer industry and country, the government and the sector must work together to craft better incentives for informal security firms to formalize and reduce insecurity in what is already a dangerous profession.
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Focus
Inclusive development
Home to more than 22 million people, Mexico City is one of the most important cultural, financial, and educational centers in the world. While the lack of a coordinated approach to urban development has hurt the city's potential in the past, the current government is fully determined to promote inclusive growth and capture all the gains associated with urbanization.
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Alexis Langagne, North Latam Managing Director, Prosegur Security
With a cybersecurity firm, a guarding services firm, an electronic security systems company, and a video security company under its umbrella, Prosegur Security is the only company to offer a 360-degree security solution in Mexico.
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Rafael Fernando Marín Mollinedo , General Director, Public Decentralized Office of the Interoceanic Multimodal Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
With the development plan of Isthmus of Tehuantepec in hand, Mexico will bring about greater economic development in the country's often-overlooked south.
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Engineering
Each one of the three companies featured in this forum are known for disrupting the construction industry in their own unique ways. While Grupo Beck is a pioneer of the integrated delivery process in Mexico, Bovis is among the first companies to build high-rise buildings in the country. Sacyr Concesiones, on the other hand, uses infrastructure development as a means to promote equality.
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Fabrizio Feliciani, Regional Director, UNOPS
As the UN's special projects services unit, UNOPS' main goal is to support public institutions that are undertaking important infrastructure projects to contribute significantly to advancing a country or region's development agenda.
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Alejandro R. Paolini, Managing Director of Mexico, Central America & Caribbean, Siemens Healthineer
Siemens Healthineers' aim is to support the growth and development of Mexico's healthcare sector and help the government with innovative technologies, especially those that help treat chronic diseases.
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Yon de Luisa Plazas, President, Mexican Football Federation (FEMEXFUT)
Mexico's Liga MX is among the world's top-10 football leagues, and FEMEXFUT plans to push it into the top three by improving four key pillars, namely sporting success, sports justice, international relations, and social responsibility.
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