Profile: Institute for Security and Democracy (INSyDE)

Mexico’s police have long been known for torture, corruption, and collusion with powerful interests. These abuses have been compounded by a national wave of violent crime, much of it related to the drug trade that sustains powerful organized crime rings. According to a 2006 survey, half of Mexico’s citizens report feeling unsafe, and the police’s track record is so bad that seven out of ten Mexican citizens say they do not trust law enforcement.

In 2003, public security experts in Mexico came together to respond to the public’s growing sense of insecurity and the inability of Mexico’s police forces to stem violent crime.  With a grant from the Fund for Global Human Rights, these activists founded the Institute for Security and Democracy (Insyde), the first independent Mexican organization dedicated to promoting an effective and accountable police force.  Four years later, Insyde is now considered the leading voice on police reform in Mexico.

Insyde promotes rights-respecting and effective police forces by advancing models of accountability and democratic policing.  To marshal public support, Insyde trains journalists to cover public security issues more accurately and thoroughly.  Insyde also helps frontline human rights activists understand public security issues and press for systemic reform.

Historically, experts on public security reform have had little interaction with frontline activists challenging abuses.  Insyde bridges that gap by forging alliances that capitalize on human rights organizations’ ability to document and monitor human rights violations committed by public security forces and by providing trainings on the fundamentals of justice reform. 

For example, Insyde has worked with national human rights group Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (PRODH) to develop recommendations for police reform and use strategic media outreach to greatly expand press coverage of its reform proposals. Insyde currently is working with the PRODH to develop a manual on public security and human rights to help local human rights organizations participate in the debate. 

In the violence ridden state of Guerrero, Insyde collaborates with the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center, also a Fund grantee, to monitor police practices and document abuses.  On the southern border with Guatemala, Insyde is working with the local Fray Matias de Córdova Human Rights Center to monitor and document human rights abuses committed by police against Central American migrants.

Insyde has engaged the police themselves to increase their capacity to respond to violent crime. Insyde’s policy recommendations and trainings are helping the police establish new procedures that discourage corruption and hold officers accountable for abuses while promoting democratic practices that respond to citizens’ needs.  Thanks to the efforts of Insyde, Mexican police forces are increasingly recognizing that better practices are in their interests and in the interest of human rights.  Better training and respect for human rights by police will promote more respect, trust, and cooperation among citizens.  Insyde’s work with police in Mexico has been so successful that police forces in Venezuela and Ecuador have requested its assistance.

Early support from the Fund helped Insyde attract significant funding from larger foundations.  In April 2007, Insyde’s innovative and effective work was recognized with a special $500,000 award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.  Insyde will use these funds to open Mexico’s first center for police accreditation.  The center will create national standards of best practices to which city managers, police chiefs, and patrol officers will aspire and be held accountable.  The impact is potentially far-reaching, as police departments seeking to reform their image and improve their performance would learn new tools which would encourage respect for human rights and create high public service standards.  At the same time, Insyde will continue its programs of outreach and technical support that assist police to improve performance and oversight systems, so that participating police forces can qualify for accreditation and earn the respect and trust of citizens.

The Fund provides general support to Insyde so that it can respond to key opportunities and seed new programs.  Support of Insyde is part of the Fund’s strategy to promote public security reform by building the capacity of local and national rights organizations to monitor the police, document abuses, and press for systemic change. 

July 2007