Beginning in 1996, authorities began a dramatic restructuring of the SSC, which included replacing major officials with army officers.

These nearly 90,000 officers work for the Secretariat of Citizen Security of Mexico City (Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana – SSC CDMX).

[3] The organizational structure and holders of area Public Safety Department are: Secretary of Public Safety (Secretario de Seguridad Pública): Jesús Orto Martínez The 34,000 strong Preventive Police are the uniformed police of Mexico City.

The Complementary Police contains two Security Police forces: The Directorate General of Private Security and Systematic Operating Procedures (la dirección general de seguridad privada y procedimientos sistemáticos de operación), regulates the activities and the provision of private security services in Mexico City, to ensure that such operations take place under the best conditions of efficiency, reliability, professionalism and legal and financial support for the benefit of the population.

Further, low pay and lack of resources have hindered efforts at improving police performance, battling corruption and professionalizing the forces.

In 2002, advocacy group Transparency International estimated that the median Mexican household spends 8% of its income on bribes (mordidas or “bites”).

Management consulting firm A.T. Kearney reported in 2002 that Mexico's attractiveness to foreign investors dropped from fifth to ninth place in the world due to concerns with corruption and crime.

The Mexican federal and state governments has had serious problems in regulating these companies, most of which are illegitimate since they lack the necessary legal permits.