Security and justice are important components of individual and social well-being and a major concern for citizens and business. To respond to their expectations, an ambitious reform of the justice system is underway in Mexico, with significant changes planned for how the police and courts operate. In order for these reforms to be effective, however, more and higher quality evidence is needed to monitor progress, measure impact over time and attain the much-needed support from stakeholders who often make or break the success of such initiatives.

Ensuring basic security and maintaining public order are core responsibilities of the state. These indeed concern protecting citizens’ rights and administering justice for victims of crime or abuse but, above all, security, justice and the rule of law are also ultimate public goods whose benefits are shared by society as a whole. Security and justice are the foundation of healthy democracies and an essential component of public governance. A high prevalence of crime is often interpreted as a sign of failure on the part of governments, and is also reflected in the public’s appreciation of political leaders and in their trust on key institutions, like the judiciary and the police.

Garantizar la seguridad básica y el mantenimiento del orden público son responsabilidades fundamentales del estado. Éstas en realidad se refieren a la protección de los derechos de los ciudadanos y a la administración de justicia para las víctimas de delitos o abusos, pero sobre todo, la seguridad, la justicia y la ley son también, en última instancia, bienes públicos cuyos beneficios se comparten de manera general por la sociedad. La seguridad y la justicia son la base de las democracias saludables y un componente esencial de la administración pública. Por lo regular, una alta prevalencia del delito se interpreta como una señal de fracaso por parte de un gobierno, reflejándose también en la apreciación pública de los líderes políticos y en la confianza hacia instituciones clave, como el poder judicial y la policía.

This chapter is devoted to security and justice as a distinct dimension of governance and public policy. It argues in favour of a horizontal, “whole-of-government” approach to security and justice because such an approach has broad socio-economic implications for well-being and quality of life as well as confidence in the rule of law and economic competitiveness. Furthermore, the chapter discusses how evidence can contribute to improving the effectiveness of public policies and elaborates on how to introduce the evidence throughout the policy cycle in a more systematic manner. Specifically, it sets out a framework for using evidence more concretely in Mexico to improve results during times when citizens perceive security to be weak or when significant reforms to the criminal justice system are taking place. Best practices in the measurement and evaluation of security and justice policies are featured from such countries as Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Statistical evidence suggests that crime is a territorial phenomenon. Indeed, beyond national averages, regional differences within countries in criminal activities are often important and crime rates tend to be concentrated around the same geographic areas. This chapter presents some evidence on the territorial patterns of criminal activities within OECD countries and discusses the main socio-economic variables associated with different levels of crime in a sample of OECD countries. Due to the relevance of evidence-based policies, the chapter discusses the main constraints associated with measuring security and provides some orientations to increase the availability of internationally comparable statistics at sub-national level. Finally, a framework is proposed to describe the multi-level governance needed in the design and measurement of prevention and security policies.

The government of Mexico has taken steps to advance measurement in the domain of security and justice, implementing, for instance, methodological improvements to national victimisation surveys and collecting increasingly detailed data on law enforcement and justice sector resources and operations. This chapter presents an overview of available regional data which could be considered in measuring the performance of criminal justice systems, specifically in terms of their capacities, effectiveness and efficiency. As discussed in the previous chapters, however, translating this data into actionable evidence may require further consideration of the limitations of the existing information as some gaps remain. Greater standardisation and harmonisation across time and regions/jurisdictions and agencies may be necessary to improve performance evaluation and monitor the impacts of ongoing reforms.