MEXICALI – Governor Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda announced that Baja California’s accumulated security investment over her first four years in office has reached nearly 10 billion pesos, a 109% increase between 2021 and 2026. The governor presented the figures during a meeting with the federal Gabinete de Seguridad Nacional, where she pointed to a 44% reduction in the daily average of homicides statewide as evidence the spending is producing results.
The investment has been distributed across all seven municipalities, with the largest allocations going to Tijuana and Mexicali, which account for the majority of the state’s violent crime. Specific purchases include 1,200 new patrol vehicles, upgraded radio communication systems linking municipal and state police forces, body cameras for officers in Rosarito and Tijuana, and the construction of a new state forensic laboratory in Mexicali. The Fuerza Estatal de Seguridad Ciudadana (FESC) also underwent a restructuring in mid-2025 to improve coordination between state and municipal forces.
Between September 2024 and July 2025, daily homicides in Baja California dropped from 7.13 to 4.58, a decline of 35.8%. Authorities also reported detaining 27 high-priority targets identified as generators of violence during that period. Robbery and extortion rates fell by more than 40% statewide, though Tijuana’s Zona Este and parts of Mexicali’s colonias along the Nuevo Río remain hotspots where residents report slower improvement.
For the English-speaking community in Baja California, the security investment translates to more visible police presence in tourist corridors, particularly along the Rosarito-Ensenada scenic highway, the Zona Río entertainment district in Tijuana, and the San Felipe malecón. The state’s 911 emergency system now handles calls in both Spanish and English in the Tijuana-Rosarito corridor.