La Paz Mayor Milena Quiroga released new municipal crime data showing significant declines in property crimes and street assaults between 2021 and 2025. Home burglaries fell from 396 cases to 272, a drop of roughly 31%. Vehicle thefts declined from 181 to 130, and business robberies dropped from 105 to 66.
Street assaults, the category most likely to affect someone walking along the Malecón or through downtown, fell from 51 reported cases in 2021 to 28 in 2025. Thefts at schools also dropped sharply, from 61 to 22 cases over the same period.
Data-Driven Policing Behind the Numbers
The city credited the declines to a data-driven policing model built around its Tactical Police Analysis Unit. The unit maps crime hotspots across La Paz’s colonias and uses that data to direct targeted patrols to specific neighborhoods at specific times. City officials described the approach as a replicable model for other municipalities in Baja California Sur.
La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur, is home to roughly 300,000 residents and a growing community of foreign retirees and remote workers. The city has long been considered one of the safer destinations on the Baja Peninsula, though concerns about rising crime have surfaced periodically on expat forums in recent years.
Domestic Violence and Gender Crimes on the Rise
The same municipal report flagged a troubling counterpoint to the property crime improvements. Domestic violence, threats, and violence against women all showed increases during the same 2021 to 2025 period. The city acknowledged these categories as “red zones” requiring stronger preventive action, though the report did not provide specific case numbers for these offenses.
Mayor Quiroga’s administration framed the response as a two-track strategy: continuing the data-driven patrol model for property crimes while expanding prevention programs for gender-based violence and domestic abuse.
What the Numbers Mean in Context
The reported figures represent cases logged by municipal authorities. As with crime statistics across Mexico, actual incident numbers are likely higher due to underreporting. Many property crimes, particularly minor thefts, go unreported to police. Still, the consistent downward trend across five separate crime categories over four years points to measurable progress on the types of offenses most commonly experienced in daily life.
The municipal government published the full crime data on its official news site, noticias.lapaz.gob.mx.