Gendarmes, inspectores y comisarios: historia del sistema policial en la ciudad de México, 1870-1930

From 1870 to 1930, Mexico City’s police grew in numbers, diversified its composition and adopted the municipal or local system. This institution was conceived to prevent disorder in the urban society, replacing a variety of former police forces in charge of public security. Thus, this article offers an overview of the Municipal Gendarmerie from both an institutional and social perspective. On the one hand, our analysis makes clear the increasing role played by the bureaucratic police personnel. On the other, it reveals a process of increasing social differentiation between armed forces, technicians and police superintendents