Three in four victims do not report
What surveys see and records do not.
What the records don’t see · What do surveys see that records don’t?
3,142 surveys in 11 areas of Guadalupe, Nuevo León: where there was follow-up, only one in four victims reported the crime, mostly out of distrust, and each area asks for something different.
Read the technical noteThe first two pages, online. The full note is sent by email on request.
The problem
A crime that goes unreported, a fear that changes daily routines, trust that is lost: none of this appears in case files or arrests.
It is measured by asking, and it only holds where people were asked: eleven areas, with two survey rounds where there was follow-up.
What we found
Three in four victims don’t report, and that doesn’t show up in the records
In the monitored territories, an average of 26% of victims reported the crime; the most cited reason for not doing so is distrust of the authorities.
Most territories ask for police presence
Nine of eleven territories mainly ask for police presence; Santa María and Valle Soleado, for surveillance cameras.
Who answered the survey changed, and that affects the comparison
In Lomas de la Silla, people aged 65 and over went from 12% to 48% of the sample between 2025 and 2026: comparing survey rounds requires controlling for who responds.
The street is where crime victimization happens most
In 10 of the 11 territories, “main streets and avenues” is the place most often cited where people were victimized. These territories also account for 10.8% of injured pedestrians with 6.3% of the area.
Each territory asks for something different
Valle Soleado, Santa María and Nuevo Almaguer mainly ask for cameras; the rest, for police presence.
See it on the map
What we recommend
One street intervention per area (lighting, crossings and presence)that responds at once to fear of crime and to road risk, measured in both surveys.
A single intervention addresses two fears that the record treats separately.
Survey reproduction, area-level reading and cartographic storytelling · Guadalupe, Nuevo León · 2026
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