Midnight police chase through the barrio

Since being in Mexico there have been many instances in which policia have told us to stop, and we've refused.  Sometimes it's a situation where they are having a checkpoint and they try to stop us, just watching as we drive past without listening. Other times they chase us and try to stop us, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.  On the particular night that this story takes place, we had lived in our neighborhood for about 2 weeks, and realistically hadn't been out seriously late at night yet.  We were leaving a dinner party at a friend's house at about 1 or 2 in the morning, stopping to drop some friends off at their place on the way.  It was midweek and the city was really quiet at that time. 

We headed up the way to our house, and when we almost neared the top of the mountain, we almost got into a head on collision due to some Federales without lights driving in the middle of the road.  We swerved to avoid them and continued on with them yelling after us.  I had the sinking suspicion that they were going to chase us, and that they did.  They whipped their vehicles around and flew after us.  We went to the end of our street and parked the truck with the lights off, while John got out and opened the gate as quickly and quietly as possible.  I turned around to see headlights and flashlights at the end of our street coming in our direction.

John got back in the truck, and drove it up the hill.  By this point, the cops were on foot, flashlights flashing all over the place as they ran to chase us down the dusty dirt road.  An important point to note here is that it's illegal for cops in Mexico to set foot on your property without your permission.  They'll stand on the edge of your property and yell, or pull you off your property before they cross that line.  We had the truck at the top of our driveway, right next to the house where I remained.  John ran down to close the gate, where the policia grabbed his arm and pulled him off of the property.  He resisted, yelling "No!", "Propiedad Privada"  and things of that nature.  They were grabbing on him and at one point 3 officers had their hands on them. They were yelling things at him in spanish, and he was yelling back in english, no one was getting anywhere.

I was sitting in the truck, hearing more than I was seeing.  It seemed at the time that they were going to try to arrest him, or something to that extent.  After a minute or so of him resisting, the encounter calmed down quickly, and he was closing the gate and walking up to me and the house.

Apparently, they pulled him off the property to harrass him for running from them, and as soon as they got a good look at him and realized he was a guelo(white person with blue eyes, I may be butchering the spelling of that word but that's how it sounds), they stopped.  One forcibly firmly shook his hand and told him "Thank you senor, have a good night"(took John's hand and forced him to shake his hand). The encounter ended after that.

Later on we found out our neighbor and friend was in the bushes ready to come to our aid.  He said all he saw was men in black chasing us, so he apparently came out with a wood two by four to help. He soon realized they were policia and backed off, as they probably wouldn't have responded very well. 

In the United States, had we had this same experience it would have at least ended in arrest, if not us getting shot.  Part of the reason the cops responded the way they did was because they could recognize that we were not legally property of Mexico, and there's policy where they really try not to harrass foreigners here.  It's generally really hard to charge them with anything and the only thing you can get out of them is the occasional bribe, which you can get in trouble for trying to collect.  Acapulco has a tourism based economy, so they try to veer away from harrassing tourists and foreigners as they'd like them to come back. In many ways, that's why they have the attractive police force that is the touristica polica, they aren't there to arrest you, they're generally there to assist.  

For the most part, the policia here seem to be much more tame and humanistic than in the states.  They generally aren't ones to just unload bullets into anyone they pull over, they interact with you on a more human basis, despite the fact that just about all have a machine gun in their hands or around their neck.  Chances are, if you're a foreigner and they're harrassing you, it's because they're broke and bored.  Policia don't make much here and in many ways it's not a voluntary position, especially in the case of the Marinas.  Remembering this when dealing with them will help you, just remember that they are people.  If you confront them as to what they're doing they get very uncomfortable and leave you alone.  Generally yelling at them in English is enough to send them staggering away from the vehicle. Refuse a bribe if you can, and remember that they could get in trouble just for hitting you up for the bribe, so they aren't going to go strip searching you for pesos on the side of the freeway. Pay the bribe and chances are you'll see that cop again, if not one of his friends.  The only two bribes we've ever paid were to the same cop and we didn't give him more than 40 pesos, which is 2-3 American Dollars. 

We've had a lot of different encounters with military and policia here, all telling us that they generally don't know how to respond to people who don't listen.  We've seen Mexicans run away from the cops in similar fashion, often leaving the stunned policeman behind.  While we definately have the advantage being foreigners, this philosophy is strong here in Mexico.  Most have a dislike and distrust of the policia and do their best to exist without their influence in their lives.  I appreciate this about Mexico as I come from a place where the cops are way worse and the populace still argues that we need them.  I feel a lot safer here in Mexico in regards to polica, which is saying a lot when you consider the fact that I'm on the run. We live our life as though the policia doesn't exist, and it works for us.