Abstract

CONTRERAS-VELASCO, Óscar. Police institution, violence and culture of terror in Tijuana. Rev. Mex. Sociol [online]. 2017, vol.79, n.4, pp.697-721. ISSN 2594-0651.

This article posits that in a context of extreme violence, Tijuana’s police officers respond to job related tension and uncertainty through common sense notions embedded in the collective experience that structure their everyday practices. Through in-depth ethnographic research, three common sense notions were found that express this uncertainty, which police officers call the three guarantees (3G): “You can get killed at any time, you can get fired at any time, and you can go to jail at any time”.

Keywords : police; violence; drug trafficking; Tijuana.