Sandwiched into bulletproof vests, we join the police on their daily beat. They are the frontline against a Mexican crime wave that is the worst in living memory, and they're ill equipped to deal with it. They risk their lives for just $200 per month, and with that they must buy all their own kit, from the shirts on their backs to the bullets in their guns. "The state pretends to pay properly and the police pretend to work properly, and it's the public who suffer the consequences," is the word from disillusioned ex-cops. Mexico's finest are also seriously compromised by corruption. The head of a police investigation unit says he realised "…that I couldn't trust the police chiefs." For the straight policemen, the blight of corruption saps their morale, "People only give us verbal abuse, [they say] we're also criminals or robbers." Mexico already has more police officers per head than France and the US but with the poor pay and morale the descent into corruption is all too easy.

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