In my business I talk with many people who are always fascinated to hear about what it’s like to live in Mexico, Puerto Vallarta specifically.
I’ve been living in Puerto Vallarta for twenty years now. I own a world famous deep sea or Sportfishing company and I’m a retired Engineer. When people ask me what I do for a living, I mostly tell then “I fold T-Shirts and take pictures of dead fish for a living”. If that description is anything, it’s accurate. As an American, other Americans and Canadians love to pick my brain. As it turns out the first thing they bring up are the old stories about being grabbed by the police, thrown in jail and you’ll “die chained to the wall”. Folks this is just a horror movie fantasy line. North Americans are so afraid of these pure “Baloney stories” that many times they’ll restrict themselves from doing things away from the city. It’s so common it’s almost it’s a bad joke. In fact if anything, it’s almost impossible to get arrested and thrown in jail, for any reason. And North America’s perceptions of Mexican law is all wrong… I’m chuckling as I write this.
So let’s make a talk salad with ingredients about laws, jails, the police, your perceptions and common sense. First, let’s look at common sense. If you’re dealing with the police here in Puerto Vallarta this is an indication “common sense” is in short supply. The police don’t come to just any situation. It has to be stupid or destructive. Police are not walking up and down streets looking for stupid situations. But they will respond to a call. Normally Booze is involved you never know. But even in a situation like this it’s almost impossible to get taken to jail, it’s bad for tourism.
The perception when you get thrown in jail that you’ll never get out is a urban legend. Just like the United States after three days with no charges they have to let you go. So they hold you if they have a reason, but there is little jail space in Puerto Vallarta and again arresting tourist is bad for Puerto Vallarta. You see Mexico is based on Napoleonic law. You are not automatically guilty, but you may have to prove your innocence. Now the accusers, they can’t just go around accusing anybody they want of any crime they can conjure up either. You have to come up with hard evidence before anything like an arrest warrant is written. If you compare this to North American laws, arrest warrants aren’t issued until there’s a credible reason either. They have a warrant system, and unlike the urban beliefs the police don’t break into your home and grab people never to be seen again. In fact the Mexicans had an entire civil war over property ownership and have much stronger property ownership laws than Canada or the USA!
Let me share a short story that shocked me when I first got here as a permanent resident of Puerto Vallarta. One of our Captains was having a difficult time with some guy, I didn’t know who he was … Or care to know. But the confrontations were always just this side of physical. So my Captain went to the local authorities, The Minesterio Del Publico or Public Ministry. It’s the legal side of the police dept. where citizens, even tourist with visas can go and talk about specific situations. Where as in the event something later happens everything is on file. Frankly I think it’s smart. To continue, after my captain discussed things, he came out with a piece of paper. It was a permit. My Captain had permission to punch this guy in the nose! He discussed the situation, got a permit. A Permit!! Now I was shocked, never heard of such a thing, but it seemed fair to me.
Well after that I was keeping my ears open as to what the deal was and how this was all going to go down. A very interesting thing happened, nothing. Nothing happened, word got out my Captain had a “Punch Permit” and the guy never came back, settled before anything stupid happened. Just the mere fact that power was given to the bullied impressed me to the core. But I thought this was crazy and not a common thing. I mean not everyone is running to get permission to punch, but it’s there if needed.
So there’s a small and interesting taste about the legal system in Puerto Vallarta. But before we end this article you need to know there are several different types of police in Puerto Vallarta. Each has a specific job function. As a tourist you’ll see them all, but the officers in white clothing are the “Tourist Police”. These officers are trained to deal with Tourist situations specifically. Many, but not all will speak some English. But then again 60% of Puerto Vallarta’s citizens speak functional English anyway. And there are always helpful people to interpret. As a tourist visitor you’d be best served dealing with them if you need their services.
It’s important to remember that Puerto Vallarta is one of the Safest Cities in the whole world and it’s documented as such, go ahead and get a little adventurous and enjoy Puerto Vallarta, one of the “Coolest Places in the World”! Enjoy!
Master Baiter's Phone Number & WhatsApp: +52 322 209 1128