Last year Thomas Dale and Associates, a world leader in security and investigation, issued a report outlining the security status of Puerto Vallarta. In that report, Thomas Dale & Associates found that Puerto Vallarta was one of the safest destinations for both national and international tourists.
Now, TDA has issued a follow up report which delves even deeper and covers, in addition to security, medical facilities, traffic and law enforcement.
The report had this to say about Puerto Vallarta:
… it can be concluded that foreign as well as national tourists to Puerto
Vallarta are at low risk compared to other major Mexican vacation destinations. It
is anticipated that conditions will get even safer due to socio‐economic
improvements such as investment in infrastructure, education and a professional
police presence.
They went on to discuss in further detail the police presence in Vallarta, that there are 2 police officers for every thousand residents, which is double the federal requirement. Puerto Vallarta recently received permission from the federal government to double its training efforts for new police officers.
Puerto Vallarta is a city, and like all cities it has a certain amount of crime. But statistics show that overall Vallarta is much safer than many places, even those in the United States. The Thomas Dale report compares Puerto Vallarta crime statistics to those of Anaheim, California… the home of Disneyland. In nearly all categories, Vallarta had only a fraction of the crime seen in Anaheim.
Vallarta’s expansion of its police force, recent renovations on the Malecon and new hospitals all add up to a safer, more enjoyable Vallarta.
If you are worried about security in Puerto Vallarta, I encourage you to read the entire report… you can download it here: http://www.pacificcoastmexico.com/files/Thomas_Dale_Associates.pdf
You might also want to have a look at the state department’s February 2012 travel advisory for Mexico:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_970.html
What are your thoughts? Please leave a comment!