Legitimation is a fraught process for private security companies operating in Mexico and other countries in the Global South where the police have a poor reputation. Mexican private security companies have an ambivalent relationship with the police, which causes firms to engage in two seemingly contradictory practices. Companies attempt to gain legitimacy by aligning with the image of the police to earn a sense of “symbolic stateness” while simultaneously distancing themselves from Mexico's actual police forces so as to disassociate from the institution's poor reputation. Consequently, collaboration between public and private security is limited, despite official attempts by the Mexican state to foster positive contact between them. Overall, this study contributes to the growing literature on private security by providing novel insights into the strategies private security firms utilize to navigate within states possessing delegitimated security forces, and the resulting lucrative political economy landscape.

中文翻译：

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打击犯罪的不安合作伙伴：墨西哥警察与私人安保行业之间的矛盾关系

对于在墨西哥和全球南部其他警察声誉不佳的国家运营的私营保安公司而言，合法化是一个令人担忧的过程。墨西哥私人保安公司与警方的关系矛盾，这导致公司从事两种看似矛盾的做法。公司试图通过与警察形象保持一致来获得合法性，以获得“象征性的国家”感，同时与墨西哥的实际警察部队保持距离，从而摆脱该机构的不良声誉。因此，尽管墨西哥政府官方试图促进它们之间的积极接触，但公共安全和私人安全之间的合作是有限的。全面的，