This book seeks to overcome the lack of theoretically informed empirical studies on policing and state-society relations in areas of limited statehood. By drawing on in-depth field research in Mexico City, Markus-Michael Muller offers an insightful analysis of the negotiated character of the Mexican state and its impact on policing. Despite the resulting un-public nature of Mexican policing, he demonstrates that Mexico City residents do not abandon the state as a security provider but continue to turn to the state, in a variety of formal and informal ways and even have normative expectations regarding state-centred security provision. By putting these findings in perspective with other related cases in Latin America, Africa and Asia, the author provides a new cutting-edge perspective on the material and symbolic relevance of the state in areas of limited statehood.