that didn't prevent a friend from getting robbed of $800 by Tijuana police last week; his "crime" - possession of pepper spray.
Once I was visiting a Mexican city just across the Texas border. In the morning, my husband was sleeping late, so I decided to take a walk and buy some sweet bread from a nearby bakery since our (nice) hotel was near a plaza. A policeman in uniform approached me and asked for money to buy himself a cup of coffee. I was kind of astounded—a city official begging a stranger for money for a cup of coffee?? He looked kind of sleepy and grouchy. I opened my wallet and gave him some change. He looked at it and said (I can’t remember his exact words, and I speak a little Spanish, but I can’t remember if he spoke English or Spanish) that he wanted paper money. I felt a definite element of threat. I got the impression that he would arrest me for jaywalking or soliciting or something if I didn’t give him some money. I gave him a dollar or two (I didn’t have much), and he went away, thank heavens.