Grupos de autodefensas (self-defenders groups) or Policía Comunitaria (Community Police) or Policía Popular (People's Police) are vigilante self-defense groups that arose in the Gulf of Mexico and South Mexico regions between 2012 and 2013. The Mexican government has attempted to monitor and absorb these groups into the federal government to act as Rural Police in order to avoid clashes between the paramilitaries and the Mexican Armed Forces itself.