public safety

Crime data tells two tales

LA PRENSA

fear factor: Despite having a murder rate that is one of the lowest in the region, a poll found that 87 percent of Panamanians interviewed said they believe violent crimes have increased recently.1075861

Despite President Martín Torrijos’ pursuit of drastic security reforms to help reduce what is widely perceived as a sharp increase in violent crime nationwide, a recent analysis of murder statistics reveal a contrast between the perceived jump in homicides and where the count actually stands.

Data collected by various international agencies agree that Panama’s murder rate is “modest” compared to other nations in the region.

A report by the Secretaría General Iberoamericana (SEGIB), for example, estimated the country’s homicide rate at 11.3 per 100,000 people, a number well below that of El Salvador and Jamaica, but significantly greater than Chile and Uruguay.

Taking that homicide rate into account, the Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Pública de El Salvador went one step further in its analysis, rating Panama as the country with the second lowest crime rate in Central American, topped only by Costa Rica, which averaged 7.7 murders per 100,000 people.

International and national data on the subject, however, doesn’t always coincide. In July 2007, for instance, the Sistema Integrado de Estadísticas Criminales del Ministerio de Gobierno indicated that the murder rate had increased to 12.9 for every 100,000 people.

Whether those figures are modest or not, Panama has the symptoms of a “crime epidemic,” a diagnosis defined by the Organización Panamericana de la Salud as any rate higher than five murders for every 100,000 people.

Speaking louder than statistics, especially in a campaign year, is the widespread fear that the country is not as safe as it used to be. An opinion poll of 1,000 Panamanians by GFK in April found that 87 percent believed that crime had increased during the past year. Of those, 84 percent said crimes had become more violent, and 71 percent believed the crime rate will continue to rise.

Those feelings aren’t entirely unfounded, as the country’s security agencies reported around 200 murders had taken place over the first five months of the year. But there has been a sharp decrease since then, as only 20 murders have taken place in the past three months.

But the dip has not stopped the efforts to improve security. Prosecutor Luis Martínez recently announced the creation of an elite team of investigators who will focus on murder inquiries.