Cutting the crime rate in El Salvador

waltky · Jun 12, 2016

Inmate isolation and banned telephone calls helps cut crime rate by 50%...

Anti-gang offensive in El Salvador cuts murder rate
Sun, Jun 12, 2016 - EXTRAORDINARY: Controlling prisons through inmate isolation and banned telephone calls, has helped reduce the crime rate by 50 percent in phase one of the governments plans

El Salvador, ranked one of the most dangerous countries in the world, has nearly halved its staggeringly bloody monthly murder rate amid a fierce crackdown on fearsome gangs. However, analysts said that the number of homicides this year is still above where it was the same time last year, and warned that the government offensive against the gangs needs to continue to break them apart. Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Security Mauricio Ramirez on Thursday said that the extraordinary measures El Salvador has employed have managed to reduce the crime rate by more than 50 percent. Isolating gang bosses in prison, sending in elite troops and police to arrest gang members, and erasing gang graffiti from the streets of at least one town all appear to be bearing fruit.

The Institute for Forensic Medicine said about 353 murders were recorded in each of the months of May and April. While that is still high, it is significantly less than the 611 homicides in March, 644 in February and 740 in January. However, the total number of murders so far this year, 2,721, is still higher than the 2,188 registered for the same period last year. That underlines El Salvadors notoriety as the country with the most murders per capita in the world outside of a war zone. El Salvadors government in April started its crackdown in a bid to roll back that reputation and to challenge the perception that it had lost control of swathes of territory to the gangs.

BARRED

Ramirez acknowledged that to maintain security and the positive results so far, we have to keep control over the penitentiaries, where gang bosses are now barred from receiving visitors and cellphone signals are blocked. University professor and analyst Juan Ramon Medrano said that the first phase of the governments plan to reduce the number of murders is working. However, the current success is going to depend on keeping up a sustainable tactical offense over the duration, he said. No let-up should be given in the efforts to bust the gangs leadership and to prevent them winning back turf from the authorities, he said.

Howard Cotto, the head of the national police force, also said that, beyond the operations by the security forces, citizen participation in prevention tasks, such as tip-offs, had an important role to play. Part of the reason El Salvador has made progress this time against the gangs is that it has put thousands of soldiers onto its streets to back up the police. The deployment helps to contain gang members, who are said to number about 70,000, of which about 13,000 are already behind bars. The operations have resulted in the deaths of several gang members and the arrest of dozens on various charges.

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Cutting the crime rate in El Salvador

waltky Well-Known Member

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Cutting the crime rate in El Salvador

waltky Well-Known Member

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