HomeNewsAnalysisSearching for Accurate Homicide Data: Latin America’s ‘El Dorado’
ANALYSIS

Searching for Accurate Homicide Data: Latin America’s ‘El Dorado’

COLOMBIA / 12 OCT 2015 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

As violence dips to historic lows in some parts of Latin America and record highs in others, the question must be asked: do these large fluctuations in homicide data actually reflect reality?

In 2014, Colombia registered its lowest number of homicides in thirty years. Meanwhile authorities in Honduras, perennially ranked as the world's most violent nation, say they have nearly halved the country's homicide rate in just the last four years.

However, good news on homicides is not ubiquitous throughout Latin America. Authorities in El Salvador are reporting an unprecedented spike in murders, and this year is expected to be the most violent since the end of the nation's bloody civil war in the early 1990s. Registered homicides are also on the rise in Mexico after years of decline.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Homicides

But does this data actually reflect real changes in security dynamics? Given the significant differences in how homicides are registered between countries and even at the sub-national level, it is worth questioning what conclusions can be drawn from this data. And if experts say authorities cannot possibly register all the homicides that are taking place in their jurisdiction, how can lawmakers expect to develop evidence-based policies aimed at reducing violence?

InSight Crime sat down with Michael Reed-Hurtado, a researcher and lecturer at Yale Law School, to discuss these questions and more. The conversation is a follow-up to a recent conference in Bogota sponsored by the Open Society Foundations on improving homicide data in Latin America.

 What You'll Find Out:

1:00: Why registering homicides with 100 percent accuracy is comparable to the search for “El Dorado.”

5:00: Why official homicide data in Latin America -- already the world's most violent region -- underestimates the actual level of violence in the region. 

11:15: That reported homicides can go down because the authorities are on vacation, not because of reduced violence.

15:35: “If policy is to be based on evidence, then policy needs to take the undocumented homicides into account.”

18:00: Why corrective statistics refute claims that violence in Colombia went down after paramilitary demobilization.

20:50: “If there is something that we know worldwide, it's that criminal policy is being conducted basically through leaps of faith.”

27:45: That issues with achieving accurate homicide data is not limited to Latin America. One official study has found that authorities didn't register at least half of all deaths by active duty police officers in the United States. 

-- This podcast was produced by Santiago Delgadillo

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BOLIVIA / 1 APR 2022

Millions of young people around the world document their experiences at work, at school or with their friends on TikTok.

COCAINE / 20 JUN 2022

Gustavo Petro will be Colombia's next president. Cocaine, Venezuela, deforestation - criminal challenges face him in droves.

BARRIO 18 / 28 MAR 2022

A killing spree unlike anything seen since El Salvador’s civil war has delivered a macabre message from the country’s street…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.