HomeNewsAnalysisWhat Should Be Done to Reduce Crime in Venezuela?
ANALYSIS

What Should Be Done to Reduce Crime in Venezuela?

INFOGRAPHICS / 16 OCT 2013 BY REBECCA HANSON AND DAVID SMILDE* EN

Since 2008 the Chavez and now Maduro governments have increasingly taken on the issue of crime, often in quite contradictory ways. Here we look at if and how these strategies resonate with citizens’ opinions.

To do so we added a question to Datanalisis' July-August Omnibus survey that asked respondents what they thought would reduce crime. The question provided respondents with a list of measures (improving the values taught to children by the family; decreasing poverty and social inequality; professionalizing police officers; reforming the judicial and penal systems; a permanent deployment of military in sectors with high rates of crime; improving access to sports and cultural activities; and improving access to public space) and asked them to rank the three most important in fighting crime. 

This article originally appeared on the Washington Office on Latin America blog Venezuela Politics and Human Rights. See original article here. The first part of this series can be seen here.

The first table presents the percentage of number one responses each measure received.

venezuelagraphoneIS

These results are consistent with those we described in our first post. Family values was the most common first choice for reducing crime with almost 30 percent naming it. Indeed 67 percent of respondents mentioned it among their top three (see below). As we mentioned before, pointing to the family effectively privatizes and depoliticizes crime. But it also heavily genders it. In the Venezuelan context "the family" often boils down to single mothers who are portrayed as "not doing their jobs." Such mothers are often referred to as "alcahuetas," a label that specifically refers to women who cover up or ignore the bad behavior of their sons.

While over 50 percent of respondents thought that crime would best be addressed by addressing social and cultural causes, it is notable that over 30 percent of respondents saw reforms in police, penal and judicial systems as the most important actions that could be taken to fight crime. This compared to only 12.3 percent that saw military deployment—the Maduro government’s favored strategy—as the most effective way to reduce crime.

The second table, which aggregates all mentions, supports these trends. While improving family values is the most common choice, "professionalization of police" is the second most commonly mentioned response, even surpassing "decreasing poverty and social inequality." Indeed over half of the respondents chose this among their top three.

venezuelagraphtwoIS

Thus, while average Venezuelans do not seem to think police corruption or inefficiency are major causes of crime, they do seem to believe that a professional police force and improved judicial and penal system could reduce crime. Of course, it is unclear as to what respondents have in mind when they chose "professionalize the police." While some might be thinking about improved police training and supervision, others surely are thinking about better weapons, vehicles, and technology (we will address this issue in a future post).

According to these numbers there is significant support for military deployment as a means for reducing crime. 40 percent of respondents included it in their top three choices. However, anyway you cut it, there is significantly more support for citizen security reform.

*This article originally appeared on the Washington Office on Latin America blog Venezuela Politics and Human Rights. See original article here. The first part to this series can be seen here.

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

COLOMBIA / 1 JUL 2022

Colombian police uncovered a sex ring featuring underage migrants from Venezuela. Why does sex trafficking flourish in border areas?…

VENEZUELA / 15 FEB 2023

Hermágoras González Polanco has been active in Venezuela's drug trafficking scene for over four decades, thanks to his ability to…

EL KOKI / 3 MAR 2022

Security forces in Venezuela have killed a string of infamous gang bosses, indicating that the gangs are no longer operating…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…