HomeNewsBriefMore Than 100 Police Killed in Caracas This Year
BRIEF

More Than 100 Police Killed in Caracas This Year

HOMICIDES / 11 DEC 2012 BY MIRIAM WELLS EN

The recent murder of two Venezuelan policemen brings the total number of officers killed in the Caracas metropolitan area this year to 101, an indication that Venezuela's efforts to bring down its high crime rate is taking a toll on law enforcement officers in addition to civilians.

According to El Universal, the officers were shot in two separate incidents by criminal gangs who then stripped them of their weapons. Jose Ali Chacon was killed as he left a family party in the Las Casitas sector of the city; while Wilmar Machado was attacked as he arrived at his home in Los Silos de Caucagua.

As previously noted  by InSight Crime, murders of police by gang members looking to steal the officers' guns are becoming an increasingly common occurrence in Caracas.

The 101 police homicides in the Venezuelan capital marks a 20 percent increase from the 84 police officers killed in the city in 2011.

InSight Crime Analysis

As violent crime in Caracas continues to worsen, the rise in police deaths comes as no surprise. More than 3,000 homicides had been counted in the city by November 2012, making it one of the most dangerous places in the world.

The 101 police officers killed in Greater Caracas compares to 72 police killed in the whole of the United States in 2011, as noted by the LA Times in September. It also puts the Venezuelan city on par with São Paulo, where gang members are deliberately targeting police in a killing campaign.

In Caracas, police have become an easy target for gang members seeking to gain both weapons and elevated status in an environment of near total impunity. Murder rates have more than doubled since Chavez took office in 1999, up from 32.9 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants according to the Organization of American States to an estimated 67 per 100,000 in 2011 according to respected NGO Venezuelan Observatory Of Violence - an average of 53 killings a day.

Poverty, street crime, the international drug trade, and the wide availability of firearms all play a major role in the indiscriminate killings -- but so does a weak judiciary and a generalized culture of violence that some claim has been stoked by President Hugo Chavez’s Bolivarian Revolution. The International Crisis Group has highlighted Chavez’s "confrontational rhetoric" as contributing to entrenched violence in the country, while Observatory director Roberto Brice-Leon claimed to the LA Times that "Chavez has promoted the idea that violence forms part of the class struggle.”

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

COCAINE / 20 AUG 2021

Seven people were gunned down in Guayaquil after a record cocaine seizure – in a revenge attack that shows ripples…

TREN DE ARAGUA / 15 FEB 2023

Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias “Niño Guerrero," is the leader of Tren de Aragua, Venezuela's largest homegrown criminal group.

ELN / 17 FEB 2023

Venezuela has acted against illegal miners. But with close ties between the state and these mining groups, are efforts genuine?…

About InSight Crime

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.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…