HomeNewsBriefWhy are Killings of Security Forces in Venezuela on the Rise?
BRIEF

Why are Killings of Security Forces in Venezuela on the Rise?

INFOGRAPHICS / 22 JAN 2015 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

The number of security personnel murdered in Venezuela rose nearly 20 percent in 2014, a reflection of the rising violence in the country and the possible high level of corruption within the security forces. 

The Venezuelan non-governmental organization Fundepro registered 338 killings of police, military, and private security officials in the country last year, reported El Universal. This represents an 18 percent increase from the 295 homicides of security forces in 2013, but a slight drop from the 350 reported cases in 2012.

With 132 homicides last year, Caracas registered more than double the number of murdered security officials from any other state in Venezuela (see graph below by El Universal). Municipal police were the most targeted, while state and military forces also suffered over 50 casualties. Thirty-one members of Venezuela's investigative police force, CICPC, were reportedly killed in 2014.

In an email correspondence, Fundepro told InSight Crime its data was based on police and military statistics as well as media reports. 

If the beginning of 2015 is any indication, the violence directed towards security forces is unlikely to abate in the near future. Twenty police, military, and private security guards were killed during the first 19 days in 2015, according to El Universal. 

BPoliceKilledVen

InSight Crime Analysis

Attacks on security forces are a tricky thing to decipher. The security forces are often vulnerable in places like Venezuela because they are chronically short-staffed, underfunded, undertrained and under-equipped. What's more, the high rates of violence in the country puts them in extremely vulnerable positions.

Fundepro said the violence against security forces was related to the ease with which criminals can get weapons. One year after the implementation of a disarmament law, authorities reported less than one percent of all illegal firearms in the country had been seized.  

In response to this insecurity some police recently told a newspaper they were doing the minimum necessary to stop crime in the streets due to the risk they felt while on patrol. An increasing number of law enforcement officers are also reportedly quitting the force and opting to work for private security companies, which they consider safer. 

SEE ALSO: Venezuela News and Profiles

On the other hand, security forces are also known to be involved in kidnapping and extortion operations; elements of the country's military have been connected to the country's drug trade. On the local level, the head of Venezuela's police reform commission, Freddy Bernal, recently stated the commission plans to intervene in nine municipal police forces with links to organized crime. 

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

ARGENTINA / 3 AUG 2022

Floodlights from Chinese fishing boats illuminate the darkness off Argentina’s Atlantic Coast, where the armada harvests tons of squid.

ELITES AND CRIME / 21 JUN 2023

Guatemala's elections see the participation of political power blocs who have created a system to protect their interests.

COLECTIVOS / 31 AUG 2023

Like in the past, the Maduro government is utilizing electoral violence by armed groups to secure victory in the 2024…

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…