One group of police officers in El Salvador accused of running a death squad has been freed just as another group accused of trafficking illicit objects to inmates has…
The government of El Salvador has yet to provide a convincing response to allegations that senior officers of the national police created criminal networks within the institution that engaged…
Members of a federal police unit in Mexico have traded in their weapons for musical instruments in an effort to increase public trust in the institution, but doubts remain…
In recent years, heavy-handed strategies and mass incarceration have been the preferred tactics used by many politicians in the region. Now, facing evidence that this approach has not been effective…
The arrest of a former police chief in Honduras is a sign of the country's efforts to address corruption and develop the capacities of the police, amid indications that the…
Community policing has become the go-to security strategy in the Americas. But as the case of the Rio de Janeiro's "pacification" policing experiment shows, its impact has been limited and…
As discussions about police reform abound throughout the Americas, Yanilda González, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, examines the implications of Latin America's experience with…
New statistics on Mexico's police paints a picture of an overworked, underpaid and understaffed force that is not concentrated where there are the most public security threats.
Mexico's new justice system went into effect in June 2016. But because the law was constrained by a deadline, there are several key actions that authorities have…
Brazil's state of Rio de Janeiro witnessed a massive operation aimed at capturing nearly 100 military police officers accused of criminal collusion, adding to a growing body of evidence suggesting…
Faced by the public defenders of a youth court in São Paulo, Brazil, Gorete emotionally explained what happened on the February night when four military police officers came to her…
A recent ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) marks the first time the court has condemned Brazil for police violence, in a decades-old case that highlights…
About InSight Crime
Who Are Memo Fantasma and Sergio Roberto de Carvalho?
Inside the criminal career of Memo Fantasma In March 2020, InSight Crime revealed the identity and whereabouts of Memo Fantasma, a paramilitary commander and drug trafficker living in…
Environmental and Academic Praise
InSight Crime’s six-part series on the plunder of the Peruvian Amazon continues to inform the debate on environmental security in the region. Our Environmental Crimes Project Manager, María Fernanda Ramírez,…
Series on Plunder of Peru’s Amazon Makes Headlines
Since launching on June 2, InSight Crime’s six-part series on environmental crime in Peru’s Amazon has been well-received. Detailing the shocking impunity enjoyed by those plundering the rainforest, the investigation…
Duarte’s Death Makes Waves
The announcement of the death of Gentil Duarte, one of the top dissident commanders of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), continues to reverberate in Venezuela and Colombia.
Cattle Trafficking Acclaim, Investigation into Peru’s Amazon
On May 18, InSight Crime launched its most recent investigation into cattle trafficking between Central America and Mexico. It showed precisely how beef, illicitly produced in Honduras, Guatemala…
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