New corruption and impunity allegations emerging on the eve of the inauguration of Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández have cast doubt over his supposed security successes and set a deeply…
Rio De Janeiro’s Police Pacification Units (UPPs), already suffering from crippling budget cuts and broken public confidence, are refusing to respond to calls from areas considered to be of “high…
An upcoming election in Honduras has called into question the future of a reform commission that has taken important steps toward cleaning up the country's police force.
In Ecuador and Chile, two of Latin America's most trusted police institutions have been hit by recent corruption scandals, a reminder that even the most highly-regarded security forces in…
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.
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InSight Crime Events – Border Crime: The Northern Triangle and Tri-Border Area
Through several rounds of extensive field investigations, our researchers have analyzed and mapped out the main illicit economies and criminal groups present in 39 border departments spread across the six countries of study – the Northern Triangle trio of Guatemala, Honduras, and El…
InSight Crime’s ‘Memo Fantasma’ Investigation Wins Simón Bolívar National Journalism Prize
The staff at InSight Crime was awarded the prestigious Simón Bolívar national journalism prize in Colombia for its two-year investigation into the drug trafficker known as “Memo Fantasma,” which was…
InSight Crime – From Uncovering Organized Crime to Finding What Works
This project began 10 years ago as an effort to address a problem: the lack of daily coverage, investigative stories and analysis of organized crime in the Americas. …
InSight Crime – Ten Years of Investigating Organized Crime in the Americas
In early 2009, Steven Dudley was in Medellín, Colombia. His assignment: speak to a jailed paramilitary leader in the Itagui prison, just south of the city. Following his interview inside…
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