Comunicados Citizen´s institute for insecurity research (icesi for its spanish acronym) presented the results of its sixth national survey on insecurity.
(Informal translation to english)
Press release
Citizen´s institute for insecurity research (icesi for its spanish acronym) presented the results of its sixth national survey on insecurity
- Chihuahua ranks as the most insecure state, followed by Sinaloa, Baja California, Mexico City and Guerrero according to the "Crime Thermometer”.
- Yucatan is once again the nation's most secure state.
- In the last decade, no substantial changes are noticed in the prevalence and incidence of crime. The strict measurement and analysis of its characteristics allow evaluating whether progress is made in the fight against crime.
- Invaluable support of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) for its Spanish acronym) in the field survey.
- Mexico City August 26, 2009.- The CITIZEN´S INSTITUTE FOR INSECURITY RESEARCH (ICESI) presented the results of its Sixth National Survey on Insecurity (ENSI-6). Chihuahua ranks as the most insecure state in the country, followed by Sinaloa, Baja California, Mexico City and Guerrero. Once again, Yucatan is the most secure state.
The ENSI-6 was carried out by the ICESI, with support from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) in the field survey. The survey was conducted in the 32 Mexican states and 16 urban areas.
For the second the crime thermometer was presented, a national index of insecurity, which is made up of three indicators:
1. Crime rate (crime incidence).
2. Percentage of crimes committed at gunpoint.
3. Intentional homicide rate (data from official statistics).
The main reason why Chihuahua and Sinaloa occupy the top positions is because the intentional homicides have had a remarkable rise in just one year: In Chihuahua intentional homicides raised from 18 to 42, and in Sinaloa from 28 to 43 (per 100,000 inhabitants), which places them in a similar range of countries such as South Africa and Venezuela, with very high homicide rates.
Yucatan presents, in criminal prevalence (casualty rates), in criminal incidence (crime rate) and intentional homicide rates, figures close to those of the safest countries in the world.
The figure in brackets corresponds to the measurement of 2008 of the thermometer, based on the results of the ENSI-5. The darker figure corresponds to current measurement, so you can see the trend by state.
In the last decade, no substantial changes have been observed in the criminal prevalence and incidence in the country. In contrast, some states experienced considerable increase from 2007 to 2008 in its levels of victimization (casualties) such as: Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Coahuila, Colima, Hidalgo, Michoacán, Nayarit and Querétaro.
One of every four crimes is carried out with some kind of weapon and, of them, in 35% of the cases the criminal uses its weapon. In the State of Mexico, 44% of crimes are committed at gunpoint, reason why this federal entity has displaced Guerrero from the first place. However, in the urban areas included in the study, Acapulco is the city with the highest number of crimes involving weapons.
In urban areas, the mayor crime prevalence is in Chihuahua and in the Federal District, with 19% of the population having been victimized in each one of them. The highest incidence continues being observed in the Federal District, Mexico City (including surrounding areas), Chihuahua and Mexicali.
Robberies to pedestrians appear, as has been the case in former polls, as the most frequent crime (42%), followed by robbery to vehicle auto-parts (27%). An outstanding finding in the research is the high level of incidence in extortions: one of every ten crimes is extortion. The percentage of kidnappings (0.5%) allows estimating that around 50,000 happen annually in its different forms.
In Mexico, in average one of every five crimes are reported and only 15% of them are registered in official statistics. Victims that do not report mention as main reasons, as in former polls, that attending the Public Ministry seems like a waste of time (39%) or they distrust this authority (16%). Of reported crimes, only in 6% of the cases was the alleged criminal brought before a judge.
For the first time in this study, Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez resulted as the urban areas where the highest number of people feel insecure, because eight in every ten had that perception; in contrast with previous years where the image of most insecure cities was for the Federal District and Mexico City.
Because of fear towards insecurity, in six of every 10 homes minors are not allowed to go out on the street. For the same motive, half of Mexicans avoid going out at night.
Police forces, much more the local ones than the federal ones, are still seen with distrust by a big majority of the population.
Sticking with methodology, the presentation did not include results from the states of Tabasco and Tamaulipas, specifically the cities of Villahermosa and Nuevo Laredo. In the former, problems arouse inherent to the filed application of the poll and in the later interviews were not carried out under appropriate conditions do to surveillance carried out in some cities by unidentified people.
The ICESI reiterates that only a rigorous measurement of criminality and the knowledge of its characteristics will allow evaluating objectively if there is progress in the fight against crime.--------------
About the ICESI: it is a civil association with no profit objectives that arises as a response to the grave problem of public insecurity in Mexico and as a consequence of the restlessness and need of social and business organizations, and academic institutions: UNAM, ITESM, CCE, Coparmex and Fundación Este País. The purpose is to have a citizen agency that generates, uses and communicates permanently statistic information on public insecurity. Contact: consulta@icesi.org.mx tel. (55) 56 15 49 87
