by Sam Culper
A report produced last month for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) examines the rampant criminality across Latin America and determines some best practices for implementing community security. What Works in Reducing Community Violence (download) points out that Latin America consists of nine percent (9%) of the world’s population but accounts for a third (33%) of all homicides globally.
Because regions of the U.S. may undergo changes that result in a close resemblance to the economic and security conditions found throughout Latin America, it’s very important to understand their security picture and then draw conclusions and lessons learned from their challenges. Poor economic conditions and poverty already lead some individuals towards criminality and gang activity, and when economic conditions in the U.S. deteriorate and become sustained, there’s a greater likelihood that communities deal with increased criminality and gang activity.
The report identifies six dimensions of what they call “community violence.” They are:
- Lethality;
- Location;
- Involvement (number of individuals involved);
- Spontaneity;
- Activity Type (crimes of passion versus organized crime); and
- Frequency
