While National Police Director Oscar Naranjo said the homicide rate in
Colombia dropped in the last years, Medellin’s forensic institute
complains about a lack of personnel to handle all autopsies.
“We only have three specialists and three assistants to attend all murders in Medellin. This is not enough staff. We have a lot of delays,” Jose Ivan Gomez Aristizabal, Regional Director of the Institute, told Caracol Radio.
The Institute in Medellin has taken over forensic cases of Itagui, a small municipality south of Medellin, because they also lack the personnel to handle the increasing murders.
Medellin, Bogota and Cali have seen soaring murder rates since the beginning of 2009.
However, the National Police reported a decrease in homicides in Colombia. While in 2002 there were 67 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, this year there are only 34 violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, the official statistics say.
According to Radio W, Naranjo acknowledged the situation in Medellin is dramatic but does not believe it will become similar to the 1990’s when Pablo Escobar fought a war with the authorities in Colombia’s biggest second city.
Naranjo stressed that 312 municipalities did not report one single murder in the first half
of the year, while in other 425 municipalities there were only one
between five homicides.
All in all, the security situation has improved, the Police Director concludes.