Public security in Colombia’s capital Bogota has deteriorated over the past year, the majority of respondents to a recent poll said.
The poll, carried out by the capital’s Chamber of Commerce, revealed that an increasing number of bogotanos say that they have been the victim of crime.
Additionally, 47% said they were under the impression that public security had deteriorated. This was 38% in the same poll held last year.
Of the 8,605 respondents, 38% said to have directly or indirectly been victim of crime in the first six months of the year. This is six percentage points higher than measured in last year’s poll.
Fourteen percent said to have been the victim of a crime. Twenty-four percent said that one of of their immediate family members had been the victim.
The majority of the self-proclaimed victims, 77%, said they were victim of armed robbery.
Forty percent of the victims said to have been subject to social aggression, either by brawls, excessively loud parties or the illegal dumping of garbage by their neighbors.
The majority of the polled bogotanos said they had the impression there has been an increase of homeless people, gangs and active criminals over the past year.
In spite of the increase in perceived insecurity, bogotanos showed positive about the role of the police in their city.
A new security policy that seeks to increase police presence by introducing neighborhood cops in the cities is seen as an improvement by 70% of those interviewed in the poll.
Fifty percent of the interviewed bogotanos qualified the general service offered by the police as good.
Nevertheless, only 34% of the respondents said to report a crime with the local authorities. The vast majority said not to.
Sources
- Bogotanos perciben aumento de la inseguridad en la ciudad (El Tiempo)
- Encuesta de Percepción y Victimización (Bogota Chamber of commerce)