The famous festivities at Colombia’s Barranquilla Carnival wound down Tuesday night, leaving this year’s festival with one of the lowest murder rates registered in years.
Officials statistics showed four homicides over the four-day extravaganza, down from the thirteen homicides reported at the carnival in 2009. The figures show that since 2002 the event has seen an average of more than ten murders each year.
Of the murders at this year’s festival, three were committed with knives and one with a gun. A 20-year-old woman was among the victims. The mother of two was stabbed to death by her ex-husband after she refused to dance with him.
Barranquilla’s metropolitan police commander Jorge Gutierrez attributed the drop in homicide to well-behaved revelers and skilful policing.
“Our security plan allowed us to prevent crime and at the same time react immediately when unfortunate incidents occurred, like the homicides,” Gutierrez told El Heraldo.
The police chief said that seven people were arrested in relation to the four murders.
Gutierrez also said that personal robberies were down from 51 cases in 2009 to seven cases in 2010.
Barranquilla Mayor Alejandro Char praised local police for their efforts during the festivities, saying that “People saw a police presence in the street and felt protected and safe.”
Coastal publication El Heraldo had expressed concerns over tourist security in the days leading up to carnival.
