Caracas, Venezuela
Population: 3.2 million
Murder rate: 130 per 100,000 residents (official)
What’s happening: The capital of Chávez country, Caracas has become far more dangerous in recent years than any South American city, even beating out the once notorious Bogotá. What’s worse, the city’s official homicide statistics likely fall short of the mark because they omit prison-related murders as well as deaths that the state never gets around to properly “categorizing.” The numbers also don’t count those who died while “resisting arrest,” suggesting that Caracas’s cops—already known for their brutality against student protesters—might be cooking the books. Many have pointed the finger at El Presidente, whose government has failed to tackle the country’s rising rates of violent crime. In fact, since Chávez took over in 1998, Venezuela’s official homicide rate has climbed 67 percent—mostly due to increased drug and gang violence. Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, who recently resigned as interior minister, claimed in July that homicide has dropped 27 percent since January—but experts say he’s just playing with numbers. As for Caracas, some speculate that its murder rate is closer to 160 per 100,000.
Cape Town, South Africa
Population: 3.5 million
Murder rate: 62 per 100,000 inhabitants
What’s happening: A European bastion in the heart of turbulent South Africa, picturesque Cape Town nonetheless has the country’s highest murder rate. The city’s homicides usually take place in suburban townships rather than in the more upscale urban areas where tourists visit. According to the South African Police Service, most of the Cape Town area’s violent crimes happen between people who know one another, including a horrific case last year in which four males doused a female friend in gasoline and lit her on fire. Occurring just outside city limits, the incident apparently happened after the assailants had taken hard drugs, the use of which has risen along with Cape Town’s violent crime rate. The whopping 12.7 percent rise in the city’s murder rate from 2006 to 2007 certainly has local politicians worried, especially as South Africa prepares to host the 2010 World Cup. The government has hired more police officers to prepare for the tournament, which could help cut crime in soccer-fan hot spots. But until better efforts are made to police Cape Town’s poverty-stricken townships, it’s unlikely that the murder rate—an average of 5.9 per day—will see any major drop.
New Orleans, United States
Population: 220,614 to 312,000 (2007); estimates vary due to displacement of people after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Murder rate: Estimates range from 67 (New Orleans Police Department) to 95 (Federal Bureau of Investigation) per 100,000
What’s happening: With its grinding poverty, an inadequate school system, a prevalence of public housing, and a high incarceration rate, the Big Easy has long been plagued with a high rate of violent crime. Katrina didn’t help. Since the hurricane struck in 2005, drug dealers have been fighting over a smaller group of users, leading to many killings. On just one four-block stretch of Josephine Street, in the city center, four people were murdered in 2007 and 15 people shot, including a double homicide on Christmas day. A precise murder rate is hard to pinpoint because the population is swelling quickly, approaching its pre-Katrina numbers. Whether you use New Orleans’s own figures or the FBI’s, however, the city remains the most deadly in the United States, easily surpassing Detroit and Baltimore with 46 and 45 murders per 100,000 people, respectively.
Moscow, Russia
Population: 10.4 million
Murder rate: 9.6 per 100,000 (estimate)
What’s happening: Moscow’s murder rate is nothing compared with that of Caracas or Cape Town, but the city still ranks way above other major European capitals. London, Paris, Rome, and Madrid, for instance, all had rates below 2 murders per 100,000 in 2006. The Russian capital’s homicide rate is down 15 percent this year from last, but the recent surge in hate crimes—including the deadly beating of a Tajik carpenter by a gang of youths on Valentine’s Day—suggests that the lull might be temporary. Sixty ethnically motivated killings have already happened this year, part of a sixfold increase in hate crimes committed in the city during 2007. Several of the murders have been attributed to ultranationalist skinhead groups like the “Spas,” who killed 11 people in a 2006 bombing of a multiethnic market in northern Moscow. The Russian government has finally stepped up to combat the problem, assisting migrant groups and cracking down on street gangs. Still, the continued rise in extremist attacks is worrisome. And along with migrants, journalists and other high-profile people in Moscow might also want to be a little wary in Russia—62 contract murders took place in the country in 2005, according to official statistics.
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Population: 254,200 (2000 census)
Murder rate: 54 per 100,000 (2004 official figure)
What’s happening: The capital of island country Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby might seem like a surprising addition to this list. But its high violent crime rates, along with high levels of police corruption and gang activity, helped earn the city the dubious title of “worst city” in a 2004 Economist Intelligence Unit survey. With gangs called “raskols” controlling the city centers and unemployment rates hovering around 80 percent, it’s easy to see how Port Moresby beat out the 130 other survey contenders. Port Moresby’s police don’t seem to be helping the crime situation—last November, five officers were charged with offenses ranging from murder to rape. And in August, the city’s police barracks were put on a three-month curfew due to a recent slew of bank heists reportedly planned inside the stations by officers and their co-conspirators. Rising tensions between Chinese migrants and native Papua New Guineans are also cause for alarm, as are reports of increased activity of organized Chinese crime syndicates.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4480&print=1
Just some interesting (and sad) statistics. Particularly sad that a US city is on the list. But having had some (notable bad) experiences in New Orleans, I am not surprised. I have found it comparable to many developing world cities I have visited, and I only imagine its level of development has declined since Katrina. Very sad.
2 comments:
Ugh. It is absolutely sickening, isn't it. :( Personally, while I don't want to put more responsibility on his shoulders than he actually deserves, I'm still inclined to think that Nagin is just an awful mayor. He's the wrong man for the job, and someone needs to come onto the scene that is more aggressive, determined, and a better overall executive to take control of the crisis.
If one considers, for instance, some of Giuliani's policies in New York (not all were good, mind you, but some make a lot sense under analysis, and more importantly, they did work): a good first step would be to aggressively establish a sense of order by targeting as many of the smaller, easier to catch crimes as possible. The theory is that in doing so, you create a more intolerant environment for violent crimes. Put more cops cops on the street, and engage in more localized, community policing. Target interior corruption. Also, it may sound a bit cosmetic, but make a concerted effort to just keep the city clean and in good repair. Doing so goes a long way to improving the community's sense of self image.
Putting more homocide detectives on the payroll is not always the best answer. Targeting the environment in which these crimes occur does far more to curtail violent trends than single mindedly pursing the criminals themselves. You don't get rid of a roach problem by setting out roach traps. You get rid of roaches by keeping your home clean and well taken care of.
The key, in my admittedly limited opinion, is making the police more proactive, less reactive. Simply responding to calls all night long just doesn't do anything to curb trends in violence.
Whatever the case, I really think Nagin needs to go. He was a part of the problem before Katrina hit (namely for his part in diverting federal funds intended for rebuilding the levies in the years leading up to Katrina). How anyone can expect him to somehow do a reasonably good job cleaning up the city in the aftermath is beyond me. Political affiliation is irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. The city needs good, assertive, competent leadership that will focus on these problems, or it's going to continue to languish.
I am not sure Nagin has anything to do with this, or at least very, very little. The problem existed way, way before he was on the scene. He may not have made things any better, but he did not make them any worse. In fact, if you look at NO crime statistics during his tenure, they actually fell each year until Katrina...so blaming him is just baseless.
That said, the city government needs a major overhaul throughout. It is the most corrupt police force in the country, with a long history of bad cops taking bribes, killing witnesses, and engaging in armed robbery (yeah, the police). The minimum educational requirement for Orleans Parish deputies is a GED I think, and professionalism in both the NOPD and OP Sheriff's dept is abysmally low.
And I am not sold on Giuliani's methods of crime reduction. To a large extent he just kicked out the homeless and the low income people from Manhattan and replaced them with Disney stores. It worked on some levels, but was an immense failure in others. Violence by the police also went up under his mayorship because he wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and a wide berth to pursue criminals. So if you like police state's I guess it worked. Crime went down under Stalin and Hitler as well, but there was a cost. I am not comparing Rudy to Hitler (well, maybe a bit), but looking at crime statistics is just part of the story.
Post a Comment