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I find the statistics a little suspect. I know when we were rear-ended by a car that then fled the scene, the police refused to take any action even though we had the license plate number and several witnesses. Maybe people just don't bother reporting property crimes because they know it will be a waste of time. In addition, some of the theft is so petty (we have had copper wiring and even two trash containers stolen) that it is not worth the hassle of dealing with the bureaucracy here.
^^^^ THIS!!! There's a lot of crime in PR that goes unreported. I have an uncle who worked for the PR Police and he told me of superiors downgrading crimes when filing reports, so crime stats don't look so bad.
^^^^ THIS!!! There's a lot of crime in PR that goes unreported. I have an uncle who worked for the PR Police and he told me of superiors downgrading crimes when filing reports, so crime stats don't look so bad.
I'm skeptical, if anything the police have every incentive to over-report crime, as that justifies more money for crime prevention and hiring more police officers.
I'm skeptical, if anything the police have every incentive to over-report crime, as that justifies more money for crime prevention and hiring more police officers.
It is politically convenient to under-report crime. What governor doesn't want to stand in front of a podium and say that Type I felonies have decreased by 10%?
One of my professors in college told me once: there is truth,lies and the worst of them all.. stats..PR is in very bad shape.Ive known people have gotten all their electric wiring in their homes stolen for copper and most of all the other crime either dont get reported or they end up in homicide.
One of my professors in college told me once: there is truth,lies and the worst of them all.. stats..PR is in very bad shape.Ive known people have gotten all their electric wiring in their homes stolen for copper and most of all the other crime either dont get reported or they end up in homicide.
Yes, that old line is usually trotted out by people who don't have any facts to support their argument or any intelligent way to refute the facts that put the lie to their position.
I agree with those individuals that are skeptical of the OP's position. Most criminal offenses, especially in some place like Puerto Rico, are not reported to the police. Larceny?! Do we really know how much stuff is stolen? No way! There is no way for the police to accurately receive information on everything stolen. Hence, criminal statistics involving property crimes and many violent crimes are very unreliable. Ditto for rape. Too many women do not even report the rape. So how can you get a accurate number of the rapes that occur. You can't! The only category of criminal offenses that can be used for a ballpark figure are homicides. There is a body and it is easier to count. That is why criminologist like to use these the numbers the best if they have to compare the level of violence between different communities. The homicide statistics provided by the Puerto Rican police definitely suggest a HIGH crime rate in Puerto Rico. Having a homicide rate of over 20 murders per 100,000 inhabitants is a HIGH figure! According to the FBI, the national average for the entire country is around 5 murders per 100,000 in recent years! Therefore, I have to suggest that Puerto Rico, as much as I loved it, has a relatively high crime rate.
I agree with those individuals that are skeptical of the OP's position.
Most criminal offenses, especially in some place like Puerto Rico, are not reported to the police.
Larceny?! Do we really know how much stuff is stolen? No way! There is no way for the police to accurately receive information on everything stolen. Hence, criminal statistics involving property crimes and many violent crimes are very unreliable.
Ditto for rape. Too many women do not even report the rape. So how can you get a accurate number of the rapes that occur. You can't!
The only category of criminal offenses that can be used for a ballpark figure are homicides. There is a body and it is easier to count. That is why criminologist like to use these the numbers the best if they have to compare the level of violence between different communities. The homicide statistics provided by the Puerto Rican police definitely suggest a HIGH crime rate in Puerto Rico. Having a homicide rate of over 20 murders per 100,000 inhabitants is a HIGH figure! According to the FBI, the national average for the entire country is around 5 murders per 100,000 in recent years! Therefore, I have to suggest that Puerto Rico, as much as I loved it, has a relatively high crime rate.
Everything you wrote regarding the difficulties of obtaining accurate numbers and reluctance of some people to report crimes, all exists in every other community as well. None of that is unique to Puerto Rico.
Obviously you can't compare the average crime rate of the entire United States to the crime rate for the densley populated island of Puerto Rico. Most of the US is sparsely populated areas and small towns, which almost always have much lower crime rates. The Average for the US will always be lower then the rate for a densely populated area.
So when all things are considered, the numbers of most crimes are lower in Puerto Rico.
I admit that the murder rate of 20 for Puerto Rico is higher then most other US Cities, but not all. As I said before, it is about the 10th highest. But many places are much worse and have much higher crime rates in other areas as well.
City-----------------------Murder rate
New Orleans, Lousiana-------49.1
St. Louis, Missouri------------40.5
Baltimore, Maryland----------34.8
Detroit, Michigan-------------34.5
Newark, New Jersey----------32.1
Oakland, California-----------22.0
Washington, DC--------------21.9
Kansas City, Missouri--------21.1
Buffalo, New York------------20.7
Cincinnati, Ohio--------------20.5
Everything you wrote regarding the difficulties of obtaining accurate numbers and reluctance of some people to report crimes, all exists in every other community as well. None of that is unique to Puerto Rico.
That is indeed true, but I using that largument to debunk the OPs argument.
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Obviously you can't compare the average crime rate of the entire United States to the crime rate for the densley populated island of Puerto Rico. Most of the US is sparsely populated areas and small towns, which almost always have much lower crime rates. The Average for the US will always be lower then the rate for a densely populated area.
May be true most of the US mainland is less densely populated, but that does not mean the residents of the mainland are mostly in rural areas. Any statistic on urbanization in the US will show the US to be much more "urban" than "rural" by any measure of the term. Hence, I do not think tha amount of open space in the mainland has anything to do with it when most people do not live out there. Secondly, my home state of New Jersey has a population density very comparable to Puerto Rico's. Our homicide rate is around the national average, Puerto Rico's is much higher. So your argument about Puerto Rico's population density excusing the high homicide rate is invalid.
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So when all things are considered, the numbers of most crimes are lower in Puerto Rico.
Most crimes?! Where do you get your information from? We already established that only homicides can be measured to some ballpark figure.
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I admit that the murder rate of 20 for Puerto Rico is higher then most other US Cities, but not all. As I said before, it is about the 10th highest. But many places are much worse and have much higher crime rates in other areas as well.
You are only pointing out exceptions to the rule. That does not put the big picture in focus. I admit that we do have some communities that have higher homicide rates than San Juan. OK, they exist. But that does not means we have a lot more communities with lower or significantly lower homicide rates. That is the reason why the national average is much lower in the mainland than Puerto Rico...the vast majority of US communities have homicide rates lower than 20 per 100,000 inhabitants.
The problem is that you guys are using municipal statistics. Puerto Rico is the state level entity. Washington DC actually beats Puerto Rico with 24 murders/100,000 residents but Puerto Rico comes in 2nd place.
1 - Washington DC
2 - Puerto Rico
3 - Louisiana
4 - New Mexico
5 - Illinois
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