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Old 11-07-2010, 03:29 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
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Crime statistics is a hobby of mine, my brother is a police officer and I have built a couple of police stations and government buildings so spent a fair amount of time around law enforcement officers.

Having heard that crime rates were high in Puerto Rico I decided to look into it myself and compare the PR Crime Rates/1,000 with those of US Cities over 250,000 population. United States cities by crime rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 2009. Given the population of PR 3.9 million, and density 1,113/sq mi (2nd highest in the US) I think its reasonable to compare PR with US Cities.

In crime rates Puerto Rico compares VERY favorably to most US Cities!!

Puerto Rico Crime rates (2008)
Crime type Rate/1,000 people


Homicide: .204 <--- 10th HIGHEST place
Forcible rape: 0.024 <--- 17th LOWEST place
Robbery: 1.383 <--- 10th LOWEST place
Aggravated assault: 0.788 <--- 8th HIGHEST place
TOTAL Violent crime: 2.399 <--- 5th LOWEST place

Burglary: 4.84 <--- 9th LOWEST place
Larceny-theft: 8.374 <--- 1st to 3rd LOWEST place**
Motor vehicle theft: 1.771 <--- 6th LOWEST place

TOTAL Property crime: 14.985 <--- 1st to 3rd LOWEST place**

*Source: Crime in Puerto Rico - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

** Puerto Rico could be the lowest in these catagories as two other cities have no data available for them.

All things considered PR has very, very low crime rates in all areas except homicide and aggravated assault. Given the acknowledged amount of drug trafficking passing through PR I suspect that the majority of these violent crimes are related to the drug trade, so if you are not involved with the drug trade you probably won't encounter much of that crime. And in all other respects Puerto Ricans are a pretty law abiding people.

Very impressive, and very contrary to common assumptions I think.

This is especially impressive given the lower income and education levels in PR. In the US those are almost alway associated with high crime levels of all types. So why do you think Puerto Ricans are so law abiding??

Last edited by CptnRn; 11-07-2010 at 03:54 PM..
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Old 11-07-2010, 06:20 PM
 
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PR has among the highest rates of college educated individuals in the world. The island is not uneducated. The problem is lack of jobs, terrible infrastructure, weak politics, and the islands "drug access point" status due to its location and commonwealth status. Yes most violent crime on the island is organized crime (drugs) like most other places with similar rates. Criminality is a bigger problem in PR than the USA because so many are effected by this violence. Small island, lack of jobs/good jobs across the island. Many are effected.
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Old 11-07-2010, 06:41 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nykeroutoftown View Post
PR has among the highest rates of college educated individuals in the world. The island is not uneducated. The problem is lack of jobs, terrible infrastructure, weak politics, and the islands "drug access point" status due to its location and commonwealth status. Yes most violent crime on the island is organized crime (drugs) like most other places with similar rates. Criminality is a bigger problem in PR than the USA because so many are effected by this violence. Small island, lack of jobs/good jobs across the island. Many are effected.
This discussion thread is about crime rates. I do not believe you are correct in regard to education rates, the data I have seen does not support that. But regardless, please start a different thread if you want to discuss education rates.

I don't see how you can claim "Criminality is a bigger problem in PR than the USA because so many are effected by this violence. " when the crime rate is so much lower then most other places.

Thanks, R
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Old 11-07-2010, 07:06 PM
 
88 posts, read 364,852 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CptnRn View Post
This discussion thread is about crime rates. I do not believe you are correct in regard to education rates, the data I have seen does not support that. But regardless, please start a different thread if you want to discuss education rates.

I don't see how you can claim "Criminality is a bigger problem in PR than the USA because so many are effected by this violence. " when the crime rate is so much lower then most other places.

Thanks, R
Puerto Rico has a higher violent crime rate than the USA. That means more people are directly effected and untold numbers are also involved. This doesn't take into account PR is a lot more dense than the USA and a lot happens in a smaller area. San Juan has a higher violent crime rate than most US cities probably due to the poverty/economic disparity there combined with the lucrative drug trafficking.

Also..

"Puerto Rico has more than 50 institutions of higher education. Puerto Rico has achieved one of the highest college education rates in the world (6th) with 56% of its college-age students attending institutions of higher learning, according to World Bank data. Registered Students by Education Levels: (1998-99 academic year)"

Puerto Rico People

Island is highly educated, too bad there is a lack of jobs which attributes to crime.
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Old 11-07-2010, 11:08 PM
 
Location: Dorado, PR
238 posts, read 1,067,571 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nykeroutoftown View Post
PR has among the highest rates of college educated individuals in the world. The island is not uneducated. The problem is lack of jobs, terrible infrastructure, weak politics, and the islands "drug access point" status due to its location and commonwealth status. Yes most violent crime on the island is organized crime (drugs) like most other places with similar rates. Criminality is a bigger problem in PR than the USA because so many are effected by this violence. Small island, lack of jobs/good jobs across the island. Many are effected.
Terrible infrastructure??? really?

Look, the problem is, you are not citing anyone, you are making unevidenced claims. Show us some proof....
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Old 11-07-2010, 11:30 PM
 
88 posts, read 364,852 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by davsot View Post
Terrible infrastructure??? really?

Look, the problem is, you are not citing anyone, you are making unevidenced claims. Show us some proof....
Let me make myself more clear as what I wrote before is not accurate to what I mean. By terrible I ment, at capacity, and than some. The rest is pretty much common knowledge to anyone following current events. I posted a source which I think had cites to PRs high education level but typing from a mobile device it was a quick find. Crime wise it's pretty common knowledge especially with PRs drug entry point status.
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Old 11-08-2010, 12:33 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
16,787 posts, read 48,814,423 times
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I apologize for my earlier comment, clearly crime rates and education rates are linked.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nykeroutoftown View Post
PR has among the highest rates of college educated individuals in the world. The island is not uneducated. The problem is lack of jobs, terrible infrastructure, weak politics, and the islands "drug access point" status due to its location and commonwealth status. Yes most violent crime on the island is organized crime (drugs) like most other places with similar rates. Criminality is a bigger problem in PR than the USA because so many are effected by this violence. Small island, lack of jobs/good jobs across the island. Many are effected.
I am surprised to see the comments on high education rates, as I just yesterday read here Education in Puerto Rico - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that:

Quote:
According to the 2000 Census, 60.0% of the population attained a high school degree or higher level of education, and 18.3% has a bachelor's degree or higher. This ranks as worst and 6th worst, respectively, among US states, where the national averages are 80.4% and 24.4%.[2]

and

the Dropout Rate is as high as 40%.
The reference for that quote is http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-24.pdf

Perhaps it is still high compared to many other parts of the world.
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Old 11-08-2010, 12:43 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
16,787 posts, read 48,814,423 times
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There is no question that the lack of jobs would make drug trafficking an attractive employment opportunity. If the society does not provide a person the opportunity to make an honest living, they will have no choice but to turn to crime.

I'm still impressed how little property crime there is in PR given this situation.
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Old 11-08-2010, 07:39 PM
 
1,995 posts, read 3,363,895 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CptnRn View Post
SNIP
I'm still impressed how little property crime there is in PR given this situation.
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.

Last edited by Sandhillian; 11-08-2010 at 07:53 PM..
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Old 11-09-2010, 10:53 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
16,787 posts, read 48,814,423 times
Reputation: 9477
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandhillian View Post
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.
I agree, but also think that those factors, the hastle, and it not being worth it are true anywhere. There is nothing easy about reporting a property crime in the states and waiting around for the police to show up, inspect the crime scene, and fill our their reports.
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