violence (yes, it's terrible but it's a lot better than it used to be)

Quick Facts
- In the first two charts below the data is prelimary for 2005
- Medellin's homicide rate for Jan-May 2005 was 35 per 100,000 people, the lowest in 25 years
- The U.S. homicide rate for 2004 was 5.5 per 100,000 people. By region: Northeast 4.2, Midwest 4.7, West 5.7, South 6.6


Microsoft Office Excel Chart

Microsoft Office Excel Chart
Homicide rate per 100,000 residents, 1961 - 2002
Source: National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences. Bogota's rate for 2003 and 2004 was about 22.

Microsoft Excel Chart
These are rates by departments (states), not individual cities. Bogotá is the exception because it is the capital district.


 comparisons and news

Highest Homicide Rates in Large U.S. Cities
Microsoft Word Document
Source: www.safestreetsdc.com.  The Dept of Justice/FBI also has extensive statistics
in their Uniform Crime Report (select Table 6, By MSA, 2003). It's important to distinguish
between rates for the core city and the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). In the chart
above the rate for Washington D.C. is 46 but for their MSA it's about 9. FYI, the rate for both
New York City (core city) and its MSA in 2002 was about 7.


Tasas de Homicidio Comunes por cada 100.000 habitantes, 2000
   Fuente: Revista América Economía, Mayo 2001
   Mayor Información: Secretaría de Gobierno Distrital: www.segobdis.gov.co



Comparación Tasa De Homicidios (Por 100.000 Hbtes.)
en Algunas Ciudades De Colombia, 2001
Microsoft Excel Chart
    Fuente: Secretaría de Gobierno, Subsecretaría para la Convivencia y la Seguridad Ciudadana


Data for the Colombian city-by-city chart (above)

Microsoft Excel Worksheet


kidnapping

20 Jun 2004, BBC News: Kidnappings in Argentina have increased more than fivefold in the last two years, official figures show. According to Buenos Aires' ministry for security, there were 46 reported cases in the country in 2001 and 306 in 2003, Clarin newspaper reported. Note: A December 12, 2004 article in the Miami Herald said an average of one person a day has been reported kidnapped in Argentina in 2003 and 2004.

25 Jun 2004, Dow Jones News: Kroll Inc., a risk consulting company, estimates Mexico has the second-highest number of kidnappings behind Colombia, where many abductions are political, not criminal, in nature. The company estimates that in 2003, there were 4,000 kidnappings in Colombia, 3,000 in Mexico, and 2,000 in Argentina.  

Website author's note: Many kidnappings are not reported; Colombia reported 2200 kidnappings in 2003 - a big improvement from 3000 in 2002 - but well below the Kroll estimate. Kroll is in the business of selling security-related services so the truth is somewhere in between. It's not news that Colombia has a horrible kidnapping problem, what's surprising to me is the estimate for Mexico and the actual and estimated figures for Argentina.