An average of 442 crimes and eight homicides are committed every day in Peru, according to retired national police Col. Juan Briceño.
Briceño told Radioprogramas that the nation’s daily crimes include 168 robberies. The country’s murder rate has jumped to 10 per 100,000 population so far this year, up from 4 per 100,000 population in 2002.
In 2008, Briceño co-authored the book “The police that Lima needs” with Gino Costa, a former interior minister, and human rights scholar Carlos Romero.
Despite more officers and resources for the National Police, the increase of crime in Peru is a result of authorities failing to address the root cause of social inclusion, according to Alfonso Gushikén, a public health expert.
Between 2002 and 2007, Peru experienced one of the largest increases in prison population rates in the Americas, according to the 2010 International Statistics on Crime and Justice Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Peru’s prison rate population has jumped by almost 40 percent in the five-year period, behind Ecuador, Guyana, Haiti, Brazil and El Salvador.
However despite these figures, Peru still has some of the lowest crime rates in the region.
In terms of homicide rates, Peru’s is the lowest among Andean nations. Criminal justice data from the UNODC shows that Ecuador’s homicide rate reaches almost 20 per 100,000 population, followed by Bolivia at approximately 30 and Colombia at about 35. Venezuela’s homicide rate is above 50, making it one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere along with El Salvador, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.
