Puerto Rico’s Murder Rate Plummets by 26 Percent

Two months before the end of the year, Puerto Rico has managed to reduce the number of murders on the island by 26 percent compared with the same period last year, a decline that the island’s police chief attributed to his anti-crime plan in an interview with Efe.

Puerto Rican Police Superintendant Jose Caldero said Thursday that so far this year there have been 568 murders on the island, 200 fewer than by this time in 2013, meaning that – if the trend continues through the end of the year – 2014 will end with the lowest number of homicides in almost 15 years.

Caldero, who was sworn in as police chief on April 29, said that the drop in the number of murders was made possible thanks to the increase in crime-solving and efforts to prevent crime that go along with the anti-crime plan of Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla.

The island’s relatively high murder rate has been one of Puerto Rico’s main problems in recent years, a problem that in 2011 reached its apex with 1,164 homicides, a record high.

“Impunity has been ended,” said Caldero after noting that over the past six months authorities have increased their ability to solve murders by 9 percent.

“The criminals have to know that we’re going to arrest them,” Caldero said, after emphasizing that the drop in crime has also been occasioned by the excellent cooperation with federal authorities in Puerto Rico.

Caldero said that the number of murders per 100,000 residents on the island currently stands at 15.

That figure is a noteworthy drop compared to 2012 data provided by the World Bank when there were 27 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, making the U.S. commonwealth the No. 14 murder location worldwide.

In the Caribbean region in general, Honduras has 90 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, Venezuela 54, Belize 45, El Salvador 41, Guatemala 40, Jamaica 39, St. Kitts & Nevis 34, Colombia 31, Bahamas 30 and Trinidad & Tobago 28.

The Dominican Republic has 22 homicides per 100,000 people, along with Mexico.

“Despite the reduction we’ve achieved, my aim is for there not to be a single murder in Puerto Rico,” said Caldero, who said that public cooperation has also been a big help in reducing the number of murders.

Regarding other crimes, so far this year robberies on the island have fallen by 12.6 percent, aggravated assaults by 83 percent and auto thefts by 16.7 percent, although reported rapes have increased by 81 percent.

Published in Latino Daily News