Feelings Of Safety And Security (Crime In Argentina)

[Ferluis]

Hi folks. I have a quick question. I've been in BA for almost two months. Like everyone, I arrived here with some fear about crime, with several folks warning me about the crime wave and the danger that exist in the city. As a criminologist, I've always been interested in the connection between fear and crime, since it is much more complicated than most folks think. While walking all over the city, I have found the city relatively safe, or to put it another way, as safe as I would expect to be in a city with a population of millions. So I've noticed a disconnect between the rhetoric of safety and what I seem to experience in the streets. (By the way, I am not saying that BA is the safest place in the world, so please don't assume that).

To satisfy my curiosity, I did a really quick google search for global crime stats. From this really basic search, I found that the crime stats in Argentina don't differ much from the crime stats in the U.S. Check out this two web pages that use aggregate, national level data:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Total-crimes-per-1000

The first page has national homicide per capita rates. The difference between U.S. and Argentina is not very high. The second link has more general crime rates and the U.S. has more crimes per capita, but only slightly and the data is from 2002. So things could be different now. Generally, crime does not change drastically, but without the data it is hard to tell. Also, I am don't know much about data collection in Argentina, but I do know some good criminologist here and they tell me the data collection is not too bad.

This data seems to make some sense to me, since I feel the Buenos Aires is a bit like the neighborhood I live in Arizona (of course this is all contextual because some neighborhoods in BA are a little more intense than others).

So, this makes me think that a little bit of what is happening in BA is a kind of moral panic over crime. Again, I am not saying that there is no crime, or that crime is not important, but rather that the rhetoric seems a bit too high. Thoughts?

 

[allcraz]

Ferluis, this has been discussed to the hills (not that you can't keep discussing it if you'd like) But you might be interested to read through other posts. Just quickly typing in "crime" and "statistics" together in the search bar will give you a lot of different discussions.

 

[Gringoboy]

This is a good post and kind of puts it perspective.
However, I'm not much interested in picking over statistics US vs ARG vs UK etc.
It is what it is.
From my point of view, I feel perfectly ok just wandering around, doing daily stuff and not being ostentatious with fancy watch, phone and that kind of thing.
The areas we are now much more careful about, knowing these are weak areas, are arriving home, getting the bike/vehicle into the garage and making sure to keep vigilant in these potential weak spots.
Others are driving at night, stopping at lights and more than anything, riding my motorbike either at night at low speed and stopping at lights in dark areas.
It's different for everybody, but that's what worries me.

 

[johnw100]

That nationmaster link is complete nonsense. It comes down to how much crime is reported within the country and how much of that becomes a statistic by the police.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Hi folks. I have a quick question. I've been in BA for almost two months. Like everyone, I arrived here with some fear about crime, with several folks warning me about the crime wave and the danger that exist in the city. As a criminologist, I've always been interested in the connection between fear and crime, since it is much more complicated than most folks think. While walking all over the city, I have found the city relatively safe, or to put it another way, as safe as I would expect to be in a city with a population of millions. So I've noticed a disconnect between the rhetoric of safety and what I seem to experience in the streets. (By the way, I am not saying that BA is the safest place in the world, so please don't assume that).

To satisfy my curiosity, I did a really quick google search for global crime stats. From this really basic search, I found that the crime stats in Argentina don't differ much from the crime stats in the U.S. Check out this two web pages that use aggregate, national level data:

https://en.wikipedia...l_homicide_rate

http://www.nationmas...crimes-per-1000

The first page has national homicide per capita rates. The difference between U.S. and Argentina is not very high. The second link has more general crime rates and the U.S. has more crimes per capita, but only slightly and the data is from 2002. So things could be different now. Generally, crime does not change drastically, but without the data it is hard to tell. Also, I am don't know much about data collection in Argentina, but I do know some good criminologist here and they tell me the data collection is not too bad.

This data seems to make some sense to me, since I feel the Buenos Aires is a bit like the neighborhood I live in Arizona (of course this is all contextual because some neighborhoods in BA are a little more intense than others).

So, this makes me think that a little bit of what is happening in BA is a kind of moral panic over crime. Again, I am not saying that there is no crime, or that crime is not important, but rather that the rhetoric seems a bit too high. Thoughts?

I agree there's a certain level of crime hysteria in Buenos Aires, but I think the dysfunctional justice system is the core issue - inept and frequently corrupt police, and slaps on the wrist (if that) for any but the most egregious offenders. There is also no political will (or ability) to improve those shortcomings.

 

[rrptownley]

Let them jail the corrupt politicians first, and then let it filter down to the petty criminals.

 

[pitipur]

Let them jail the corrupt politicians first, and then let it filter down to the petty criminals.

hopefully trickle down justice works better than trickle down economics!

 

[Rich One]

Let them jail the corrupt politicians first, and then let it filter down to the petty criminals.

Need more jail space..

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Need more jail space..

Exile them to the "Malvinas?"

 

[Iznogud]

Are we seriously discussing this based on STATS? Government provided stats?
People do not report crime, it´s even dangerous to do so. Police do not record stats, the top brass does not like it.
Politicians, specially those in power don´t like the subject. They have no answers and are better at avoiding the questions than solving anything.
The Judicial system also has its stats sources but prefer to keep them low profile as well for their own reasons.

You´re joking, right?