Concern about the security situation that Bogotá is going through at the moment continues to be a matter of conversation in the city, after crimes were confirmed such as the murder of Víctor Velásquez, a former reserve deputy police commissioner on November 9, in Normandy. However, from the Metropolitan Police of the capital they insist that progress is being made to guarantee the tranquility of the citizens.
At least that is what the head of that division assures, Brigadier General Eliécer Camacho, who this Wednesday assured that in the last 24 hours a total of 65 arrests and six seizures of firearms have been achieved for various crimes committed in recent days in Bogotá. It did not specify, however, if among these the culprits of Velásquez’s death are counted.
What the uniformed man did say to Blu Radio is that, “events of blood that affect the tranquility and coexistence in the city have been presented in the city of Bogotá, some that have to do with theft, others with domestic violence, but also the National Police has been carrying out operational activities to counter these crimes ”.
With the above, Camacho refers to the fact that, “We have increased everything that has to do with the prevention guide, with new people who are accompanying us to receive information from the institution on security matters, prevention of new criminal modalities”.
However, the situation in Bogotá is not easy. As the same station recalls, at the end of October this year they had confirmed figures of 84,682 thefts from persons and 940 homicides in the capital of the country, as well as a growing concern among the inhabitants who insist on the need to intensify actions.
Proof of this is the Bogotá How We Go survey prepared by the El Tiempo Publishing House, the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, the Javeriana University and the Corona Foundation, which indicates that of the 6,100 people consulted last August, only 4% said they felt safe in the city, this being the most unfavorable result since 2017.
In the previous survey, which was carried out in February this year, the percentage was 9%; while in the second half of 2020 only 7% of those consulted felt safe in the city.
Then there is 2019, in a context outside of the new coronavirus pandemic, where the percentage was 27%, 15% in 2018 and 19% in 2017.
But in addition, citizens no longer feel safe even in their own neighborhoods, as the survey indicates that only 4% of the people consulted in August responded positively to this item; In the previous results, those of February 2021, the perception of safety in the neighborhoods was 16%. In 2020 only 13% felt calm in their sectors.
All of the above contrasts with the results of 2019, when 50% of the people who participated responded affirmatively to feeling safe in the areas where they resided. In 2018 it was 41% and in 2017 it was 40%.
It is worth noting that these figures would account for the perception, because according to the latest version of the survey, there were slightly fewer crimes compared to the immediately previous measurements: 42% of the people said they were victims of insecurity in August; while in February it was 48% and in 2020 it was 46%.
Women were the most affected, according to the study, since of the people who answered affirmatively that they were victims of crime, 62% were female. In the measurement of the first half of 2021 it was 45%. In 2020 it was 42%. While in 2019 it was 25%.
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