Crime rate down in 2018

In January 2018, 32 homicides were registered in Panama, with a drop of 28.8% compared to 45 in the same period of 2017 and the least violent in the only decade, Public Security Minister Alexis Bethancourt said today.

In January 2018, 32 homicides were registered in Panama, with a drop of 28.8% compared to 45 in the same period of 2017 and the least violent in the only decade, Public Security Minister Alexis Bethancourt said today.

"We are developing a new methodology to measure crime in the country, month by month with the previous years," the minister said in an official statement.

According to the statistics presented by Bethancourt, in January 2016 there were 44 homicides; in that same month of 2015, there were 56; 61 in 2014; 73 in 2013; 76 in 2012; 56 in 2011; 78 in 2010; 76 in 2009 and 46 in 2008.

The minister said that high-impact crimes such as armed robberies and femicides "have had a significant reduction in this period, as a result of security strategies and police actions developed in the areas of greatest incidence."

"The Ministry of Public Security and the National Institute for Women maintain a strategic alliance to address cases of domestic violence and prevent femicides," he said.

The authorities develop "several prevention programs, agreements have been signed with public entities and private organizations to reduce crime rates and ensure the safety of the population," he added.

The minister also indicated that in the past month of January, 6.3 tons of drugs were seized, over the 2.07 tons seized in the same month of 2017; of the 2.8 in the first month of 2016; of the 2.3 of 2015, and of the 0.9 ton of January of 2014.

Panama registered at least 412 homicides in 2017, 0.96% less than the 416 of the previous year, according to preliminary data from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Bethancourt said in January that Panama closed last year with a homicide rate of 9.7 per 100,000 inhabitants and that the Executive’s goal is to reduce it to 7 this year and 5 in 2019.