Topic: Crime Statistics

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In Pictures: Mexican Independence Day
Home sales down. But six cities defy housing gloom.

Home sales plunged in July and housing prices may dip again. But in six metropolitan areas, the housing picture is far brighter: Home values are rising and median prices are already well ahead of their peak during the housing bubble. Is your city on the list?
Gallery: Global Peace Index: The most and least peaceful nations in the world
Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 01/28
In Pictures: America's fastest-growing cities

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As gang warfare escalates in Chicago, can Facebook be a help?

At least 6 of the 10 homicides in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend are linked to gangs, police say. City officials on Tuesday laid out a strategy that includes tracking known gang members on Facebook and Twitter.
10 killed in Chicago over sweltering Memorial Day weekend

Last year, four people were killed in Chicago during the Memorial Day weekend, but bad storms that year forced many people to stay at home.
Etan Patz case: Are today's kids less likely to be nabbed by a stranger?

The abduction of Etan Patz in 1979 became part of a mosaic of parental fear that dramatically changed the American childhood experience. But it also saved lives, data suggest.
Tough Arizona immigration law rattles state's Latinos (+video)

The Arizona immigration law has led some illegal immigrants to move elsewhere. But those who remain, as well as law-abiding Latinos, are worried about discrimination and even indiscriminate immigration sweeps.
Bill Cosby says Trayvon Martin case is about gun ownership, not race

Comedian Bill Cosby says the Trayvon Martin case is not about racism, it is about gun ownership. The Trayvon Martin case has also put a spotlight on Stand Your Ground laws.
Stefan Karlsson
Is New Zealand the new international bully?

New Zealand cabinet minister Gerry Brownlee's recent comments about Finland, including saying they have a "terrible homicide rate" and "no respect for women," have caused quite a stir among Fins. 
Change Agent
5 urban garden programs that train inmates and help communities

Prison gardening programs teach inmates valuable skills, reduce recidivism, and provide those in need with fresh produce.
Latin America Monitor
Latin America's economic rise may be undercut by violence

Latin America is on the rise with strong regional GDPs and decreasing poverty rates. Yet homicide rates have grown by 30 percent in recent years, threatening to spoil 'Latin America's Decade.'
Report: London no safer for all its CCTV cameras

Civil rights group Big Brother Watch has accused Britain of having an out-of-control surveillance culture that is doing little to improve public safety.
Latin America Monitor
Honduras: home to the most violent city in the hemisphere?

Amid rising crime, the Peace Corps pulled out of in Honduras this week.
Peace Corps Honduras: Why are all the US volunteers leaving?

Peace Corps Honduras: The 158 Peace Crops volunteers have been ordered out of Honduras. There's also a freeze on new Peace Corps volunteers going to Guatemala and El Salvador.
Latin America Monitor
Why Mexico is touting an 11 percent increase in drug-related murders

In previous years, drug-related killings have climbed as much as 110 percent. 
Progress Watch
US crime rate at lowest point in decades. Why America is safer now.

The crime rate for serious crimes, including murder, rape, and assault, has dropped significantly since the early 1990s in part because of changes in technology and policing, experts say.
Latin America Monitor
Dim forecast for security in Honduras in 2012

Despite Honduran efforts to promote police reform and check organized crime, the country has become a major transit point for cocaine, and the future of its democratic institutions looks bleak.
Latin America Monitor
Is Puerto Rico becoming a narco-state?

The island's murder rate, which will likely set a record this year, and a police force that a top official at the US Justice Department called 'one of the worst I've seen' both fit the definition of a narco-state.
Latin America Monitor
'Femicide' in Guatemala: Does the concept obscure more than it illuminates?

Guest blogger Mike Allison argues that when we talk about 'femicide' or the killing of women – a major concern in Guatemala – one should look beyond murder rates to victims' conditions.
Latin American police get 'citizen friendly' to fight bad reputation

Latin American police, seen by many in the region as part of the problem rather than the solution to crime, are trying to boost their involvement in and response to their communities.
Latin America Monitor
UN warns of epidemic of gun deaths in Latin America

Nearly three-quarters of a million gun deaths occur each year in Latin America, says the UN, and Honduras and El Salvador have the highest rate of death by firearms in the world.
Violent crime falls again: why some experts are 'stumped'

An FBI report released Monday shows a persistent decline in violent crime. Amid a stuttering economy, the trend defies many expectations and could take years to be fully understood.
Latin America Monitor
Guatemala's murder rate down, despite talk of 'failed state'

The murder rate, if it holds steady for this year, will be lower than when President Álvaro Colom took office in 2008. Yet he has not capitalized on this ahead of the Sept. 11 election.
At colleges plagued with date rape, why 'no' still means 'yes'

In the context of date-rape statistics, the sexually charged antics of college men aren’t just harmless fun. Up to 30 percent of college women have been victims of date rape. It's time to change the campus culture that entitles male sexual dominance.
Green Economics
Did a chemical engineer reduce big city crime?

John Sinfelt, who recently passed away, developed a way to produce unleaded gasoline. There may be a connection between exposure to leaded gasoline during childhood and the likelihood to commit a crime.
Latin America Monitor
Violence against women rises in El Salvador

Some analysts say that 'femicides' increase with the chaos of organized crime, though motives in El Salvador and the rest of Central America and Mexico remain unclear.
Africa Monitor
Nairobi improving its crime fighting record, but few notice

Nairobi has developed a reputation for theft and robbery that has been difficult for police to combat, despite a decline in many types of crimes.
For Los Angeles, fewest homicides since 1967. Why the drop?

In 2010, Los Angeles saw 297 homicides – down from more than 600 a year in the 1990s. The mayor and police groups praise the LAPD, but other are dubious.