Quito, Ecuador: Statistics Show Increase in Violence, Crimes

According to ElComercio.com new government statistics from SIGOB show robberies and other violent crimes are increasing in Quito. In Quito, robbery of bank customers in the vicinity of financial institutions increased from 81 cases in 2009 to 169 in 2010. Officials report that the first quarter of this year 2,044 robberies occurred in Quito while Guayaquil recorded 1,772. Edwin Perez, coordinator for Citizen Unity of the Heritage Office of Pichincha, says that many of these criminals do not get prosecuted due to lack of evidence and altered documents presented to the courts. Secretary of Security for Quito says that violent home invasions have increased to 926 cases compared to 451 cases in Guayaquil in 2011. Also, officials report homicides have increased from 10 people per 100,000 inhabitants to 13 people. The security officials say that the presence of organized crime has contributed to the rising violence and crime statistics.Read Article