Homicide in Puerto Rico - Essay Example

are used to provide the reasons behind the increase of murders. Certain suggestions have been provided in this paper to control and try to minimize the number of incidents in this paradise. Puerto Rico is rated third in homicide cases, as it has registered nearly 800 cases in 2004 which is serious concern for the Puerto Rican government. This drastic increase in crime rate has damaged the reputation of Puerto Rica which is also known as Island's Paradise, affecting the tourism industry. It is for this reason, the issue needs to be taken seriously and probable and suitable measures need to be evolved to curtail and diminish such heinous activities from the society.

The criminal is recognized by his tastes, occupation, and his interests towards alcohol, cards and sexual vices. The extent of criminality seems to vary inversely with the extent to which they are incorporated in closely integrated family and community groups. The most aggravated crime i.e. murder and homicide is turning out to be a hot debatable issue through the world. Be it Daniel Pearl's killing episode of United States or Satyanarayana of India, where both of them beheaded by the terrorist in Afghanistan.

Homicides nowadays have become so prevalent that it seems like our daily activities. But the fact that gives us rush down the adrenaline is the amount of homicides committed throughout the period. The data released by the National Center for Victims of Crime (2008) reveals that 1 murder occurs every 32 minutes, 1 violent crime every 6 seconds, 56 women victimized every 19 seconds, 1 assault every 7 seconds and 1 sexual assault every 2 minutes. It has been observed that of all Puerto Rico has more crime than the US mainland.

The crimes in Puerto Rico decreased drastically during 90's (from 32,300 in 1992 to 11,400 in 2001). There was an incredible rise in the cases reported pertaining to murders and homicides since 1999 (593 cases) while in the year 2005, the figure climbed to 766. However this was -4% less than the previous year 2004 where 797 cases were reported. There is an incredible rise in crime trend which provides a brief overview of the violence prevalent in Puerto Rico. (Violence in Puerto Rico) The data obtained from FBI and the Police of Puerto Rico shows that there is lower annual rate and faster improvement in aggravated assault, rape and robbery, higher homicide rate and higher lethality ratio than the mainland.

According to Lefort (2000) Puerto Rico was one of the poorest regions of the United States during 20th century. (Ricardo Godoy, 2008) 1.1 Rate of Homicide - Puerto Rico Puerto Rico with the population of nearly 4 million during 2004, has witnesses 760 murders during 2003, thus making homicide the 11th leading cause of death which constitutes 2.7% of the total deaths occurred in the place. (Violence in Puerto Rico) During 1999-2003, of 3,613 total homicides in Puerto Rico, 2,303 (64%) occurred among persons aged