84% believe crime rate will worsen

PANAMA. Panama has become a very unsafe place and many citizens experience a medium to a high level of fear of being victims of a crime, especially when they are coming home at night, says a survey commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce of Panama.

The survey carried out by the Marketing Group with people across the country showed that 86 percent of those who took part felt that crime increased over the last year.

The perception of the increase of violence in the country has been fueled by reports of crimes shown on television broadcasts and in newspapers, making people more aware of the felonies happening around them.

Around 84 percent of the people surveyed have the perception that criminals are becoming more violent and that it is an scenario unlikely to change in the future and could probably worsen.

The crimes which more people have experienced in the last few months have happened outside their homes and violent incidents have increased by 28 percent.

The number of victims reorting crimes is 51 percent, while the other 49 percent prefer not to go to the police for fear of retaliation and because they thing that their cases are not going to be investigated.

Some citizens are so afraid that as a precaution they have stopped frequenting certain parts of the city and have re-enforced the security measures in their homes to to deter would be robbers.

However for some unfortunate victims, that was in vain. Recently a woman, her child and a maid were tied and robbed while they were in their apartment on the 26 floor of a luxury building, that had a security guard at the entrance.

The police find out that the security guard was working with the assailants.

This is a worrying trend that seems to be spreading in different complexes all over the country.

A former member of the defunct Technical Police, who did not want to be identified, said that one the main problems is that many of the seasoned detectives have resigned disillusioned with the career.

He added that criminals are becoming bolder because they know that the National Police do not have the communications equipment necessary to mount operations aimed atdestroying gangs and fighting organized crime.

President elect Ricardo Martinelli has promised the population more security and a stronger police force, but the subject is complex, especially with the rumors that gangs of drug traffickers are planning to make Panama their center of operations.

Some groups have called for tougher sentences for criminals, regardless of their age as a way to fight crime.

Others have called for zero tolerance, but experts say that doesn’t work.