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Crime statistics


ambconsultants

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I have lived here for 22 years and although problems between the drug guys and the police have obviously escalated I have not sensed or seen much of a change lately in non-drug related crimes( Taking into account the rise in population ). I think it is has held steady and might even be better now than in the 90'. I have to admit all of the recent events have made me nervous so I investigated a little.

There is a factor that I would like to put out there which is the increased population. There was a note a few days ago that the population was 10,000 in Chapala. Not true. We seem to forget sometimes but we are almost at 100,000 people if you include Jocotepec.

Chapala- 48,812 ( inegi.org.mx)

Jocotepec 42,142 (inegi.org.mx)

Weekenders 10,000-20,000 ( My very rough estimates)

One dayers- 30,000 ( My very rough estimate)

Part time foreign residents 10,000 (My rough estimate)

Maybe similar to Miami Beach. Without taking into account temporary residents or tourists.

Miami Beach violent crimes Population: 88,061 (2009 I believe ) http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/miamibeach/crime/

MURDER RAPE ROBBERY ASSAULT

REPORTED TOTAL 8 - 52 - 585 - 602

Tuscon, Arizona

Population: 486,591

MURDER RAPE ROBBERY ASSAULT

REPORTED TOTAL 55 -389- 1,556 -2,902

( results from Tucson must be divided by the excess of population, maybe five?)

The first is a tourist spot and the second is a popular retirement spot. Maybe similar in a lot of ways to lake side.

I know there will be many who want to criticize my methods , but I wanted to get an idea of how we are in comparison to other places. I do not have crime statistics for lakeside nor am I stating that we are better or worse.

At least we can see in real numbers what is happening in these other places. Obviously there are a lot of safer places on this planet but there are also a lot that are worse. Unfortunate most of the safer places do not hold the charm of this wonderful place. Most are cold, hot or expensive, and they definitely do not have tacos/burritos like there have here….

I get nervous when I go out at night in the US in most cities and as a general rule I do not get nervous in Guadalajara and especially not in Chapala, and Jocotepec. I think that as the foreign community is quite small and close knit that it can make us feel that things are worse than they are. Especially because of the internet.

Another interesting difference is that in the US very few of the residents here would live in or close to downtown and here maybe the vast majority of foreigners live in or downtown Chapala, Ajijic and even Riberas. I do think this does make a small difference.

Still we need to take care and secure ourselves and our belongings the best we can. The economy although stronger here than the US is still a problem and there will be robberies so take care.

Although I do like a little intelligent banter this is just my opinion and I do not pretend to know or understand everything related to this topic or wish to offend anyone.

On a side note if anyone out there wants to get more home protection and is an Inmigrado ( maybe FM2 can't remember) you can go to http://www.laarmeria.com.mx/. It tells you how to legally purchase and own a gun here in Mexico.

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Thanks for this post. It's a great reality check and the kind of thing I've often wished I had on hand to send to NOB friends who marvel at we crazy expats for living down here. "Isn't it dangerous?" they invariably say, and when I say, "compared to where?" they invariably seem to be in the dark about the very high levels of crime, especially violent crime, where they are living.

Sadly I expect to see sustained high unemployment in both the U.S. and Mexico, and that plus the ongoing drug wars don't augur well for crime rates or either side of the border.

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Hard to make these comparisons because of the low rate of crime reportage here. Still, I don't get a sense that the ordinary type crime here is high. This is particularly interesting when you consider how poverty and wealth live side by side here, as opposed to the physical separation in most parts of the states.

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Also people tend to forget the journalist's have every reason to not report, due to retaliation to them and their families The ones that do , do so at a very steep price.

Where did you get that information from? Please state facts so we may understand your reasoning.

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http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/01/26/mexico.missionary.shot/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

The report of the tragic shooting of the US woman close enough to the Pharr Bridge to get to a US hospital, but too late. Lived in Mexico for decades, just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It is better to read it on the CNN Mexico site.

Joco69 a quick google search of "journalist mexico" should result in plenty of info. Its not a sectret and you shouldn't depend on people to spoonfeed you. Read something interesting, do a little research. Journalists in Mexico are threatened and die regularly, its been that way for a long time.

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http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/01/26/mexico.missionary.shot/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

The report of the tragic shooting of the US woman close enough to the Pharr Bridge to get to a US hospital, but too late. Lived in Mexico for decades, just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It is better to read it on the CNN Mexico site.

Joco69 a quick google search of "journalist mexico" should result in plenty of info. Its not a sectret and you shouldn't depend on people to spoonfeed you. Read something interesting, do a little research. Journalists in Mexico are threatened and die regularly, its been that way for a long time.

Regarding the missionary woman who was shot: Another account I read stated that they had been chased by the narcos before. They thought this time they were targeted in retaliation for performing a funeral service for victims of the cartel. So, this appears to not be a case of wrong place at wrong time.

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Regarding the missionary woman who was shot: Another account I read stated that they had been chased by the narcos before. They thought this time they were targeted in retaliation for performing a funeral service for victims of the cartel. So, this appears to not be a case of wrong place at wrong time.

I would like to see a link to the story about it being in retaliation for performing a funeral for a victim of cartels. I live here and have read all the news reports and not one single story ever mentions that.

This is exactly what I was referring to in my other post. Someone is always trying to find some blame on the victim for what happened to them. Not that they were simply driving down the road and were attacked!

Example was the man that was recently killed at Lake Chapala. Immediately someone starts in on why he got himself killed.

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That's a very good point. The couple may have thought this was related to another incidence, which is why they ran. Apparently, the narcos were just trying to steal the truck.

This is really tragic.

There's clearly a problem around San Fernando. Let's hope the Federales go in there and clean house big time.

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I would like to see a link to the story about it being in retaliation for performing a funeral for a victim of cartels. I live here and have read all the news reports and not one single story ever mentions that.

This is exactly what I was referring to in my other post. Someone is always trying to find some blame on the victim for what happened to them. Not that they were simply driving down the road and were attacked!

Example was the man that was recently killed at Lake Chapala. Immediately someone starts in on why he got himself killed.

I agree with you that often there seems to be an attempt to "blame" the victim, but perhaps it could be more accurately described as an attempt tp explain why the victim was chosen, as opposed to just being a "random" thing. It seems more appropriate since people tend to look for reason as opposed to random explanations for life's troubles.

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Thanks God! here the only "bother" is the increase in break ins, the bloody situations are special cases, but here, yet, we only have to close all the entrances and windows, and that is all...I guess, the other faces of crime were stopped by the "language barriers" in first place, and other special characeristics of the foreigner population.

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