Homicide in Puerto Rico - Term Paper Example

 Report According to a New York Times article “New York City police reported approximately 600 murders occurring in 2003, while Puerto Rico police reported almost 800murders during the same time.” The reason of this variation, the causes which possibly play a part in this and the solutions and approaches to tackle this crisis is discussed in this report. Puerto Rico is an unorganized terrain of the United States, lacking a formal government and is situated in the north-eastern Caribbean Sea. According to CDC “with a population of approximately 3.9 million, Puerto Rico’s 12th leading cause of death overall in 2003 is homicide, ranking fifth among males and fifteenth among females”. It further stated that the probability of being killed in Puerto Rico is twice comparative to any other place in this world. Murders and other crimes in Puerto Rico is correlated to the overwhelming amount and usage of drugs that are smuggled in the island, moreover plagues like, police and political corruption, formation of gangs, and drug trafficking is triggering the rate of homicide in this isle. As Lazitte Alvarez states in her article “The police in Puerto Rico say that nearly half of all homicides on the island — a popular way station for narcotics shipped from South American to the United States — are connected to drug-trafficking turf wars. Of the other half, 18 so far this year were related to domestic violence and 18 involved people who were gay or transgender.” (NY 2011). Puerto Rico has turned out to be a major location of transhipment of illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroine and marijuana. Murder is the most horrific delinquency that is feared worldwide but at the same time it is the crime which is the most easiest to quantify precisely. Furthermore, the rate of homicide in a territory is a measuring gauge to estimate the communal health on the whole. Drugs can lead to homicide in four different ways: intoxication can give a free rein to aggression, constant drunkenness and euphoria can make an individual excessively violent, crimes executed to provide for the routine of drugs can prove to be dangerous and lastly people busy in the illegal drug trafficking generally kill innocents to save their backs. Puerto Rico proves to be an appealing spot for trafficking because of the nonexistence of trade inspection. If this is the case then in order to dissuade these transhipments, federal and commonwealth organizations should play a substantial role so to lessen the rate of homicide. According to Dr. David A.Boyum “ even if, as some data suggest, only a few of the killing are among those engaged in the high level drug trade, the flow of drugs through the island contribute to the retail traffic which is unquestionably a source of violence by and against sellers and buyers alike.” To restrain the bloodshed linked with the trade of drugs put on the market and its use needs another set of implementations. Drug regulation enforcement must individually point out these traders who make use of violence for specific consideration and inspection instead of concentrating their hard work on sellers that are susceptible to the authority. Another main aspect can be investigation and parole administration to compel self-restraint from the usage of drugs on the share of the criminal that can take away the majority of the top clients from the drug dealers. Another factor that can make a difference is increasing the price and availability of alcohol, which is a drug majorly involved in majority of the crimes. “In a blistering condemnation of the second largest police force in the united states, the justice department is accusing the Puerto Rico Police Department of a “profound” and “longstanding” pattern of civil rights violation and other illegal practices that have left it “broken in a number of critical and fundamental respects” (NY Charlie Savage 2011) The corruption and the dishonesty of the police is yet another factor of the increasing homicide in the island. This untruthfulness of the law enforcing agencies and Police is what encourages the people to commit crimes without considering the possible consequences and punishments they will have to face if caught. Sorting out the crisis of homicide should be the first priority of the police, since; the possibility of impunity promotes latent assassins and moreover if these murderers get away with their crimes, the public loses their faith on their saviours and are rightly shaken. “In terms of homicide, Puerto Rico compares poorly with the mainland, with about two in three killing going unsolved compared to a mainland average of closer to one in three and European rates of less than one in ten” (Dr.David). As analysis is sensibly done prior to the treatment, the interrogation of the factors contributing to the increasing rate of homicide and the question of why such a small number of them are resolved needs consideration. Homicide reveals social issues much further than the quick-fix access of every public strategy, for instance, approach concerning violent behaviour, child nurturing procedures and the intensity of casual communal restrains. It is definite that strategies relating societal facilities like health and education can affect homicide in the coming years, and it is likely that a large diversity of communal service and new opportunities for employment, intrusion could bring about a change in the short-run. However, the bureau of police force, arbitration, and rectification are given the mission of imposing submission towards the law and it is their duty to consider the factors contributing to this dishonouring of the law in the most deadly manner. Improved police efforts, and trial exertion to go with, comprise an essential part of any attempt to decrease the killing. Keeping away troubles of truthfulness and reliability, existing police procedures indicate nor the technological and neither the methodical erudition and analytical determination of the proficient example of policing at its paramount nor is the net of sources of information that can come into sight when policing of a society is properly practiced. Until law enforcement in Puerto Rico turns out to be further skilled and extra society oriented, the solution for the increasing homicide rate will continue to stick to its present intolerable degree. “The inadequate number of investigators within the office of criminal investigation and prosecution –only three to handle nearly 900 homicides per year- must also be addresses, and a shift made away from the present system, under which a different attorney may handle each stage of a case” ( Dr. David). Law enforcement and other delinquent justice police officers are able to play a role to homicide restrain by assisting the people to grow more resistant to crimes in methods concerning both the substantial facade of these districts and their casual structure of their society. If carried out in the correct fashion, sustaining communal stability by imposing laws opposed to small wrongdoing can generate a surrounding unwelcoming and hostile to further grave types of crimes. This is the commitment of the police which is comparatively very slow to arise in Puerto Rico then in other cities of the mainland. Law enforcement officers could furthermore assist by giving more consideration to arrested criminals who, once taken into custody, have not arrived for tribunal, or who, when convicted, have shirked on the conditions of their parole and trial. According to Ramon Bosque Perez “drug-related violent crime is common in Puerto Rico… according to law enforcement officials, retail drug distributors in Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin islands are heavily armed and commit violent crimes, including homicide to control lucrative drug markets… drug abusers in the territories also commit violent crimes, including robbery, burglary, carjacking, car theft, and home invasion to obtain money to support their drug habits” Easy availability of Guns and juvenile violence is yet another reason for the increasing rate of homicide. Young lawbreakers are carrying out more conspicuously bad or offensive acts of aggression and brutality and majority of the killing is done by weapons such as guns. The availability of guns to adolescents can be restrained by skilful enforcement tactics, and there are other methods to dissuade these young people from possessing the artillery they purchase, carrying, handling and shooting them. One of the main capable strategies comprise the utilization of tracing the gun to find out the spot at which the guns were used by these adolescent murderers that allow the lawful circulation procedure. According to T.J. Mihelich “Possible, just, possible, we have a corrupt police department, due to the theory of ‘monkey see monkey do’. As the police see others around them corrupt, so they follow the system and become corrupt themselves. This again brings the theory of the ‘fish rots from the head down’. As the government is corrupt, so too will the workers of the government” As criminal act of any kind is somewhat generally scattered in any inhabitants, the greater part of the grave offence, consisting of homicide, is carried out by a comparatively less amount of grim, determined, high-rate criminals, the majority of them who sooner or later appears within the authority of the justice organization for crimes. Although attention of the public is focused on the procedure of arrest and arbitration, rectifications regarding the subject of the treatment of those condemned have significance out of ratio to its visibility to the public. To focus limited resources of prison on restraining individuals mainly expected to execute grave offences, if not restricted needs proficiently made regulations, sensible prosecutors, and magistrates determined on control of the crime instead of simply convicting the offenders. When restricted, criminals should be assisted and obligated to go through individual modification that will be likely to make these offenders less treacherous when they are set free, as more or less every one of them ultimately will be. Becoming skilled at reading and learning to handle rage, going through therapy for drug misuse and getting ready for useful jobs are helpful in falling recidivism. Below every verdict strategy, majority of the vigorous criminals will be set free from the walls of the prison, alive in the society. Restraining their conducts and actions under management presents the biggest test to the justice system for criminals and the largest chance for the control of the crime, together with the restraining of homicide. Officers given the task of correcting the society must be provided with equipments to check activities for instance testing of drugs and monitoring of the electronic location and the authorization to restrict misconduct. These were some of the reasons of the increasing rate of homicide in Puerto Rico and some prevention strategies to keep this crisis in control. Work cited: Mihelich, Tj. Puerto Rico: Land of Lost Dreams. S.l.: Iuniverse Inc, 2010. Print. Bosque, Pérez R, and Morera J. J. Colón. Puerto Rico Under Colonial Rule: Political Persecution and the Quest for Human Rights. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006. Print. Boyum, David. Understanding and Controlling Homicide in San Juan: Final Report. Boston, Mass: BOTEC Analyis Corp, 1996. Print. LIzette Alvarez, New York Times, “Puerto Rico prodded to get tough on police” published October 4, 2011 Charlie Savage, New York Times, “Police in Puerto Rico are accused of abuses in Justice Dept. Report” published, September 8,2011 Read More