The National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics released the results of the National Survey on Victimization and Perception of Public Safety.
In very general terms, it highlights that during 2021 there were just over 22 million victims of crime in the country; that is, 24,207 victims per 100,000 inhabitants.
29 percent of Mexican households had at least one crime victim, which implies an increase in the incidence, compared to the previous year.
Even more: according to said study, there were in Mexico during 2021, 30 thousand 786 crimes for every 100 thousand inhabitants.
In addition, the black figure –unreported crimes– stood at 93.2 percent. People do not go to law enforcement instances because they consider that it is a waste of time or because of mistrust in authority.
The perception of insecurity – population over 18 years of age that perceives insecurity in their entity – was 75.9; In short, 3 out of 4 Mexicans consider living in their state or city to be unsafe. This indicator, by the way, shoots up when only women are analyzed since almost 8 out of 10 of them perceive problems of insecurity.
In six states of the country, the rate of crime victims increased; This is not the case of Veracruz, where it remained practically the same as in 2020, 7.2 percent, although the source clarifies that this is due to the margin of error of the survey.
Only four states had a drop in crime incidence: Campeche, Hidalgo, Michoacán, and Sonora.
In terms of crimes per 100,000 inhabitants, Veracruz did not present good numbers, given that in 2020, the rate stood at 18,778; while in 2021 it increased to 19 thousand 545; in one year, the increase in crime incidence figures was 4.1 percent.
In the state of Veracruz, according to INEGI, the most common crime was robbery or assault on the street or on public transport.
For Veracruz, the most important data consigned by the INEGI survey is related to the fact that 80.2 percent of the inhabitants of the entity consider that living in it is unsafe.
This indicator places Veracruz among the states in which the population feels more insecure; Other entities on that list are Sonora, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Mexico City, State of Mexico, Colima, Morelos, and Tabasco.
However, only Zacatecas, the State of Mexico, Mexico City, Morelos, and Tabasco exceed the perception of insecurity registered in Veracruz.
Another fact: only 4 out of 10 people from Veracruz consider it safe to walk alone at night around their home.
The point is that despite the fact that the official statistics and the investigation folders integrated in the Veracruz prosecutor’s office show an advance in terms of criminal incidence, in the streets people continue to perceive a strong problem of insecurity, as revealed by the INEGI survey
The insecurity index in Veracruz increased 2.2 percentage points from 62.2 percent in December 2020, to 64.8 percent as of March this year.
It should be noted that this year the INEGI removed Coatzacoalcos from the “black” list. As of December 2020, 88.9 percent of the adults surveyed considered the city “unsafe” and by March 2021 the figure dropped to 85.4, a difference of 3.5 percentage points.
In the insecure municipality tabulator, until March of last year, 76.3 percent of those interviewed considered Veracruz, while 92.1 said that of Coatzacoalcos.
In Veracruz, 15.2 percent of respondents said they had experienced a conflict or confrontation with relatives, neighbors, co-workers or in educational centers, even involving government authorities, while those same cases are repeated in 29.2 percent in Coatzacoalcos .
INEGI: The perception of insecurity in the port of Veracruz increased
The Survey considers Fresnillo with 94.2 percent to be in the discouraged list; Ecatepec, with 89.9; Cuernavaca, 87.8; mayor Gustavo A. Madero, 86.4; Uruapan, 86.3, and Guadalajara, 86.1.
