Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

14
Understanding Urban Safety and Security
Box 1.2 Startling data on crime and violence in Brazil (2006)
• São Paulo, Brazil, had 1 per cent of the world’s homicides, but only 0.17 per cent of the
world’s population.
• At least 25,000 homes in São Paulo had security cameras to monitor entrances and exits
from their grounds,
• There were 35,000 armed cars in Brazil.
• Since the well-orchestrated attacks on police during May to June 2006, there was a 33 per
cent increase in armed windshields sales.
• The Brazilian security market had reached some US$49 billion, about 10 per cent of gross
domestic product (GDP), of which 60 per cent were private expenditures.
• In 2006, private security companies employed 1.5 million individuals in Brazil.
Source: Esnal, 2006, p4
An important aspect
of urban crime and
violence has been
the role of youth
Almost every city in
the world has developed
private
security companies
and forces
this problem, showing that some 200 million people are
drug users, a slight reduction over the last few years. The
impact of specific drugs on these patterns is startling, with
cocaine deaths increasing, while the global market for
marijuana is about 162 million users.
An important aspect of urban crime and violence has
been the role of youth. The WHO reports that during 2000,
some 199,000 youth homicides were committed globally, or
9.2 per 100,000 individuals. This is equivalent to 500
people between 10 and 29 dying each day in youth
homicides, varying from 0.9 per 100,000 in high income
countries to 17.6 in Africa and 36.4 in Latin America. For
every fatality, there are from 20 to 40 victims of non-fatal
youth violence. 44 In some cases, these high numbers are the
results of gang violence in specific cities. In Africa, with
nearly 75 per cent of the urban population living in slums
and 44 per cent of the population below 15 years of age, the
conditions for gang formation are prevalent. This also
highlights what is called ‘child density’ within a population
(see Chapter 3). For example, in Cape Flats, Cape Town,
South Africa, there are an estimated 100,000 gang members
who are considered responsible for 70 per cent of the
crime. 45 The case of South Africa is particularly interesting
because high rates of urban violence involving youth have
their origins in the apartheid period and in patterns of policing
and segregation. 46 Data on Nairobi, Kenya, shows similar
results, with very high crime rates and high rates of
violence. 47 Much of this crime originates from slum areas
where 60 per cent of Nairobi’s population lives on only 5 per
cent of the city’s land. 48 Mexico City is divided into zones by
some 1500 competing gangs. 49 Gang membership is a
problem across many cities. These estimates suggest the size
of the problem: El Salvador (35,000), Guatemala (100,000)
and Honduras (40,000). 50 In Guatemala, there are estimates
of 20,000 murders in gang warfare over the past five years.
The following definition of this gang warfare helps to clarify
this phenomenon: ‘children and youth (who are) employed
or otherwise participating in organized armed violence
where there are elements of a command structure and
power over territory, local population or resources’. 51 Given
the dominant role of media and perception of these issues,
the definitions of various forms of crime and violence and
the establishment of useful comparative categories about
both origins and impacts are important foundational steps in
developing useful policies and approaches to address these
problems. In-depth empirical studies on neighbourhood
violence in Kingston, Jamaica, demonstrated that many
different forms of violence can operate concurrently, with
diverse causes, mechanisms and outcomes. 52 Definitions and
categories of crime and violence will be discussed in some
depth in Chapters 3 and 4 of this <strong>Global</strong> <strong>Report</strong>. It is important
to note, however, that there are great differences
between so-called ‘top-down’ perceptions of the problem,
and the consequent policy approaches, and other more
participatory ‘bottom-up’ perspectives and suggested
remedies. 53 Notions such as ‘zero tolerance’, as promulgated
by a former New York mayor a few years ago, ignore the
important differences between the origins and the sites of
crime. It is not surprising that the ‘zero tolerance’ approach
found little support in Mexico City when its supporters tried
to export the model.
While this overview has provided a picture of the
global situation in cities, another dimension also deserves
attention: the response to crime and, specifically, prevention.
Beyond the strengthening of policing and the judicial
system that will be discussed at length in later chapters, two
specific responses have become increasingly common: the
privatization of security and the role of community groups.
Both of these responses come, in part, from the inadequacy
of the police and criminal justice system to address these
problems. Almost every city in the world has developed
private security companies and forces. An estimate in 2000
indicated that the annual growth of private security was 30
per cent and 8 per cent, respectively, in the developing and
developed countries. 54 One study of South Africa reported
that the number of private security guards has increased by
150 per cent from 1997 to 2006, while the number of police
decreased by 2.2 per cent in the same period. 55 The
question of the balance between public and private crime
prevention is a major issue.
A second and related aspect of private or ‘non-public’
security is community security, where community groups
decide to maintain security in their neighbourhoods. This
process, involving what might be called ‘community buy-in’
or, more dramatically, ‘vigilantism’, in some countries has its
roots in traditional culture and notions of justice in many
cities. It also has become a widespread contemporary
phenomenon whereby specific crimes or outbreaks of crime
lead to neighbourhood and community efforts, whether
citizens patrol their communities or groups are designated to
perform this and other functions, such as the Young Lords in
New York City. One well-documented case is a group called
People against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD), which was
formed in Cape Town to murder gang leaders in order to stop
violence. This violent approach, however, led to attacks on
PAGAD and actually increased the violence, 56 illustrating
how such efforts can become out of control. Beyond these
dramatic examples, the issue of community responsibility for
urban security is a broad concern to be addressed by this
<strong>Global</strong> <strong>Report</strong>. Indeed, as will be suggested in subsequent
chapters, the role of civil society at a general level and of
specific communities is an essential part of achieving
resilience in the face of these challenges.