Criminological policy, criminal policy, or public security policy: Its importance for Latin America

Su importancia para América Latina

Abstract

According to a July 2019 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Latin America is the most violent region in the world—surpassing even the death tolls from armed conflicts recorded in 2017. This violence manifests in various forms, including femicides, homicides, enforced disappearances, violent deaths of children and adolescents, violence against women, gang activity, and organized crime. The primary response—favored and emulated by several countries—has relied on legislation combined with repressive policies known as mano dura ("iron fist" or "tough-on-crime" approaches). The results have been devastating: the world's highest murder rate (17.2 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants) and severe prison overcrowding. Latin America suffers from high rates of violence because the preference has been for public security policies designed to convince voters that the state is combating the "enemy" (or enemies) portrayed in public discourse, while organized crime infiltrates state institutions, fueling corruption and impunity. It is proposed that the region move toward a criminological policy that transcends the limitations of standard criminal policy—which in many Latin American countries relies solely on penal and criminal procedural codes—and instead addresses criminogenic factors through an extraordinary level of social investment (unprecedented on the continent) grounded in a gender-sensitive and human rights-based approach.