Volume I Issue 2


when we were children.” Jaramillo explains that


when people are forced to take this drug, they lose their con- science and act like a mari- onette. As a result, the thief takes advantage of this situa- tion. People give everything to the thief. People sometimes even take the thief to their home. The thief steals every- thing from the home of their victim. “It is normal that people


get afraid when listening to news about new and innova- tive ways that burglars create to steal from people,” explains Ojeda about the fears expressed by Jaramillo. “They can think that violent acts are very com- mon. However, the increase of insecurity as a perception does not always agree with the sta- tistics of real violence.” According to Palomeque,


the author of Diagnóstico Sobre Seguridad Ciudadana En El Ec- uador, Ecuador’s annual urban murder rate has increased from seven to 14 cases per 100,000 people, and from eight to nine in some cities of Pichincha, a significant province in Ecua- dor. In spite of that, Quito has fewer murders than most cities in Latin America. Palomeque also notes that the Police De- partment of Quito reports few- er murders and robberies than it did five years ago. But there is a consensus that this infor- mation reflects only the fact


that people are less interested in reporting crime accusations to apathetic police. Jazmin Armas, a 23-year-


old student in Quito, says that her family chose not to report an attack on her brother be- cause the authorities told them that they only investigate major crimes. “Some burglars tried to steal my brother’s cell phone one month ago. He fought against the burglars and one of them hurt my brother’s face. Finally, they could not steal anything from my brother,” she says. “So, we went to the Judi- cial Police Department, and we told a police officer what hap- pened, but he told us that they did not register accusations for attacks. They only register ac- cusations for robberies if they are more than $647.00 USD.” Other young Ecuadorians,


and especially students like Ar- mas, feel the same way. They believe that crime is on the rise and that there are few se- curity services to protect them. They go through each day fear- ing that they will be attacked. They are influenced perhaps by what they see on the streets, although many claim that their perspective has been spoon- fed to them by major media outlets. Johnny Toro, a bank ca-


shier, thinks that news about violent acts in Quito and other cities does not only alert people about the delinquency, but also


63


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104