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Articles on Homicides

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New York police respond to a shooting in Brooklyn in April 2021, amid a rise in shootings that year. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Crime is on the ballot – and voters are choosing whether prosecutors with reform agendas are the ones who can best bring law, order and justice

A new wave of prosecutors, known as progressives, say that public safety can exist with policies like eliminating cash bail for people charged with low-level offenses.
A big discrepancy exists between the actual threat of mass shootings and the way the public perceives that threat. Tatiana Akhmetgalieva/Shutterstock.com

Have we become too paranoid about mass shootings?

You’re just as likely to be a victim of a mass shooting as you are to be struck by lightning. So why do nearly 50% of Americans say they’re afraid of being caught in the crossfire?
Migrants travel in groups through Mexico for safety reasons. But Mexico is still one of the world’s most dangerous countries. AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd

Dozens of migrants disappear in Mexico as Central American caravan pushes northward

Two trucks carrying migrants have gone missing in Veracruz, Mexico. A witness says that ‘65 children and seven women were sold’ to a band of armed men. Other caravan members have reached the border.
Peasant activists in rural Colombia have been under fire since the signing of the country’s 2016 peace plan, which will bring intensive economic development to these areas. Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters

Colombia’s murder rate is at an all-time low but its activists keep getting killed

Nearly 300 community organizers and activists have been killed in Colombia since the country’s 2016 peace accord. Who’s behind these targeted assassinations?
Transnational gangs like MS-13 are a major driver of violence in El Salvador, but they are far from the only problem. Jose Cabezas/Reuters

Why is El Salvador so dangerous? 4 essential reads

The U.S. government has ended the protective status of 200,000 Salvadoran migrants. If deported, they would go back to one of the world’s deadliest places. How did violence in El Salvador get so bad?
After two earthquakes killed hundreds in Mexico within weeks in September, #Fuerza Mexico — Strength, Mexico — became a international rallying cry. Gannett Riquelme/Reuters

Why 2017 was so terrible for Mexico: 8 essential reads

Three runaway governors. Two deadly earthquakes. One Donald J. Trump. Here’s why the past year hasn’t been the kindest to Mexico.
Weapons used in the attack in San Bernardino in 2015. Reuters/San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department/Handout

How dangerous people get their weapons in America

While mass shooting tragedies in Las Vegas and elsewhere make headlines, the reality is gun violence is becoming almost routine in many American neighborhoods. Where do the guns come from?
In El Salvador, the dead are almost innumerable, but not forgotten. Jose Cabezas/Reuters

How to fix Latin America’s homicide problem

Latin America’s murder rate is the highest in the world, accounting for one in every four homicides on the planet.
Some 13 people ‘disappear’ in Mexico every day, and the country is on track to record 30,000 homicides this year. Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters

Is Mexico actually the world’s second most murderous nation?

A controversial report claims that Mexico is more violent than Afghanistan and Yemen. It’s wrong on the details but right that Mexico is, in effect, a war zone.

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