Homicides, bodily injuries, and thefts against persons in El Espinal, Colombia:
a descriptive documentary study of official records
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21710/rch.v40i2.816Keywords:
Safety , community harmony, crime reduction, citizen participationAbstract
The objective of this study was to describe the patterns of homicides, personal injuries, and thefts from individuals recorded in El Espinal, Tolima, between January 2022 and June 2024. A predominantly quantitative, documentary-based study was conducted, with a descriptive scope and a retrospective, non-experimental design. Records from the Statistical, Criminal, Misdemeanor, and Operational Information System (SIEDCO) were analyzed using absolute frequencies, percentages, comparisons between full years, and territorial distribution, supplemented by documentary and journalistic sources to contextualize the results. Between 2022 and 2023, homicides decreased from 46 to 38 cases and robberies decreased from 618 to 571, while personal injuries increased from 255 to 264. Contract killings totaled 36 cases in both years, although their share of total homicides rose from 78.26% to 94.74%. The 2024 data correspond to partial reports from June and do not allow for the determination of annual variations. It is concluded that the crimes analyzed exhibited different patterns; therefore, monitoring them requires distinguishing each crime category, its geographic distribution, and the temporal coverage of the records.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Gustavo Adolfo Rubio-Rodríguez, Germán Augusto Bastos Ramírez, Neyia Ortiz Sánchez, Mario Heimer Florez Guzmán
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