The crime of the bus driver in La Matanza left the suburbs at the center of the political scene and with opponents who compared the security situation in the municipality of Fernando Espinoza with what is happening in Rosario. From the Frente de Todos they respond with the numbers that emerge from official reports and mark the opposite, while they must face an internal claim for the number of police officers who have to step on the neighborhoods. The national government was not left behind in the discussion and in addition to confirming the presence of thousands of gendarmes, it was in charge of motorizing the Conurbano Command, which promises new meetings and incorporations of districts of weight, such as La Plata.
The figures on the problem come from two sources. One is the Ministry of National Security that collects information on allegedly criminal acts registered by the police forces, federal security forces and other official entities that receive complaints. There you can see how since 2015, criminal acts have been declining as well as the number of homicides in a territory that is made up of 18 million inhabitants spread over 135 municipalities.
For example, in the last year of Daniel Scioli’s administration, 1,209 events were recorded with 1,240 victims; the following year, the report speaks of 1,150 cases with the same number of victims, and in the last three years the trend is decreasing: in 2019, there are 877 listed with 903 deaths, in 2020 there were 915 with 931 and in 2021 there were 813 events with 831 deaths. The comparison with Santa Fe is far away since only in 2021, in the entire province, 336 events with 359 victims appear.
The other source is the Buenos Aires Attorney, which in its last three documents on intentional homicides reflect a decrease after the analysis of all the investigations that the Public Ministry initiated, whether for consummated or attempted crimes. On the other hand, they have information from the Computer System of the area led by Julio Conte Grand and from the certification of each judicial file.
The documents are clear: there you can see how during 2019 2,185 investigations were initiated, of which 42.0%, 918, correspond to completed homicides that record 954 fatalities. In 2020, 2,109 investigations were initiated, with 43.6% of completed homicides (919) resulting in 941 deaths. That is, 1.4% less than in 2019. And in 2021, there is a record of 1,913 cases, of which 41.7% (797) correspond to murders that had 830 deaths, 11.8% less than in the 2020.
The texts indicate, in turn, that the hottest areas are recurrent, the suburbs, La Plata and Mar del Plata but far from the criminal statistics of Rosario, as mentioned by the Left Front or Alejandro Finocchiaro, national deputy of Together for the Change, with the intention of fighting for the position that Fernando Espinoza has today. “The lowest homicide rate per 100,000 people in the century in PBA: 4.1 (when in 2002 we had 16.7 and when, for example, in Rosario it is around 22.1),” said Carlos Bianco, the chief of advisers to Axel Kicillof before PROFILE. And he hits the “macristas”: “they are exaggerating the situation at least 4 or 5 times.”
Other exponents of JxC, who appear ready to dispute the governorship, load inks on Berni but do not question the official figures. One is Cristian Ritondo, former Minister of Security of the province in the Cambiemos era, who echoes the average annual homicides in his management report. And another is Diego Santilli, national deputy of JxC, who mentions that there is “a growing crisis of insecurity” and blames the leadership for not having a diagnosis. The reason for the lack of criticism of the numbers is simple: Conte Grand, leader of the Attorney General, has held his chair thanks to the impulse of Let’s Change since 2016.
The other disputes. After the first meeting of the Conurbano Unified Command, which brought together local security secretaries along with national officials, the mayors of different political persuasions let it be known that they need more police. The request is understood by Berni’s entourage, although, before this medium, they emphasize that the formation of troops is not easy and that the communal chiefs should collaborate with greater emphasis in the recruitment of cadets. “There are municipalities that did not recruit one, they realized that it is not easy,” they assert.
The Command, in turn, will have two meetings, Tuesday and Thursday, to which new municipalities will join, such as La Plata, with “very good expectations and coordinated work”, as indicated by Aníbal Fernández with a piece of information: that despite the controversy with the management of Axel Kicillof, there are 5953 gendarmes in all of Buenos Aires.