Yes, it is getting crazier. My spidey sense has been on alert for a few weeks now, and I've been making myself scarce as well as being extra careful after dark.
And, yes, the PN and CESTUR need to step it up a few notches, but the reality is that we're on our own until after the damage is done.
I've actually been looking for an escopeta. I generally have no use for guns, but there's somebody very handy with a knife that has been mugging people after dark. Not usually into rumors, but my usual taxi driver is not prone to lying (oddly un-Dominican of him) and his brother ended up in the hospital with multiple stab wounds. His phone was stolen, but there was no warning; not even a friendly "your phone or your life". Just pow, pow, pow, and the guy grabbed the phone that the brother was talking on. It was in a location with a lot of people and nobody saw anything except for some guy rolling around in his blood screaming for help. One cut was a definite attempt at murder, but missed the heart, so the brother survived. Be(a)ware.