From January to November of this year there have been 2,084 violent deaths in the Dominican Republic, an average of six people each day. Slightly over 20% of the deaths were attributed to “an exchange of gunfire” between alleged criminal elements and the police. During November the National Police and the Pathology Institute reported a total of 159 violent deaths, 23 of which were related to “exchanges of gunfire”, and the remaining 136 were defined as homicides.