In a reversal of last year’s downward trend, the deaths at the hands of state security forces, popularly known as “exchanges of gunfire”, increased in the first half of the year. A report by the Public Safety Observation Commission, released yesterday, Thursday 31 July 2014, found that in the first six months of this year, 87 people were killed by members of the police, while during the same period last year the total was 77. The report says that, 169 people were killed by state forces in all of 2013, while in 2012 the number was 296, a reduction of 127 cases.
During the semester there were also some 200 deaths by unknown hands. In general terms, the Public Safety Observation Commission registered 1,203 violent deaths including 906 homicides and 297 suicides. In this case there was a 5.2% reduction from the first half of 2013, with a total of 1,269 violent deaths: 971 homicides and 298 suicides. They also listed 1,129 accidental deaths: 901 in traffic accidents, 146 by drowning and 82 by electrocution. When it comes to robberies, the numbers were said to reflect an increase in reporting. This year there have been 5,402 against 5,376 during the same period last year.