About 12,000 robberies have been reported in 2021. Quiteños identify at least 12 problems in the city.
During 2021, 11,610 robberies were reported in Quito. This has made insecurity one of the problems that most worries the inhabitants of the capital, according to a survey carried out by the collective Quito as we go.
Through face-to-face interviews with 985 inhabitants, it was identified that 23.5% of people are concerned about crime. It is followed by unemployment (20%) and the lack of arrangements of streets (12.5%).
And it is that 43.1% of those surveyed answered that they have been crime victims in 2021, in different modalities. (See box)
Offer from the Mayor’s Office
The Secretary of Security, Daniela Valarezo, has highlighted, on several occasions, that the recovery of spaces is a way to turn the city into a safe place, this was one of the mayor’s offers Santiago Guarderas.
Although security is the responsibility of the central government, Guarderas has offered to work in coordination with the National Police. For example, the installation of cameras, alarms, panic buttons for citizens and motorcycles for the Police will be carried out. All this will come from the budget that is collected by the collection of the security fee (property tax that is paid from January 1, 2022).
Valarezo has detailed that the security tax and the amount invested with this tax will be subject to an evaluation of three levels of evaluation: budget execution, international organizations and a citizen survey.
These surveys will come within the victimization evaluations of the Metropolitan Observatory of Citizen Security.
Patch plan
Another offer from the Mayor’s Office is linked to infrastructure improvements and patching the streets. By 2022 the Municipality approved a budget of $ 52.5 million. Guarderas has stressed that repairing the 8,900 kilometers of roads in the city will be impossible in the 17 months that remain for his administration, but that he will leave an established project.
Potholes in streets mean a waste of time and money for the capital.
Mechanical damage can not only represent expenses, but also cause accidents. “The braking of the car will take longer when it is with a bad shock absorber and in the curves the shock absorber what it does is give stability that it will not have”, details Carlos Cueva, owner of a mechanic.
Pothole Expenses
Cueva details that Quito residents invest, once a year, in the annual inspection of their cars, which is a requirement for registration. But having to do this two or three times generates heavy expenses that vary according to the type of car and parts.
For example, changing the shock absorbers on an Aveo car could cost between $ 80 and $ 120. Whereas a Ford or Toyota could go as high as $ 700.
This is reflected in studies cited by the group ‘Positive Constructors’ in which it is estimated that vehicle damage, due to streets in poor condition, represents between $ 20 million and $ 30 million a year for citizens. (AVV)
Theft from persons: 4,550
Thefts of auto parts and auto accessories: 2,382
Car thefts: 1,296
Home burglaries: 1,203
Theft from business premises: 1,205
Motorcycle robberies: 974
Source: Ministry of Government
El 43,1% de los habitantes de Quito encuestados respondieron que han sido víctimas de la delincuencia en 2021.