Fear of crime and the willingness to report crime to police: A case study of model policing in Meta-Mercado, Coatepeque, Guatemala

Abstract

ABSTRACT Community-oriented policing has been a mainstay of policing over the past quarter century. In March 2019, the municipality of Coatepeque in Guatemala, with the assistance of Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, implemented a new community policing plan called Vivir y Prosperar in the Meta Mercado. Vivir y Prosperar was designed to improve security, reduce crime, and promote economic prosperity. This study utilises the pre-test, baseline and 6-months post-test, endline survey data of market vendors in the Meta Mercado to assess whether Vivir y Prosperar reduced fear of crime and increased someone’s willingness to report crime to police as tenets of community policing would anticipate. Results show that Vivir and Prosperar did not directly contribute to a decrease in fear of crime or improve one’s willingness to report crimes to the police. However, improving personal victimisation experiences, bribery payments, and other factors may indirectly promote a reduction in fear of crime and increase the willingness to report a crime among market vendors.