Countryside Homicide or Westside Homicide?

In my final blog post, I will examine a topic which brilliantly ties in with my blog's title (Great, I know right!). Today, I will look at is it safer to live in a rural or urban area, in Ireland. To determine this I will use statistics from the Central Statistics Office, to compare the West of Ireland to Dublin. It should be noted that Connacht's population is roughly 543,000 and Dublin's is 1,270,000, although I will make the appropriate calculations.

   First off homicide. In Dublin, there were 21 homicides in 2015, however in the West alone, there were 4. Even if the areas were of equal population (divide Dublin by 2.5), Dublin's homicide rate is still double that of Connacht's. This can obviously be put down to the lack of organised crime in the West and the serious gang problems in Dublin. So, after the so-called first round it is 1-0 to the Countryside.

   Next, I am going to look at the burglary offences in each area. In the West, there were 1,961 homes burgled compared to 11,601 in Dublin. Dividing Dublin's statistic by 2.5, you still come out with a figure plenty higher than Dublin. This now makes it 2-0.

   Finally, we look at crimes regarding dangerous or negligent acts. In Connacht, there were 1,012, and Dublin had only a mere 1,602. Again, dividing by 2.5, this leaves us with 641. This statistic is dwarfed by the West's total bringing it to 2-1. The increased total by dangerous or negligent acts in Connacht, may be due to farm yard accidents, where safety mightn't be the primary priority.

   In conclusion, the Countryside is, rather unsurprisingly, less crime ridden than Dublin. So, if you would rather be crushed by a hay bale than brutally murdered or burgled than a rural life is for you.

Thank you for reading!

 

Crimes of the Irish

In my third blog post I will examine the statistics of crime in Ireland, and compare it with other countries.

First I am going to look at homicide in Ireland. In 2015, there were 62 recorded homicides. This is less than half of the 126, 10 years ago. But let's compare this to a country of similar population and GDP, Norway. Norway has a murder rate of 2.2 per 100,000 people, this is higher than Ireland's, which is 1.2. In 2011, there were 111 homicides in Norway nearly twice that of Ireland's 66, in the same year. However, Ireland's murder rate is still much lower than most of our other EU counterparts. The likes of the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands all have murder rates that are sub-1.

http://www.cso.ie/multiquicktables/quickTables.aspx?id=cja01

   But all is not improving in Ireland, sexual offences have increased by almost 1,000 since 2006 and the different forms of assault and harassment are on the rise. Kidnapping has also doubled in the last 10 years. Some of this may just be down to the increase in the natural country's population in recent years, but I think other factors contribute to this, which I will come to later. Other crimes that have risen include Fraud and Crimes against the Government.

   Now, you may be asking yourself why have certain crimes become more frequent. Well, I think one major factor is the Economic Crisis. With this, crimes such as Kidnapping, Fraud and Crimes against the Government are more likely, as kidnappers seek to receive ransoms perhaps and also the corruption of bankers becomes more likely. Ireland's high assault rate peaked in 2008, before rising again last year after a dip in the previous years. Ireland's assault rate is nearly 17,000, this is about 370 assaults per 100,000 people. I think the alcohol culture of this island greatly contributes to that. When people become intoxicated they may be more likely to assault another person.

Cracking the Problems in Caracas

Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, is the crime capital of the world. It is situated on the North coast of the South American nation, and there are 119.87 murders per 100,000 people. In this blog, I will examine just why Caracas has such a ridiculous murder and crime rate.

http://www.worldatlas.com/img/locator/city/092/23092-caracas-locator-map.jpg

Population Density
Caracas is home to roughly 3.3million people and has a population density of 4212.9 people per km². This is actually less than Dublin's, which is 4588. But despite this, about 70% of Caracas' population live in slums, and the poverty nourishes crime. In fact, the highest slum in the world is in Caracas, the 47-story Tower of David.

The Tower of David - http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/251/611/3/S2516113/slug/l/161481385-1.jpg



Economy
Venezuela's economy is heavily dependent on the oil industry. For years they have profited from rising oil prices, but a recent plummet in prices has severely affected the country. There has been ridiculous inflation in the country of 720%, according to the IMF, and as a result money is almost utterly worthless. There are also food shortages across the nation. With so little wealth available, people turn to theft and other crimes to seize wealth.

Organised Crime
Many of the drugs produced in Columbia travel through Venezuela before reaching their final destination in the US. But, the real problem is the street gangs of the slums, such as El Cementerio and Los Pelucos. Small feuds here, can lead to massive shootouts that last months between rival gangs. This contributes heavily to Caracas' murder rate of 140 per 100,000. With all of the many gangs pushing for territory, it creates a lethal environment with no escape for easily influenced youths.

Overall the poverty, collapsing economy and of course the deadly gang warfare, makes easily the most crime-ridden city in the world.

Rocks for Glocks

For my first week of my blog - Westside Homicide, I am going to examine the materials used in one of America's most popular handguns the Glock G19.


http://gunivore.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Glock-19.jpg

In the US 60% of all homicides are at the end of a firearm, and 12.5k deaths a year are caused by handguns alone. Many of these handguns, were Glocks. But how exactly are Glocks made? The primary resources for the weapon's frame, ammunition magazine, and others are nylon, plastic and steel. I will explain the 'recipe' for each of these. 

Plastic
The production of plastic requires crude oil,  a very carbon-heavy resource. Oil is formed by the remains of plants and animals that died in the Jurassic period. Over time, earth and dirt covers these remains with more and layers. Then the great heat and pressure being exerted onto the remnants change them into oil.  Monomers found in crude oil are then put together to create a plastic. I have included a video clip below on this.

Steel
Iron is the raw material needed to make steel. Once the iron is retrieved from mines in the China or Brazil, for example. It is transported  long distances by sea, due to its weight, to a steel factory. Here the iron is heated to a molten state and oxygen is blown through it. This eradicates any impurities. steel is the most refined form of iron.

That is all for this week's post thank you for reading!

Hi! My name is Conor and this is my blog on the Geography of Murder.