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What Public Policies Do Citizens Want for Combating Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean? A Dataset

By Department of Research and Chief Economist (VPS/RES/RES)

Crime and insecurity are among the most pressing concerns in Latin America and the Caribbean. With roughly 9 percent of the world's population, the region accounts for about 33 percent of global homicides, and citizen security consistently ranks among the issues people most want their governments to address. Yet effective policy depends not only on what works technically, but on understanding what citizens actually demand, who is demanding it, and why. This dataset brings extensive survey evidence to bear on those questions.

About this dataset

This dataset accompanies the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report Combating Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean: What Public Policies Do Citizens Want?, part of the IDB's research on citizen security and crime prevention in the region. It compiles cleaned survey data designed to help identify the anti-crime policies that citizens across the region demand from their governments — spanning preventive, policing, and punitive approaches — and to explore how those preferences vary across individuals and contexts.

What the resources contain

The download bundle assembles several harmonized survey files together with the documentation needed to use them. It includes cleaned data drawn from regional public-opinion sources (including Latinobarómetro and LAPOP-based survey files), an IDB capital-cities survey file, accompanying data dictionaries for each dataset, and a PDF codebook. Files are provided in open CSV format as well as Stata (.dta) format, so the data can be opened directly in common statistical software. The dictionaries and codebook document variable names, response categories, and coding so analysts can interpret the survey items correctly.

Intended uses

Researchers, policymakers, journalists, and students can use these data to study public preferences on crime policy, compare attitudes toward prevention versus punishment, examine the correlates of victimization and fear of crime, and inform the design of citizen-security programs grounded in what the public actually wants. The dataset is well suited to secondary statistical analysis and to teaching applied methods on real regional survey data.

Access and citation

The data are published through IDB Open Data under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 IGO license and are openly downloadable. Users should review the codebook and the associated report before analysis, and cite the dataset using its DOI (see the citation below) when reusing it in research or publications.

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Metadata & use

Identifier https://doi.org/10.60966/4yfv-8488
License Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 IGO
Related Knowledge Product
Citation

Cafferata, Fernando Gabriel, et al. (2021). What Public Policies Do Citizens Want for Combating Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean? A Dataset. IDB Open Data. https://doi.org/10.60966/4yfv-8488
Published date 2021-06-22
Modified date 2026-10-28
Tags/Keywords Citizen Safety · Citizen Security and Crime Prevention · Crime Prevention · Crime Rate · Delinquency · Police Force · Police Service · Public Policy · Victim of Violence
Language
  1. English
Temporal coverage 2016-2017
Country
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela
Region Latin America and the Caribbean
Publisher
Inter-American Development Bank
Author
Cafferata, Fernando Gabriel
Scartascini, Carlos
Data collection type Survey Data
Statistical type Cross-sectional Data
Data structure Structured Data
Dataset unit of observation

Individual
Data notes

What does this dataset cover?

It compiles survey data assembled to identify the anti-crime policies that citizens in Latin America and the Caribbean demand from their governments — who is demanding what, and why. It accompanies the IDB report on combating crime in the region and addresses citizen security, crime prevention, and public-policy preferences.

Which countries and time period are represented?

The data focus on Latin America and the Caribbean and reference countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The temporal coverage is centered on 2016–2017. Please consult the codebook and individual data dictionaries for the exact countries and waves covered by each file.

What files and formats are included?

The bundle includes cleaned survey data files, accompanying data dictionaries, and a PDF codebook. Data files are provided in open CSV format and in Stata (.dta) format, so they can be opened in most statistical software. Review the dictionaries and codebook to interpret variable names and response categories before analysis.

What are the data dictionaries and codebook for?

Each survey file is accompanied by a data dictionary, and the bundle includes a PDF codebook. Together they document variable names, response categories, and coding conventions, which lets analysts correctly map survey questions to variables and interpret the answers. Reading them first is recommended to avoid misinterpreting survey items.

What survey sources does the data draw on?

The files reference regional public-opinion survey sources, including Latinobarómetro and LAPOP-based survey data, together with an IDB capital-cities survey file. The exact instruments, samples, and variables for each file are described in the accompanying dictionaries and codebook rather than in this catalog description.

Who produced this dataset?

It was created by Fernando Gabriel Cafferata and Carlos Scartascini and published by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through IDB Open Data. It accompanies the IDB report on combating crime in Latin America and the Caribbean.

What can I use this dataset for?

Researchers, policymakers, journalists, and students can use it to study public preferences on crime policy, compare attitudes toward prevention versus punishment, examine correlates of victimization and fear of crime, and inform the design of citizen-security programs. It is well suited to secondary statistical analysis and to teaching applied methods on real survey data.

Under what license can I use the data?

The dataset is released under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 IGO license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/). This permits sharing with attribution for non-commercial purposes without derivative works; review the license terms before reuse.

Is there an accompanying report?

Yes. The dataset accompanies the IDB report on combating crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, available through IDB Publications (https://publications.iadb.org/en/combating-crime-latin-america-and-caribbean-what-public-policies-do-citizens-want). The report provides the analysis and context for the survey data.

How do I access and download the data?

The data are openly available on the IDB Open Data portal at https://data.iadb.org/dataset/what-public-policies-do-citizens-want-for-combating-crime-in-latin-america- where each resource (CSV, Stata .dta, and the PDF codebook) can be downloaded directly. For questions, contact opendata@iadb.org.

How do I cite this dataset?

Please cite: Cafferata, Fernando Gabriel, et al. (2021). What Public Policies Do Citizens Want for Combating Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean? A Dataset. IDB Open Data. https://doi.org/10.60966/4yfv-8488 (DOI: 10.60966/4yfv-8488). Publisher: Inter-American Development Bank.

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