By
Knowledge and Learning Division (VPS/VPS/KLD); Citizen Security Division (VPS/IFD/CIS)
Citizen security remains one of the most pressing development challenges facing low- and middle-income countries around the globe. In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), for example—a region where homicide rates have consistently remained more than three times the global average (UNODC, 2023; InSight Crime, 2024)—crime and violence are estimated to cost approximately 3.4% of the region’s GDP (IDB, 2024), whereas research suggests that bringing the crime level in Latin America down to the world average would boost LAC’s average annual growth rate by 0.5 percentage points (IMF, 2023). This Evidence Gap Map (EGM) focuses on citizen security interventions led or supported by police agencies, and maps existing impact evaluations and systematic reviews that examine the effectiveness of a wide range of policing interventions aimed at reducing crime, violence, disorder, overall insecurity, and their associated risk factors and underlying determinants. While some previous evidence maps...
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