ABSTRACT

Street crimes fall within a category of o enses that have seen the largest increase in the last 20 to 30 years and include such crimes as the , muggings, assaults, and many other o enses in di erent social contexts. According to

UN reports, “Levels of crime are higher in urban environments than rural ones in every region of the world.” e highest levels of crimes are also found in cities experiencing rapid growth, which means cities in developing countries present higher levels of victimization than cities in developed countries [ICPC, 2008]. According to international victimization reports, “Two thirds of the inhabitants of cities have been victims of some kind of crime at least once in a ve-year period,” and the probability of these having occurred in public spaces is very high.