ABSTRACT
Many cities of the developing world are facing growing urban violence and insecurity (Moser 2004; Rotker 2002). These developments are evident in rising rates of homicide, robbery, assault, and kidnapping, as well as contraband-related violence (often involving drugs or guns). In the most violence-prone cities, police corruption and impunity have contributed to public insecurity, helping produce outposts of urban violence in which organized gangs involved in illegal activities, ranging from drugs and guns to knock-off designer products, are as powerful as — or in competition with — police and military. These conditions are pervasive across Latin America and the Caribbean, where organized gangs equipped with arms and advanced technologies for protection and detection against law enforcement raids have blatantly attacked police, military, and citizens who report gangs to authorities. Many organized crime groups have become the functional equivalent of mini-states by monopolizing the means of violence and providing protection and territorial governance in exchange for citizen allegiance, whether coerced or freely given (Davis 2010). Their capacities derive partly from the state's longstanding absence from these geographical areas, with years of infrastructural and policy neglect having reinforced poverty in ways that have made local residents open to the protection offered by gang leaders (Arias 2006).
