“SEVEN rats eliminated,” began one voice message in a WhatsApp chat in El Salvador. “What joy!” In a country ravaged by gangs, such exchanges might be expected among hit men. Instead this discussion was among policemen. According to revelations in August by Revista Factum, a website, they gloated over killing gang members, shared tips on tampering with crime scenes and posted videos of detainees being tortured.
El Salvador has the world’s highest murder rate, and its policemen kill with worrying frequency. The fact that police kill people so often in countries wracked by violence may stand to reason: the more armed criminals that officers confront, the more they will need to open fire. But something particularly alarming is taking place. A study by Ignacio Cano, a Brazilian criminologist, found that the higher a country’s murder rate, the greater the overall share of killings committed by cops (see chart). It seems that police unable to quell violence may lose their inhibitions about...Continue reading
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