GENERALLY speaking, criminals may be divided into three classes: first,
those who direct crime but who take no active part in the commission of
the crime themselves; second, those who commit crimes which require a
considerable amount of personal courage; third, those who commit crimes
which do not necessarily involve any great amount of personal courage.
There might be added a fourth class, which would consist of those who
commit crime through ignorance of the law or carelessness in informing
themselves of exact legal measures and in heeding this knowledge when
once obtained. During the year 1915-16 there was a total of 53,006
arrests in the Island of Porto Rico. Of this number, nearly 47,000 were
men and the rest were women. On the basis of a population of 1,200,000,
this would give one arrest for every 22 persons in the Island. Of this
total number of arrests, however, only 438 were cases of felony. There
were a great many arrests for the infraction of municipal
ordinances,--something over 11,000 in all,--and more than 8,000 arrests
for disturbance of the peace. Over 9,000 were for gambling, and over
2,000 for petty larceny; about 5,000 arrests were for infraction of the
sanitary laws, and nearly 2,000 arrests were for infraction of road
laws. This shows that the greater number of arrests was for
comparatively unimportant crimes; by unimportant meaning, of course,
those crimes which do not directly involve the loss of life or of any
great amount of property. The felonies committed during the year were as
follows:
Murders 41
Homicides 26
Attempt at murder 30
Robbery 5
Rape 15
Seduction 24
Crime against nature 3
Arson 5
Burglary 148
Forgery 6
Counterfeiting 1
Grand larceny 10
Cattle stealing 25
Smuggling 5
Extortion 2
Crime against the public health and security 55
Mayhem 11
Violation of postal laws 5
Violation of graves 1
Conspiracy 8
Falsification 7
giving a total of 438, which includes not only those sentenced but also
those indicted and acquitted. From this table it will be seen that a
relatively small number of the actual felonies committed are felonies
involving loss of life or an attempt against life. In support of this
table, and in proof of the fact that crimes of violence are relatively
few in Porto Rico, the following table is given, which is a record of
the convictions of the district courts of the Island of Porto Rico in
criminal cases, for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15, and of the convicts
in the penitentiary June 30, 1915:
Number of Percentage In peni- Per cent
convictions of crimes tentiary in prison
1913- 1914- 1913- 1914-
14 15 14 15
Violation of laws
enacted in
exercise of
police powers 220 842 .23 .45 142 .10
Against persons 286 432 .30 .23 371 .25
Against property 329 312 .34 .17 779 .53
Against the
administration of
public justice 29 142 .03 .08 21 .01
Against decency 40 51 .04 .03 97 .06
Against good morals 36 35 .04 .02 20 .01
Against reputation 9 16 .01 .01 ... ...
Unclassified 10 7 .01 .01 38 .03
--- ----- -----
Totals 959 1,837 1,468
From the above table it will be seen that crimes against persons
constitute 23 to 30 per cent of the crimes committed. Of the total
number of convicts in the penitentiary for the commission of crime, 25
per cent, during the year 1914-15, were there for crimes against
persons. Thus we may definitely state that about 25 per cent of the
crimes carried to the district courts of Porto Rico are those which
involve attempts against the life or well-being of another person. It
will be noticed from the above table that with few exceptions the
percentages of crimes for the two years are very nearly equal. In
1913-14, 34 per cent of the crimes were against property, which was not
strange when we consider that this was a year of financial crisis, due
to the sugar situation. In the same year 23 per cent of the crimes were
in violation of laws enacted in exercise of police powers. These crimes
included breach of the peace.
In the following year, 1914-15, when we had about 17,000 laborers
engaged in strikes throughout the Island, and when in addition to this
there was a general Insular election, we find that the number of crimes
against property dropped to 17 per cent, whereas the number of crimes in
violation of laws enacted in exercise of police powers rose from 23 per
cent to 45 per cent. This would tend to prove that the average
lawbreaker in Porto Rico is easily influenced by economic circumstances
and by social surroundings, and that at such a period as that of strikes
or elections criminal tendencies take the direction of breach of the
peace and violation of municipal ordinances, rather than such crimes as
arson, burglary, embezzlement, or forgery.
The influence of the election year is also noticeable in the group of
crimes prejudicial to the administration of public justice, which
includes contempt of court, bribery, and perjury. During the year
1913-14, 3 per cent of the convictions fell under this head, while
during the year 1914-15, the amount was 8 per cent. It will be noticed
that of the prisoners in the penitentiary the percentage of those
convicted for violation of laws enacted in exercise of police power is
only 10 per cent, much less than the percentage of those convicted in
the district courts. This, of course, is accounted for by the fact that
the great majority of violations of these laws are punishable by fines
rather than by imprisonment. In the same way, the percentage of
prisoners for crimes against property is much larger than the percentage
of convictions in the district courts for this crime, due, of course, to
the fact that these crimes are more frequently punished by a prison
sentence than by a fine, thus giving an accumulation from year to year
of convicts, which overbalances the per cent of the court convictions
for any single year.
According to the report of the Insular Chief of Police, the town which
had the greatest number of arrests, in proportion to its population, for
the year 1915-16, was Arroyo, where there was one arrest for every 8.47
persons. This was followed by Salinas, with one arrest for every 8.82
persons. The town with the best record was Las Marías, where there was
one arrest for every 162.03 persons. On the basis of the records of the
municipal courts for the three years of 1912-13, 1913-14, and 1914-15,
the judicial districts stand in the following relation as far as the
number of criminal cases presented during that time is concerned. The
table given shows one criminal case presented every three years for the
number of inhabitants indicated in each judicial district.
San Juan, one case for every 17.79 persons
Rio Piedras " " " " 18.42 "
Patillas " " " " 19.94 "
Vieques " " " " 19.98 "
Salinas " " " " 23.34 "
Guayama " " " " 24.62 "
Yauco " " " " 24.14 "
Mayaguez " " " " 27.50 "
Vega Baja " " " " 28.74 "
Humacao " " " " 27.31 "
San Lorenzo " " " " 30.66 "
Ciales " " " " 31.07 "
Fajardo " " " " 31.40 "
Juana Diaz " " " " 33.00 "
Cáguas " " " " 33.01 "
Yabucoa " " " " 33.24 "
Añasco " " " " 36.29 "
Ponce " " " " 36.92 "
Manatí " " " " 37.89 "
Arecibo " " " " 38.23 "
Cayey " " " " 38.29 "
Lares " " " " 40.83 "
Rio Grande " " " " 40.90 "
Barros " " " " 41.09 "
Bayamón " " " " 43.87 "
San Germán " " " " 44.70 "
Adjuntas " " " " 44.97 "
Coamo " " " " 45.19 "
Camuy " " " " 47.13 "
San Sebastián " " " " 48.55 "
Aguadilla " " " " 50.22 "
Utuado " " " " 54.61 "
Carolina " " " " 57.63 "
Cabo Rojo " " " " 64.99 "
The great proportion of crime in San Juan, as compared with the rest of
the Island, is of course largely due to social conditions, inasmuch as
it is the largest city in the Island and to a great extent the resort of
undesirable characters for this reason. In the second place, as a coast
town and the most important shipping and commercial center, it has a
more or less shifting population, and a population composed to a great
extent of an uneducated type among the working classes. Every seaport
town offers opportunities for criminal classes which inland towns do not
possess. The second town in the list, Rio Piedras, is the natural outlet
between San Juan and the rest of the Island, which undoubtedly accounts
for its large percentage of crime. The rest of the towns where crime is
found in large proportion will be discovered to have a large floating
population, people who are day laborers and who have no particular
interest in the community, except as it provides them with an
opportunity for earning daily wages. This class of population is always
unfavorable to a community and is always to be found where large
industries exist which employ a great number of men; and this is
especially true when little attempt is made on the part of the employer
to render the permanence of the job desirable by furnishing
well-provided living facilities for the employee. It is noticeable that
in Cabo Rojo, where the percentage of criminal cases is lowest, the
population depends chiefly upon the hat-making industry for its support.
This is added proof of the value of small industries from the point of
view of community welfare.
It is noteworthy that there was an immense increase in the number of
crimes committed in the following districts: Ciales, where the number of
cases increased from 431 in 1912 to 754 in 1915; Lares, where the
increase was from 352 to 853; Vieques, where the increase was from 341
to 684; Yabucoa, where the increase was from 589 to 831; Yauco, where
the increase was from 867 to 1,490. In the rest of the districts the
number of crimes did not vary greatly from year to year, even decreasing
in the case of Rio Piedras from 1,101 in 1912 to 911 in 1915. Of course,
the difference in crime percentage might depend upon the efficiency of
the police force or upon the severity of the Municipal Judge, but
undoubtedly it will be found more often to depend upon local conditions
such as strikes, or the introduction of large numbers of workingmen from
another district to take part in agricultural or industrial work. The
change of location and the resulting necessity of accommodation to local
surroundings is apt to be dangerous to the morals of the individual.
The great majority of the arrests were for crimes which would be termed
city crimes. The average countryman of Porto Rico is a man who has a
great deal of respect for the law and is inclined to obey it unless led
into trouble in a moment of passion or while under the influence of
alcoholic drinks. Throughout the country districts premeditated crime is
rare, and from the standpoint of improvement of the community, the
cities and large towns should be the chief points of attack. A great
deal of carelessness exists as to complying with local laws and
municipal ordinances, and it is estimated that on June 30, 1915, there
were confined in the Insular jails and detention houses, prisoners in
the relation of one to every 7.17 inhabitants of the Island. The chief
work of the schools along the line of prevention of crime should be the
explanation of laws, both Insular and municipal, and the explanation of
the reasons for such laws, in order that the individual may be led by
his own volition to avoid lawbreaking. Parents should also be impressed
with the necessity of inculcating in their children a respect for
constituted authority and the necessary obedience to it in order that as
the children develop into men and women they may have the proper respect
for the laws and those who have been appointed to enforce them.