Former gang members in El Salvador

Anastasia Moloney looks at the many difficulties that former gang members confront in El Salvador even if the gangs for some reasons allow them to leave the life.

"Gang members never really had an opportunity. We support those who have a desire to change and to rehabilitate. No one hires ex-convicts or gang members. Their families are also stigmatised," said Nestor Granados, head of sales at the Project Metamorphosis factory.

"They find doors are closed. Most people just want to see them locked up for good... Society needs to recognise that violence is everyone's problem. It's not just a gang problem."

Run by a Christian organisation Love Link, the factory has a waiting list with the names of hundreds of people hoping to get a job and earn the minimum monthly wage of $237.

One former gang member and ex-wife of a gang leader is relieved to have ended a life of crime.

"Many people get involved in gangs because they need the money. But before you know it, you are sucked in and are looking after weapons, selling drugs and involved in extortion," said the 28-year-old, who did not want to give her name.

"Fear is always present. Fear the police will get you, fear a rival gang member will kill you, fear of walking into the wrong neighbourhood. I felt confined," she said against the din of machines.

While she could earn up to $1,000 a week as a gang member, she divorced her husband and left the gang because she did not want to put any future children in danger.

But reintegrating into normal life is an uphill struggle.

"Before I didn't really have to work. We had our own rules," she said, glueing labels on shoes. "This isn't easy money. It's hard work."

Glasswing International and Project Metamorphosis are two organizations mentioned in the article that are working to prevent young people from becoming involved in gangs and to help rehabilitate former gang members.

I knew things looked good but not this good

Carlos Mendoza and the good people at the Central American Business Intelligence have an update on where Guatemala is likely to end the year in terms of homicide rates. Using homicide data from the National Civil Police and population estimates from the National Statistics Institute, it looks like Guatemala will end the year with its fifth consecutive year of lower homicide rates. That would be an 8 percent improvement over 2013. An estimated year-end homicide rate of 31.4 per 100,000 Guatemalans would put it in Colombia territory so that is good but still about 10th dangerous in the world.

I also like to treat the PNC's numbers as the lower bound and INACIF as the upper bound. They are also estimates as some murders are not actually characterized as murders, some bodies are disappeared, and the population estimate is an estimate.

However, five consecutive years of decreasing homicide rates is something to celebrate.

Big data and crime fighting

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I thought I'd plug my friend and colleague today. Mike Jenkins is a assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Scranton.

My research explores the innovations police executives are implementing in the new community problem-solving policing era. While this new era has had its share of growing pains in recent years, there is no question that better data and technology will help make this form of policing even more effective, while simultaneously enhancing community relations.

He recently recorded a segment for The Academic Minute excerpted above on the role of big data in fighting crime.You can also see him in this video talking about his new book on Police Leaders in the New Community Problem-Solving Era.

In his spare time, he enjoys writing for The Huffington Post and elsewhere.

Exciting times at the University of Scranton!