One of these needs is focused on the issue of security, which has a direct impact on the consolidation of business and foreign investment.

According to the Business Climate Survey 2021, conducted by the CCB, 87% of businessmen perceive Bogota as unsafe, a percentage that increased by 37 percentage points compared to 2020.

Security X-Ray: Victimization

According to the CCB's security and perception survey (conducted since 1998) victimization in 2021 was the highest in the last six years, reaching 20%, increasing by five percentage points compared to 2019. For women, victimization was 17%, while for men it was 22%.

Since 2019, there has been an increase of 16 percentage points in citizens who report having witnessed a crime without being a victim, rising from 30% in that year to 46% in 2021.

This same survey revealed that mugging is the most common type of theft, and cell phone is the most stolen item. Although the knife continues to be the object with which most crimes are committed, it is noteworthy that the firearm increases in the commission of crimes, from 17% in 2020 to 23% in 2021. Now, citizens indicated a firearm, but it is unknown whether it was of this type or a blank.

In the case of businessmen, victimization fell to 14%, decreasing two points compared to 2020, according to the Business Climate survey of this same entity.

One element that is striking in this context of victimization is that reporting has increased, reaching 49% in 2021, increasing by 5 points compared to 2019. This means that 1 out of every 2 people who are victims of a crime are turning to the authorities to report. In this sense, efforts should be maintained to encourage reporting so that official records are increasingly closer to the crime "reality" in the city.

Factors affecting the perception of security

Pedestrian bridges, the Transmilenio mass transit system and vandalism and drug dealing are factors that affect the perception of security. According to the CCB's security survey, streets and pedestrian bridges are the public spaces that generate the greatest sense of insecurity among citizens with 22% and 20% respectively, followed by bicycle lanes and pastures with 12%. Regarding Transmilenio, although the perception of insecurity decreased for 2021, 71% of those surveyed still consider it insecure and very insecure, mainly because of the thefts committed there.

In fact, women are the ones who perceive increased insecurity (89%) compared to men (87%).

In the same sense of perception, social networks are the main source of information on security issues among respondents (34%), followed by television news (32%).

Relationship with institutions

Regarding the relationship of citizens with the institutional framework, the perception and security survey showed that there was an increase in the use of the 123 line. However, 43% of respondents considered the service provided when calling very bad and bad, so it is important to have on the public agenda the improvement in citizen service.

Likewise, the good rating of the attention provided by the Police decreased for the year 2021, so it should become a priority for the police service to increase satisfaction levels. However, this contrasts with the increase in interactions that citizens have with the police, where 54% of respondents see an agent from their quadrant every week.

CCB Recommendations

Faced with this radiography, the Bogota Chamber of Commerce proposes some recommendations to be taken into account by decision-makers when generating public policies:

• Citizen attention and institutionalism:

1. Citizens must see the union and cooperative work between the Mayor's Office and the Metropolitan Police.

2. Implement an improvement plan for citizen attention on the 123 line to increase the positive rating of attention on the call.

3. Training for in-service police and new recruits should focus on the citizen service model. According to the assessment of police officers' skills, non-verbal communication and understanding of the citizen's need are the main need for improvement.

• Gender focus

Seventeen percent of the women surveyed were victims of theft from persons, while for men this figure was 22% in 2021. In this regard, it is recommended to continue prioritizing security work for women. Targeted actions in the neighborhoods should be based on coherent work agendas from the Local Security Councils and Local Women's Councils.

• Differential work in the territory

Recovering the perception of safety in the neighborhood should be a city objective. The Secretariat of Security, Coexistence and Justice must be the leading entity in the territorial agenda in terms of security and coexistence, and the stipulations of the Integral Plan for Security, Coexistence and Justice (PISCJ) must permeate local actions through the Local Government and Security Councils. The effort in citizen participation in citizen fronts and networks must be compensated with results in crime control and prevention in the short term.

• Reducing victimization in the short term

The economic and social reactivation of the city requires increased efforts to target and intervene in crime hotspots. This requires the offices of the Metropolitan Police and the Secretariat of Security, Coexistence and Justice as articulators of crime control and the presence of the institutional offer of the entire district aimed at improving the quality of life.

• More and better flow of information to the media.

A way of approaching crime in the media that is oriented to the strict monitoring of cases and highlighting operational achievements in the city should be agreed upon, with a view to counteracting the effect that social networks can have on the formation of citizen opinions regarding security.