The number of persons arrested for felonies and misdemeanors rose from 18,491 in 1980 to 20,073 in 1983 or from 9.5 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1980 to 9.6 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1983. When figures were broken down according to province, the greatest number of arrests in 1983 were found in the most populous province, Panamá, which accounted for approximately 50 percent of the total. Chiriquí and Colón ranked second and third in number of arrests, and in each case the principal cities (David and Colón) accounted for very high percentages of the totals. The statistics gave no details concerning the crimes for which the listed arrests were made.

Crimes by juveniles (persons under eighteen) increased during the early 1980s. The number of cases handled by the Guardianship Court for Minors rose from 2,923 in 1980 to 3,136 in 1983. Although juvenile offenses ran the gamut from homicide (17 in 1983) to traffic infractions serious enough to be taken to court (275 in 1983), the largest increases were in the categories of property damage, attacks against persons, and fights.

Data as of December 1987

NOTE: The information regarding Panama on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Panama Incidence of Crime information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Panama Incidence of Crime should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.