As cities sprawl across Latin America, absorbing more and more of its people, crime and violence have become inescapable. From the paramilitary invasion of Medellin Colombia, the booming wealth of crack dealers in Managua, and police corruption in Mexico City, to the glimmers of hope in Lima, this book provides a dynamic analysis of urban insecurity. Working with new empirical evidence, interviews with local people and historical contextualization, the authors shed light on the fault-lines which have appeared in Latin American society. They argue that the situation can only be improved by cooperation between communities and police to build new networks of trust.