Guatemala City is said to be one of the most dangerous places in the world. Researchers say there are up to about 30 killings a night. Less than 15 out of 5,000 murders result in conviction. With the help of C.S.I. training, a group of officers hope to change this. With the violent crime rates getting higher, Guatemalans have little confidence in the police. One man explains, "Young men simply disappear and are found dead the next day.” An angry mob chased a suspected murderer. As they caught up with him, an unidentified man doused him with petrol and set him on fire.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer Tim Sleigh confides "The level of violence here is unbelievable ... I think I've just come into a war zone," Victims like 16 year Rosita risk their lives to secure a prosecution. Rosita told police "He grabbed my hair, put a knife to my throat and dragged me down a narrow alley" But there are signs things are improving. The C.S.I officers trained by the RCMP team have passed on their skills to 400 colleagues. But winning public support for the judiciary will depend on results. As a prosecutor, Byron Duran accepts; "We have to start again from zero in regaining that trust".
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