Crime figures still favor Cuenca, but residents say burglaries, threats and violent deaths are changing the mood.

Cuenca remains one of Ecuador’s safest cities by almost any statistical measure, but a rise in home burglaries, threats and homicides has pushed security concerns back into public discussion and prompted local authorities to promise more coordinated police and military operations.

The concern is not that Cuenca has become another Guayaquil, Durán, Machala or Manta. By national standards, it has not. The city continues to report far lower levels of violence than the provinces with the country’s highest homicide rates, and international safety rankings still place it among the most secure urban areas in South America.

But the city’s reputation for calm is being tested by a different reality: residents who say robberies feel more common, neighborhood leaders who believe many crimes go unreported, and official figures showing that violent deaths in the first quarter of 2026 already reached half of last year’s total.

Between January and March 2026, Cuenca registered 64 reports of robbery or theft from homes, up from 60 during the same period in 2025, according to figures from the Cuenca Citizen Security Council. Threats also rose, from 154 complaints in the first quarter of 2025 to 164 in the same period this year.

Those increases are modest in percentage terms, but they have become part of a larger concern among residents who say the change is being felt in daily life.

One woman, identified only as Martha, said she and her family were robbed while arriving at their home about 500 meters from the historic center in the early hours of May 9th. A group of men intercepted them as they were getting home.

“This has never happened to us before,” she said.

Most reported crimes declined, but fear has not

The first-quarter numbers show a mixed picture. Several crimes actually decreased compared with the same period last year.

Drug trafficking reports rose slightly, from 29 to 30. Car theft and robbery fell sharply, from 103 cases in the first quarter of 2025 to 70 in the same period of 2026. Theft of vehicle parts, accessories and other vehicle-related property also declined, from 63 to 49.

Robbery and theft from individuals remained almost unchanged, falling from 228 to 224 cases. Extortion complaints declined from 49 to 46, and scams fell from 279 to 219.

But home burglaries increased from 60 to 64, and threats rose from 154 to 164. Those two categories, along with homicides, are driving much of the unease.

The contradiction is clear: the broader numbers do not show a city in collapse, yet residents and neighborhood leaders say the sense of security has weakened. In a city long known for its relative calm, even small increases can carry greater weight because they feel like a break from the old normal.

Roberto Mosquera, president of the Federation of Neighborhoods of Cuenca, said the city is nowhere near the level of violence seen in other parts of Ecuador. Still, he said the alarm is justified because robberies have become a daily concern in many areas and violent deaths are appearing in places where such crimes were previously rare.

Mosquera represents 280 of Cuenca’s 430 federated neighborhoods. He said residents often do not report robberies because they do not trust the justice system to respond effectively, which he believes means official figures understate the real problem.

Neighborhoods organize as residents lose patience

In recent weeks, security concerns have moved from official meetings into homes, public spaces and social media. Residents in several neighborhoods have organized alarm systems, community chat groups and informal patrols. Some are also identifying basic problems that make areas feel more vulnerable, such as broken streetlights or abandoned spaces.

Mosquera said those efforts help, but they are not enough without a stronger official presence.

He said the city needs more police officers, more patrols and better control of areas where illegal activity is beginning to concentrate. The Federation of Neighborhoods has also raised concerns about new tolerance zones and red-light districts that it says are expanding without proper regulation or oversight.

“We will continue to demand the right to security, to live in peace, to be protected,” Mosquera said.

The concern is not only about the crimes being reported, but also about the perception that some areas are changing faster than authorities are responding. Neighborhood leaders say the city’s safety model depends on prevention, visibility and trust, not just reacting after crimes occur.

Yanuncay, El Batán and Huayna Cápac among hardest-hit parishes

A review of 2025 crime data by parish shows that several urban areas carried a larger share of reported offenses.

Yanuncay, El Batán, Huayna Cápac and San Sebastián were among the 10 parishes with the highest number of reported crimes last year.

Huayna Cápac recorded some of the highest numbers in car-related crime, with 88 cases in one category. El Batán followed closely with 83, while El Sagrario reported 80 and Yanuncay 71. San Sebastián and El Vecino each registered 61.

Yanuncay also stood out for theft of vehicle parts and accessories, with 40 reports, while San Sebastián recorded 38 in that category. Scam complaints were also spread across several parishes, with notable figures in Yanuncay, El Batán, Huayna Cápac, San Sebastián and Sucre.

Violent deaths were among the crimes recorded in several parishes, including Yanuncay, El Batán, Huayna Cápac and San Sebastián. Though the numbers remain low compared with Ecuador’s most violent cities, their presence in Cuenca’s parish-by-parish data has added to public concern.

The most commonly stolen items in Cuenca in 2025 were cell phones, with 659 reports. Money followed with 313 reports, then personal documents with 281, laptops with 106 and clothing with 63.

Those figures reflect a city where street and property crimes remain more common than extreme violence, but where the public mood has been affected by the perception that robberies are more frequent and criminals are becoming bolder.

Authorities promise expanded operations

The Provincial Security Council met on May 13th to address the concerns raised by residents, neighborhood organizations and local officials. The meeting was led by Azuay Governor Xavier Bermúdez, Cuenca Mayor Cristian Zamora and Azuay Prefect Juan Cristóbal Lloret.

Bermúdez said he has requested additional police officers for Cuenca from the Ministry of the Interior. But he also acknowledged that national security resources are being prioritized for provinces and cities with much higher levels of violent death and organized crime.

As of May 10th, Azuay ranked 17th nationally in intentional homicide rates. Provinces such as El Oro, Manabí, Los Ríos and Guayas remained at the top of the country’s violence indicators.

That ranking helps explain why Cuenca has not received the same level of security reinforcement as harder-hit areas. But local authorities say the city still needs targeted action to prevent problems from spreading.

Bermúdez said the government will expand Camex operations, which focus on the control of weapons, ammunition and explosives. Those operations will be carried out in strategic areas with the National Police and the Armed Forces.

He also said adjustments are needed in the circuits covered by Community Police Units, suggesting that patrol routes and coverage areas may need to be revised to better reflect current crime patterns.

Homicides rise from one to 11 in first quarter

The most troubling figure for authorities is the increase in homicides.

Cuenca recorded 22 murders in all of 2025, according to Ministry of the Interior data. That gave the city a homicide rate of 3.44 per 100,000 residents, far below Ecuador’s national rate of 50.91 per 100,000.

But during the first three months of 2026, Cuenca recorded 11 homicides. In the first quarter of 2025, the city had recorded only one.

Bermúdez said most of this year’s homicides are linked to drug sales and territorial disputes. Two others, he said, were related to family environments.

That distinction matters for security planning. Authorities see drug-related violence differently from domestic or interpersonal killings, and each requires a different response. But for residents, the technical explanation does little to ease the sense that Cuenca is seeing crimes it used to associate with other parts of the country.

The city’s challenge now is to respond without overstating the crisis. Cuenca remains statistically safer than much of Ecuador, but its residents are asking for visible action before the numbers move further in the wrong direction. For a city whose reputation has long rested on being an exception to Ecuador’s violence, the warning signs are enough to make people look twice when they reach their front door.