Defining indicators and statistics as cultural artefacts, this article analyzes some of those that are used in Chile to account for the phenomenon of delinquency, aiming at exploring the epistemic logics that participate in their fabrication. A review of data produced by police services and the National Public Prosecutor’s office, as well as by victimization surveys, leads to the conclusion that these indicators combine different epistemic regimes –at least one based on legal and police knowledge, one based on the state’s management of citizens’ security, and one based on moral or normative judgements— hindering the sociological understanding of the phenomenon of delinquency, and its treatment by public debates and social intervention.