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With plans to move to Costa Rica in the spring of 2007 I’ve been doing much research on the Internet about the country. What I’ve come across most is regarding the violence and crime. I presently live in a small community in a rural area. It’s about as safe a place as you can be yet we have our muggings, car jackings, burglaries, rapes and occasionally a murder. As a single woman if I were to go into town alone wearing my gold and diamond jewelry I would most probably become a victim. If I were in a group, or escorted by a burly type man I’d most probably be safe. All communites are the same regardless of location. The more affluent flaunt and the poor rob. They want what you have and sometimes they see you and think about how hungry they are, how their family lives. Use your common sense, be polite, don’t go out alone at night and in some areas go in groups even in the daytime, leave your flashy jewelry at home, and in general keep your wits about you. Violence is everywhere. Costa Rica is no different than the rest of the world. If you’re really worried learn self-defense tactics before you come.
Thank you for summing it up so succinctly Marcia
As they say “common sense is not so common” and it amazes me when we read about these ‘scary’ muggings and hear through the grapevine that contrary to what was said in the newspapers, the guy was drunk, walking the streets of San Jose at 3am with his paid for ‘companion’ and his fat wallet full of cash sticking out of his back pocket…
We had another story recently of some American who was killed in Pavas. The unfortunate man had chosen to help ‘street people’ by giving them cash and allowing them into his home. These ‘street people’ were nearly all doing drugs and I guess one eveing they wanted more than he was willing to give him and killed him.
I guess he should be commended for his compassion and generosity but not sure about his level of ‘street smarts.’
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comI love Costa Rica, but y’all are deceiving yourselves.
Costa Rica is not like every place else.
I can walk around downtown Austin, Texas at night without tripping over 9 year-old kids sleeping in cardboard boxes, who don’t have shoes but do have bottles of glue they’re sniffing.
It’s a great country, but to suggest that it’s as safe as any place else is a fallacy.
You are entitled to your opinion but we are not deceiving ourselves and you can not refer to the crime level of the capital city of a country San Jose and then project that level of crime out for the rest of the country, it is not accurate.
Are you saying that Costa Rica is more dangerous than “any place else”? Because that is not accurate either.
I believe it is. Look at the rising crime in La Fortuna, Quepos, Jaco… compared to 10 years ago.
Ask the locals and they will tell you. Ignore the developers, promoters and touts.
Crime rates around the world seem to be rising. Just look at the nightly news or read the newspapers, if you can stand to. Either it is a function of crimes being better reported, better news coverage, or it is actually rising. Remember a crime that is not reported appears never to have been committed.
As it reads in the rest of the world it reads similarly in CR. The English language papers and internet news reports have crime stories every day. Does this mean it is worse in CR than years ago, maybe.
Then look at US news and you get the same type of stories.
It would appear that the world is a different place than it was when I was growing up. Maybe the fact that news reporting is more sensationalized than ever before helps to reinforce our fears.
I happen to think there is a real rise in crime, in part, to the growing separation between the classes. The rich are increasingly accumulating more, and the poor are not being able to make the jump to middle class. In the US the middle class is shrinking by being taxed out of their houses and lifestyles. The gap in CR is also widening. this may account for poorer people committing more crime. In CR the society is more egalitarian than other places in the world and you would think that would lessen crime. But if the rich/poor gap keeps getting wider this may contribute to envy of the rich and an increase in criminal activity.
On our last visit to Costa Rica we had the opportunity to speak to a lifelong Tico about this. I was saying to him that living here makes you have more of a sense of “personal responsibility” in order to stay safe. As in Lock your doors, car, don’t drive on unfamiliar roads at night, don’t go to downtown San Jose at 3am and other obvious things. His answer was that it is really more a matter of “common sense.” If you look for trouble you will find it.
When all of us go on vacation we might sometimes leave our common sense at home, figuring hey we’re on vacation everything is going to be alright. Just be aware of your surroundings at all times and act appropriately. Doing this does not guarantee safety, but it most likely is a good start.Edited on Jan 10, 2007 10:57
OK I don’t want to get up on a soap box and start preaching or start sounding like the crime sage. But let’s look at the facts. First of all All of Costa Rica including San Jose is no more dangerous than any other major city or Country when we talk about surburbs and country living. Second crime is rising accross Costa Rica and the rest of the world as a result of drug use expansion not a seporation of class. It is usually the poor that suffer as the largest group of crime victims. Costa Rica isn’t immune to the problems that face people all over the world. With all that said Costa Rica is also no more dangerous and in most areas a lot less dangerous then many other places. The chance of becoming a victim of a crime in Costa Rica depends on your use of common sense and the luck of the draw. I feel perfectly safe in Costa Rica yet I know I could become a statistic on any given day, I limit my chances by being aware and never looking like a target. Granted I am a big man with street smarts and also the look I learned growing up on the streets of Brooklyn. Is that what saved me all my years being out all night in the highest crime areas of NYC maybe but I am sure the fact I never left a bar drunk and I always new where my car was parked walked with my eyes knowing everything happening around me played a much larger role. All those things still play a major role in keeping safe today. However, drugs being the leading issue is causing violent crime will eliminate everything I wrote because an addict won’t see my size or care about it won’t stop him from shooting first and emptying my pockets as I lie in my own blood and bystanders watch in amazement. Drugs affect a persons thought process and their caring about anything but getting more drugs. The aforementioned can happen anywhere in the world and is less likely to happen in Costa Rica. So let’s all be safe enjoy life live your life and use common sense.
Vegasknite, You’re right. I forgot about the increase in drug use being a major factor in crime. The poor do suffer more than the wealthy.
I too grew up in NYC, The Bronx in fact, which you know has a similar reputation to Brooklyn.
I’m sure both the things we mentioned have an influence on crime. I’ve been to San Jose with my wife, walked the streets of Alajuela at night and My kids have been in Jaco late at night and we also felt safe.
In San Jose we hired a street guide for a tour of the National Theater. He told us an increase in gangs in recent years has been the factor in crime there.
All in all CR is probably not any worse than any other place in the world. If we really did’nt feel secure we would not even be considering moving there.I remember a documentary in the UK years ago where they examined video footage of various people and the way in which they walked in front of a large group of incarcerated convicts who were in prison because they mugged someone.
The convicts were asked to clearly indicate ‘who’ they would have mugged…
The bottom line? Just like the animal world… Walk along the street with hunched shoulders and look scared and you will be a higher probability target.
The lion would always prefer to attack a weak deer for example than a very alert healthy deer full of vim and vigor.
There are always exceptions but if you walk along the street proud, shoulders back, chest out as if you were on leave from the Special Forces and the perp will tend to choose to attack the weak looking target (including a drunk) and leave you alone.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comPosted in the wrong place and reposted here by Scott
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Posted Jan 10,2007 9:13 PM Gracedom
I have made seven trips to Costa Rica since 2003 and have never been robbed or stolen from in the places I have stayed. I do not frequent places where the homeless live on the streets and the drugies walk around looking for a fix. I must admit that making application for a drivers liscense in San Jose made me feel uncomfortable however I am a small women with blue eyes so I stuck out like a sore thumb.Sure… crime happens everywhere. It’s all the same. Bogota. Bagdad. Managua. Beverly Hills.
Crime happens everywhere.
Uh, huh.
That’s why we all had our our Nicaraguan guards with shotguns, our razor wire fences and our cell-block windows and guard dogs back in Vancouver, too.
And oh, yes… victims are to blame for crime. It’s all their fault, because of how they carried themselves when they walked. I forgot.
Sure.
Kudos to Scott for even allowing this thread of discussion. The folks over at CostRicaLiving Yahoo group wouldn’t even let my post go through, as it was based in “opinion” — as if everyone else there posts only facts. LOL.
I may be an a–hole, but I’m an a–hole with a valid point.
My son was mugged here in Brooklyn a few weeks ago right in front of the train stop and a deli. Luckily all he lost was 2 dollars and his i.d.s and got a bloody nose. Yesterday his new roommate fresh off the plane from Missouri was mugged in the same neighborhood and had his jaw broken in 3 places and wired shut. Maybe we can get a few of those Nica armed guys up here….pronto!!!
My son was mugged here in Brooklyn a few weeks ago right in front of the train stop and a deli. Luckily all he lost was 2 dollars and his i.d.s and got a bloody nose. Yesterday his new roommate fresh off the plane from Missouri was mugged in the same neighborhood and had his jaw broken in 3 places and wired shut.As the t-shirt so delicately puts it “Welcome To NY! Now duck mother F*****” Maybe we can get a few of those Nica armed guys up here….pronto!!!
I’d like to see the crime statistics based on the populations between Los Angeles in the US vs. San Jose in Costa Rica. Wherever there is poverty there is crime. Living is risky. Keep your wits about you, your courage up and enjoy the beauty of Costa Rica. Everyone is looking at, and pointing out, the negatives. That’s not to say all should bury their heads in the sand, nor not use their freedome of speech, I’m just saying enough is enough. The subject has been covered. I’d like to see Scott remove this entire string. What’s the old song? “You gotta accentuate the postive, eliminiate the negative…”
Hi Marcia I have a simple question for you, Would you want Scott to pull this string off here if you had no knowledge about Costa Rica and you were visiting for the very first time in a few weeks and this was one of your main sources of information about CR because it was recommended to you as a great site to learn everything about the place you are coming to visit. Take it a step further the ignorant travel agent has you booked in Downtown San Jose and you have a sleeping disorder so you are up nights and sleep days plus you love to walk on city streets. Wouldn’t it be nice to know you might end up learning that you need to use caution while on vacation just as you would while at home. Just a thought about what censorship does to enlightenment. Take note new people come to this site without the knowledge that you have or the experiences outlined in previous strings. Under that premise would you still pull this string and it’s negative positive information?
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