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Well what do you think? I personally would rather pay the underpaid police directly than pay the government. I am talking about a policeman that actually catches you breaking the speed limit. Not a cop that is seeking money for a traffic violation that did not occur (which has never happened to me or anybody i know of).
Would you rather pay the $10 and move on? or pay the ticket?
Remember police make about $250 a month…
When you “pay the underpaid police directly” I am assuming that you are referring to bribing him rather than paying the fine which I think you’ll find is against the law.
And where does it stop? Is it OK if the policeman accepts that $10 from one person a day, what about 20 people per day?
It is possible that I have misunderstood this posting – in which case I apologize – but just in case, there will be no further posts allowed in this Forum that could be construed as encouraging anyone to bribe anyone, anywhere in Costa Rica.
Scott Oliver- Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comI am not encouraginbg anyone to break the law – period. I am simply trying to find out if people find this acceptable or unacceptable.
I think you have a vaild point regarding where does it end?/ I had never thought about it being easy to abuse. Do you think that its possible for police to actually gey 20 bribes a day? I would think that it might be more like 2 to 4 bribes.
Thank you 2BNCR – I certainly feel for the Police making so little money and understand why some people might pay an amount directly to the Police Officer in question but as guests in this country, it can only be considered totally unacceptable to “augment” their paltry salary in this way…
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com2BNCR, This may fall into your belief that expats should assimilate by imitating Ticos. Do you really think Ticos generally do this sort of thing? It is not different from purposely under claiming real estate values to avoid paying more taxes, is it? I understand you do not like government. Do you think the Tico attitude is the same towards their government? Be clear about your own motives in moving to Costa Rica and try to avoid projecting your own bias upon that culture. You could be making a big mistake.
To answer your question; I would never pay a bribe. Period. Give the cop a 5,000 colon note AFTER accepting the ticket and fine and ask him to make a contribution to the red cross or something on your behalf.17 Years ago I was driving out to the beach in Venezuela with my fiance, now my wife and mother of 3, when suddenly I was randomly stop by “Guardia Nacional” and was asked for my papers, all except the yearly medical driving test were fine, I was asked to follow the low range officer to a small room where a fat and big officer was sitting on his desk, he started to menace me that the car will be towed to a municipal parking lot because he would not let me drive without the medical test, he also told me that we were about 20 Km far from the next town and walking with a young girl would be “very dangerous”… Making a call was also not possible becase the phone was “broken” so he said.
After a pause and looking at my scared face he startet to explain that there is an “easy way” to forget the thing.. but well of course nobody should know, I ended paying him at that time the equivalent of 200$ to let me drive my car with my wife, this was one of the moments of my life were I really fellt humiliated and without a change to fight back, and the only time in my life (thank good) I was forced to pay directly to an officer..
I don’t believe paying the underpaid police officer would be better, this is how a criminal career start, I’m sure that fat officer began with just small bribes, after doing this for a short time he realized that this way he would make more money and started to abuse of his power in a grotest way.
I would tell the officcer to organize and claim better salaries from the goverment instead.
Regards rafael
No it may not be Venezuela but there are elements like that out there. I was stopped for speading on my most recent trip in November on the Pan -Am headed back to San Jose from the northern beaches. I was obeying the speed limit and had even been flashed as I approached a speed trap, and that is what it was, I thoght I was being careful but had missed the drop from 80 to 60 kph and was flagged over. The officer explained the ticket and insisted I would have to travel in to the city the next day and pay it at a bank as to imply the trouble I was going to have to settle this matter, when I told him I was instructed to pay the car rental agent and not to worry about it and not to pay the officer he took a few minuted then returned to the car and warned me and then wished me Pura Vida and sent me on my way. I truly believe he was waiting for me to suggest something else.
Hi Sprite, I was trying to make a point that paying bribes to a police officer no matter how small the amount might be, have the potential to convert a fit and honest man into a fat and corrupt one who abuse of his power..
I was not trying to compare Vzla. with CR. those are two totally different s countries.
Of course they do. I have seen it many times. I like a government that has earned my respect. That usually means local goverment.
Once they get big and there is a large pool of money sitting around the rats come in at night and gorge. Or, they dish it out to the people that pave the roads. They in return send a kick-back to the politician and they make-up the money they sent by diluting the asphalt used on the roads.
This is a real life example of what happened in Costa Rica. Guess what – you for your tax money get asphalt with half the life expectency. The guy who paves the road get to repave twice as frequently and the politician gets twice the bribe – and the tax payer gets 25% for his money and the headache of pot holes – not to mention the danger. So, do you think politician should be respected? Who is nieve here. It’s like thinking lawyers have your best interest in mind. And maybe , just maybe 10% do, but the rest are looking to take advantage of you by either not doing the work, or doing iy incorrectly, or cretaing work that you do not need so they can bill you more.
These things need to be clear with the populace so people are not nieve by giving respect to politicians and attorneys that are basically dishonest, maybe not by the letter of the law but certainialy ethically dishonest.
Now if that paving company was local to the area being paved, do you think they would have risked cheating their immeadiate neighbors, risked the humiliation and reprisals if caught and exposed?
Sprite, you may be a bit blind to the real workings of the world and it may be you who is imposing your bias (trusting goverment to act effectivly and fairly) on your wold view.
Trust the government? Any government? Especially a Latin American government? Come on, they are all crooked, on the take, and grease the palms of their friends pretty much the way 2BNCR said they do. A Latin American government without corruption is an oxymoron. It is just the way things work, and if they didn’t work that way in Costa Rica, there wouldn’t be two presidents in prison, one in exile someplace, etc. It’s a fact of life, whether we like it or not.
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