Costa Rica Crime in San Jose – Repeat offenders are a big problem. January 2008

There are a few crime related articles in today’s La Nacion which explains one of the major crime problems in San Jose – which has the highest crime rate in the country – in very simple terms.

In San Jose and surrounding areas, according to the Public Security Ministry we have a large number of criminals who commit crime after crime after crime and for some inexplicable reason are still walking our streets.

The La Nacion article refers to 600 offenders being responsible for 3,420 assaults in San Jose during the last year, half of them have been arrested more than ten times and a handful more than 100 times…

They include photographs of some of the repeat offenders, one character – Ernesto Fonseca Vargas has been arrested 96 times since 1979.

People who are suspected of committing a criminal act do have rights under the law which must be respected. Not everyone that is arrested is guilty of a crime however, long before we get to that stage surely we should focus on preventing as much crime as possible?

After 29 years of breaking the law, one would imagine that the odds of Ernesto Fonseca Vargas ‘seeing the light’ and living and honest, crime-free life are extraordinarily low and maybe, just maybe, he and the other 599 repeat offenders should be locked up for the next 29 years so they do not cause any more trouble.

I have no idea what the prison capacity is in Costa Rica, but if we had a stricter policy with regards to locking up criminals for ten years plus after their third offense – no matter how trivial – instead of releasing them after a couple of months, then crime in San Jose would probably be cut in half over the space of six months.

The main argument probably downs to money…Costa Rica has precious few resources to start spending serious money on building new prisons however, call me crazy but I have always thought the chain gang idea to be very worthwhile.

Why on earth should the suffering taxpayers – who have already been the victimized by these criminals – now pay again for their assailants to enjoy three meals a day and sit around watching TV?

If there’s not enough money to build prisons then let the prisoners work to help offset the cost of housing, feeding, and guarding all the inmates. In fact, why don’t we get them to build their new home, Costa Rica is facing a massive shortage of construction workers this year anyway so get these bozos to build the new prisons that will house them and ‘if’ and when they get out, they will then have a new profession that will help them get hired in a matter of minutes…

Most of us work hard to keep our families healthy and to keep a roof over our heads so we force the criminals to do the same… To take responsibility for their actions so you Sir! – The convicted felon – can build our prisons, build new rail roads, keep our streets clean, you can help repair our roads and build new ones, dig ditches, dig graves, grow, prepare and cook your own food and sure you can smoke cigarettes if you wish, but only if your grow your own…

We do however need to keep things in perspective… There are very few Gringos included amongst these statistics and according to 13th Annual Safest (and Most Dangerous) Cities, Morgan Quitno Press you will find below the 2005 Murder Rate in US Cities (rate per 100,000 population) for 100 US cities, all of which have far higher murder rates than San Jose, Costa Rica..

The equivalent murder rate for San Jose, Costa Rica is 9.2

1. Compton, Calif. 67.1

2. Gary, Ind. 58.0

3. Birmingham, Ala. 44.3

4. Youngstown, Ohio 43.7

5. Richmond, Va. 43.0

6. Baltimore, Md. 42.0

7. Camden, N.J. 41.2
8. Flint, Mich. 40.1

9. Detroit, Mich. 39.3

10. Richmond, Calif. 38.8

11. St. Louis, Mo. 37.9

12. Trenton, N.J. 36.2

13. Washington, DC 35.4

14. Newark, N.J. 34.5
15. San Bernardino, Calif. 29.0
16. Kansas City, Mo. 28.1
17. Reading, Pa. 27.2
18. Philadelphia, Pa. 25.6
19. Kansas City, Kans. 25.4
20. Cincinnati, Ohio 25.1
21. Rochester, N.Y. 24.9
22. Norfolk, Va. 24.5
23. Cleveland, Ohio 23.8
24. Oakland, Calif. 23.2
25. West Palm Beach, Fla. 22.6
26. Inglewood, Calif. 22.4
27. Little Rock, AR 22.1
28. Baton Rouge, La. 21.8
28. Portsmouth, Va. 21.8
31. Atlanta, Ga. 20.9
30. Jackson, Miss. 21.1
32. Milwaukee, Wis. 20.6
33. Macon, Ga. 20.5
34. Memphis, Tenn. 20.2

35. Hartford, Conn. 20.0
35. Dayton, Ohio 20.0

37. Racine, Wis. 19.9
38. Buffalo, N.Y. 19.8
39. Allentown, Pa. 19.6
39. Shreveport, La. 19.6
41. Pittsburgh, Pa. 19.0
42. Durham, N.C. 17.1
42. Nashville, Tenn. 17.1
42. Roanoke, Va. 17.1
45. Dallas, Texas 16.4
46. Houston, Texas 16.3

47. Jersey City, N.J. 15.9
48. Chicago, Ill. 15.6
49. Phoenix, Ariz. 15.0

49. Tulsa, Okla. 15.0

51. Chattanooga, Tenn. 14.7
52. Stockton, Calif. 14.6
53. Victorville, Calif. 14.4

54. Montgomery, Ala. 14.3

55. Columbus, Ohio 14.0

55. Mobile, Ala. 14.0

55. Savannah, Ga. 14.0

58. Knoxville, Tenn. 13.9

58. Miami, Fla. 13.9
60. Bridgeport, Conn. 13.6

60. Elizabeth, N.J. 13.6

62. Indianapolis, Ind. 13.5

63. Pomona, Calif. 13.4

64. Huntsville, Ala. 13.3
64. Syracuse, N.Y. 13.3
66. Paterson, N.J. 13.2
67. Boston, Mass. 12.9
67. North Charleston, S.C. 12.9

69. San Francisco, Calif. 12.8
70. Akron, Ohio 12.7
70. Greensboro, N.C. 12.7
70. Columbia, S.C. 12.7
73. Charlotte, N.C. 12.6
73. Los Angeles, Calif. 12.6
75. Minneapolis, MN 12.5
76. Peoria, Ill. 12.4
76. Rockford, Ill. 12.4
76. Pueblo, Colo. 12.4
79. Lancaster, Calif. 12.3
80. North Las Vegas, Nev. 12.2
80. Yakima, Wash. 12.2
82. Bellflower, Calif. 11.9
82. Springfield, Mass. 11.9
84. St. Petersburg, Fla. 11.8
85. Columbus, Ga. 11.7
86. Suffolk, Va. 11.6
86. Yuma, Ariz. 11.6
88. Hawthorne, Calif. 11.5
89. Jacksonville, Fla. 11.4
89. Sacramento, Calif. 11.4
89. Palmdale, Calif. 11.4
92. Fort Wayne, Ind. 11.3
92. Las Vegas, Nev. 11.3
92. South Bend, Ind. 11.3
92. Providence, R.I. 11.3
96. Bakersfield, Calif. 11.2
96. Hammond, Ind. 11.2
98. Fayetteville, N.C. 11.0
98. Rialto, Calif. 11.0
100. Albuquerque, N.M. 10.8
100. Newport News, Va. 10.8

I have been accused of glossing over the Costa Rica crime facts which is somewhat strange since we have more articles about crime on this website than any other site that I have visited. Here are a few of them:

1. Costa Rica Crime – Muggings in San Jose
2. Costa Rica Crime – Murder rates in perspective.
3. Costa Rica Crime & Security – Securing Yourself
4. Costa Rica Crime – Carefully selected statistics can be used to persuade us either way.
5. Costa Rica Crime Is So Terrible That ….
6. Costa Rica Crime – Murder Rates
7. Fear & Negativity Sells Even When It’s Not Accurate
8. Costa Rica Crime – Americans Murdering Americans
9. Costa Rica Crime

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Written by Scott Oliver, author of How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa and Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore.

Our thanks to our friends at La Nación – Costa Rica’s largest Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission to include their photos…

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.