New tactics are helping police in Costa Rica to stay one step ahead of many crimes and to dramatically reduce others in the first two months of 2012

Every day, before heading out on patrol the streets, the police review the files and photographs of the faces of the most wanted criminals of the week. Repeat offenders are a big problem in San José.

The criminals who commit most of the robberies are almost always the same, the police have their information on file and most of them will be featured on the Most Wanted website here.

Sometimes the police will visit known offenders in their homes to see if there are there, what they are doing, who they are with and if they leave, they are watched.

These and other actions are part of the new strategy which uses the security forces to try to anticipate what the offender is planning to do and to make it obvious to them that they are being watched…

This has been very successful in keeping the numbers of burglaries down. Compared to the first two months of 2011 burglaries in San José have dropped 83%, from 1,092 complaints to just 189.

• House robberies or burglaries (robo a vivienda) are down 83% – From 1,029 in the first two months of 2011 to 189 in 2012
• Muggings (asalto a personas) are down 18% – From 365
• Theft from cars (tachas de vehiculo) are also down.
• Car thefts (robe de vehiculo) are up slightly.
• Unfortunately cattle rustling (sustracción de ganado) has increased significantly from 170 – 678

We should also remember that just as it is in the U.S., where there a vast areas of the country with very low crime rates, the same applies in Costa Rica and seriously, how many of you are planning to live in San José? Or Limón?

If we were to deduct the number of homicides in San José (40% which is 194.4 murders) and Limón (23% which is 111.78 murders) we’re left with just 179.82 homicides in the rest of the country for the entire year…

Now ask yourself two very important questions:

Question #1: Do I live in one of the highest crime areas in the U.S. listed above? I’m guessing the answer is probably – No!


Question #2: Am I seriously considering living and retiring in the highest crime area of Costa Rica? Limón or San José? I’m guessing the answer to this is also – No!

Costa Rica had 486 homicides in the entire country in 2010 where 30% of those murders are people allegedly involved with illegal drugs. The number of homicides per 10,000 people for Costa Rica is therefore: 10.

To put this into perspective for you, amongst the most dangerous cities in America in 2010 listed by Business Insider.com are:

• New Orleans, MO = 58
• Flint: Murder rate per 100,000 residents? = 49
• Detroit, MI = 48

Compton, Calif. = 40.4

• St Louis, MO = 35.4
• Baltimore: Murder rate per 100,000 residents? = 35
• Newark = 32.1
• New Haven, CT = 24
• Oakland: Murder rate per 100,000 residents? = 22
• Buffalo: Murder rate per 100,000 residents? = 21
• Hartford: Murder rate per 100,000 residents? = 21
• Washington DC: Murder rate per 100,000 residents? = 22
• Richmond, CA: Murder rate per 100,000 residents? = 20
• Costa Rica? = 10

As we discussed in a 2010 article: US Citizens Murdered in Costa Rica – 0.016438356616 American citizens slaughtered daily in Costa Rica in 2010.

If you check the most recent Deaths of U.S. Citizens Abroad statistics compiled by the US Department of State from January 2010 to the end of December 2010 you will see that the number one cause of “non-natural” deaths for US citizens in Costa Rica is suicide followed by car accidents.

• 7 died in “vehicle accidents.”
• 4 died from drowning.
• 6 died from “drug related” causes.
• 8 committed suicide.
• 2 died from “other accidents.”
• 6 were murdered.

So during the twelve months of 2011 – when an average of 0.016438356616 US citizens were being murdered every day in Costa Rica – more Americans committed suicide and died in vehicle accidents in Costa Rica than were murdered.

I have been repeatedly 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:

• See 25 articles on WeLoveCostaRica.com with the word “crime” in the headline on WeLoveCostaRica.com here.
• See 13 articles on WeLoveCostaRica.com with the word “murder” in the headline on WeLoveCostaRica.com here.

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Spanish Sources:

Our Spanish language readers can read the following Spanish language articles on this topic:

• Novedosa táctica policial pone a raya a ladrones de viviendas
• Mapas digitales guiarán a policías en contra del hampa
• Ciudadanos piden más agilidad en revisiones
• www.800sebusca.com

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.