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Since we decided to go to CR, everyone is telling us stories like the cops there pull over tourist in rental cars all the time. Is it true that if they ask for money you should give it to them or will that get you in more trouble? I know there is alot of propaganda and exaggerations so please tell me the truth. We will be there tomorrow. Thanks so much.Pura Vida
“Everyone is telling us stories….”?
We have over 6,000 VIP Members on this website and I very rarely hear problems about the Costa Rican Police. Sure! Police in some areas run out of gas and their cars don’t run by the end of the month (no kidding) but on the whole they do what they can with what little resources they have…
People pay police because they don’t know better. Even if you were speeding, you do NOT pay your fine to the police. You take your speeding ticket and you pay the fine at one of the state banks and it’s actrually very simple.
I would suggest that if – IN THE UNLIKLEY EVENT – that you are stopped and asked to pay money to a Police Officer, you ask them if you can call “your friend” who is head of security at the US Embassy to verify that this is correct.
Scott
Costa Rica is not Mexico or just another “Bannana Republic”. It is THE Peace Loving (and that means Law abiding) part of Central America.
In general in CR you can trust the Police as much as you can in the US. On our last trip to CR we were stopped on a very rural road at a license check. After funbling for the rental papers I handed the non-English speaking officer my US driver’s license. He glanced it over and said, “Virhinia”, (the best he could pronounce Virginia) and smiled and I said, “See, Virginia”, and he handed back my license and waved us on.
We were on a low traffic rural road, the perfect place for a hold up. In any other central American country I might have been worried, but not in Costa Rica. We were not stopped because we were in a rental car (they are not clearly marked as such), we were stopped because they were stopping everyone, just as is done all over the US.
The fact is that in most of Costa Rica the police are way understaffed and you are less likely to have trouble with them than driving on US highways. Costa Rica also takes malfeasance at any level of goverenment very seriously. They recently jailed an ex President for taking bribes. . imagine what they would do to a police officer!
In the nine months that we’ve lived here, I’ve been pulled over by the Transito (Traffic) police several times. They like to check to see that you’ve gotten your Costa Rican driver’s license, it seems. Once the officer said he couldn’t see our front license plate for the fog lights.
In every event, they have been courteous, friendly and patient with our pidgin Spanish. We couldn’t ask for better treatment.
Thank you all for your quick responses. We feel quite a bit better after hearing your experiences.
Pura Vida!
Our experience with the police in Costa Rica a couple of years ago was interesting. In our rental car, we went for a circle tour around the Escazu Hills (Los Cerros de Escazu), starting from Escazu, through Santa Ana and Ciudad Colon, to Guayabo, Tabarcia and Palmichal to San Ignacio de Acosta (former home of George Lundquist) for lunch. We then completed the circle back through Tarbaca, Aserri and San Jose to Escazu.
The pavement ran out around Palmichal, as the gravel road climbed steeply on the way up and over the mountain to San Ignacio. At one point, the road forked, and we were unsure which fork to take, but there was a little building there, with a motorcycle parked outside. With some trepidation, being in unfamiliar territory, I approached the building and hailed the occupant.
It turned out that he was a policemen, and as I questioned him, in my halting and fragmentary Spanish, he explained that we should take the right hand fork, and furthermore, as he was about to patrol the road to San Ignacio on his motorcycle, we could follow him.
So it turned out that we had a motorcycle escort from Palmichal to San Ignacio, as we traversed a very twisting, interesting and challenging mountain road, with a lot of ups and a corresponding amount of downs.
What a country ! Pura Vida !
While visiting Tambor last month we came upon a traffic stop with red cones manned by a couple of police. It was similar to a DUI type stop in the USA. I was feeling just a bit concerned, not knowing what to expect. When we pulled up, the police officer, with a nice smile on his face, handed us a public service pamphlet in both english and spanish which explained that tourists need to be careful with their passports and keep them in a safe place. Wow! Police out doing public service. What a unique idea! Around where I live in southern california, the police are too busy chasing down all the criminals to perform such a task.
I would worry more about getting bit by an iguana.
Pura vida
As President and Founding Member of the CRAPI – ‘The Costa Rican Association for the Protection of Iguanas’ – I must ask you to remember that iguanas have feelings too … And they don’t all bite!
Scott
The security guards are more of a concern to me than the actual police officers. One of the fun things myself and my freinds like to do when traveling down there is see who can spot the security guard with the MOST guns. Highest count so far has been 7 guns on one security person. Im thinking they must have a rambo/chuck norris type complex.
In Sarasota, Fla the Winn-Dixie I went to had security guards — two roaming the store and two posted outside with assault rifles! Scary place to shop, I’ll tell ya.
This year in march I was stopped by the police about 1 km in front of the china bridge crossing Golfo de Nicoya. He claimed I was overspeeding at a speed of 78 km/hr in a 60 km/hr zone. Checking my drivers license he found out I was a tourist. In the meantime he showed how good his speed gun was functioning by measuring other cars.
The overspeeding ticket was US 20 and would create a lot of compications for me as a tourist in a rental car, as he explained. To avoid that he offered me the alternative: no ticket and US 10 cash. This was really icecream money for me , in my country I would end up with a US 500 ticket for 20 km overspeeding. So I paid…..Yes they can be corrupt.thank you so much for your information. we are actually home now, in the USA, after 7 days with those wonderful Ticos and had a memorable exprience in CR. we met so many kindred souls that we can’t count them all, including an incredible puppy (a Jaco street dog, approx. 3 years) that we adopted and named “Tico”. we have 2 dogs and they totally accepted him as part of the family from the first minute they met. we had a really hard time finding out how to bring him home but persevered. we would sooooo like to help people that want to save a CR street dog and would welcome any critter-lover’s questions. as to the police, every one of them that we came across was courtious, helpful, and most, very friendly. and last but not least, Dean was very patient with us “tourists” and totally accomodated our every request in dealing with his 4×4 car rental in CR. thanks so much, Dean, you have no idea how grateful we are. we would love to purchase property there and establish an animal rescue center so as few critters as possible would have to suffer.
connie and pete smith
pura vida (wonderful philosophy!)
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