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Robberies with a theft value of the goods under $500.00 is not an arrestable offense in costa rica?
I heard the law makers are trying to change this but whoever thought of this obsurd legality must have been a thief themselves hahahah.
chao… and did you know that:
“The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate and total documented prison population in the world. As of 2006, a record 7 million people were behind bars, on probation or on parole. Of the total, 2.2 million were incarcerated. The People’s Republic of China ranks second with 1.5 million, though China has over four times the population of the US.” From [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisons_in_the_United_States ]
“Among the photos are several of Duc Ta. The El Monte teenager was 16 when police arrested him in connection with a shooting by one of two passengers in a car that Duc was driving. The passengers, admitted members of the Asian Boyz gang, were chasing a car containing rival gang members when the shot was fired. No one was hit or hurt. Duc did not own the gun and was not the shooter, facts that were undisputed by both the defense and prosecution. Duc also contended that he did not belong to that gang or any other, according to court transcripts. Nonetheless, Duc, who had no prior criminal record, was convicted by a jury of premeditated attempted murder, along with the other two passengers, and sentenced to 35-years-to-life in adult prison.” From [ http://www.calhum.org/programs/doc_juvies_article.htm ]
Costa Rica has recently made some major changes in the way that it approaches petty crimes but I insert this quote above to show that we all have our problems and massive incarceration clearly does not work either…
How do you feel we should best approach this problem?
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comWell,we all know that two wrongs dont make a right,and in the usa and other countries you will be arrested or maybe a hand chopped off if you steal anything and are caught period.
Recently the head or director of the oij police was going to resign but he recanted his resignation due to as I understand receiving several million dollars to hire more police etc.
I am a conservative person and have zero tolerance for the invasion of ones home,privacy and the incredibly violating experience one experiences when one becomes a victim of theft in any way whether it is a pack of chewing gum or a computer.
It may be difficult for the culture here to relate to the anguish one experiences when they have a loss of thousands of dollars,a home,or any personal property that one has a right to own and protect,however the structure of the police starting with the fuerza publica,this serious problem of paying then about $600.00 per month and allowing them to do absolutely nothing basically after a crime occurs is completely unacceptable. The lack of resources with the oij police is a discrace.
The only way in short to start a major change in this country in my opinion is for the president to appoint a crime czar,someone with a resume of strong police and military background of sort with a zero tolerance policy for any crime,lock these criminals up,make the cost of getting out of jail extremely expensive and make it so these criminals see as the old saying goes”crime doesent pay”.
If police and other officials dont want to do their job correctly then throw them out!
As far as imconcerned bring back the island of robos off of tambor,I dont care but there needs to be a crack down here,I dislike nothing more than someone being able to commit a crime and knowingly get away with it,after all $500.00 a day is not a bad salary.
This need to be started with an iron fist!
sounds good?But would you say that the “iron fist” has worked well in the USA?
In the example above a 16 year old with no previous criminal record was sentenced to 35 years in prison for attempted murder when he didn’t even attempt to murder someone… Sounds a tad extreme to me…
Ok, Im not sure why you continue to use negative examples of legal errors in the usa,this is costa rica and every system has problems, however the standards and i repeat standards here are grossly unacceptable. My suggestions are all the wiser,look at the stories on this forum, I am constantly speaking to people who have been victims.
People are starting to wise up to this and education and control is needed here like the oxygen we breathe. Remember americans,canadians and other people dont have to tolerate this ,we can go whenever we want. The costa rican government seems more focused on tourist dollars and not whether you want to live here in peace.
chaoYou can’t escape the general rise in crime in many places around the world and unfortunately, CR has not been spared. I do think that the police has to be held accountable and also be given the tools in which to do its job appropriately and effectively, but for that to happen, some of the laws in CR have to be changed. You can have all the arrests in the world, but without adequate and deterring resolutions, then even the police (even directors) become frustrated/fed up and just plain apathetic about their jobs–hence adding to the problem. The answers (and I’m sure this will require more than one) may lie in more than addind to the police force and more in making their justice system more “effective” and while they’re at that, seriously asking themselves what “effective” should mean because the most efficient deterrent to crime doesn’t HAVE to be an iron fist, but you can’t expect a system that was designed for another moment in time and that now is obviously NO deterrent at all to work in CR…BTW, not just for the expats that live there, but for the benefit of all of CR’s populations (minus the crooks: white collar, governmental, uniformed or not)…
Dealing with crime varies from culture to culture and even from one political philosophy to another. In Cuba, crime is dealt with harshly. That culture seems to have an affinity with the United States in regards to the liberal use of imprisonment. I am not sure how effective that is in either country compared to what is being done in Costa Rica but I do feel that the Costa Rican attitude in general is not inclined to using strong arm government to achieve its goals. Costa Ricans strike me as a people who are a bit more laid back and have an aversion for uniforms and guns and prisons. I like that. It may not last long if increased crime finally provokes a different response from the population.
I am more upset when I come across expats who feel the need to meddle in Costa Rican affairs so that the country will suit their needs better. Nobody advocates crime except criminals but thee are many different methods of dealing with this problem which do not involve right wing, jack booted, heavily armed police and an extensive prison infrastructure. You can’t line ’em all up against the wall and shoot ’em all.
Edited on Feb 06, 2008 11:11
Edited on Feb 06, 2008 11:16
I agree…I also hope that whatever response is finally given to this problem is as compassionate as the CR people are, but with a good dose of enough enforceable measures that effectively deter crime AND foreign criminals from setting up shop in CR which seems to be the new thing in the last few years..Ultimately, if they’re wise about this, it will only serve to make CR an even more attractive and viable place to visit, live and invest in…
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,lets start there.
Maybe if we start a reward system for the fuerza publica for every criminal they arrest they get a reward? Is this legal?Unless and until each of us has a reliable personal bodyguard ’round the clock, and a second one for each of our homes, no number of police resources will eliminate crime. And who will protect the homes of the guards?
More police may suppress crime, but typically they simply move it to another neighborhood. The only effective means of crime control is criminality control. It has to be stopped before it’s begun. And that means changing the behavior of the criminals.
I have previously advocated an approach in which each and every convicted criminal receives a very aversive punishment. It needn’t be unduly long (at least to begin with) but it needs to be an experience one would not care to repeat. And the aversive nature of the punishment and its duration must escalate with repeat offenses. Such an approach makes no allowance for plea bargaining, probation or parole. The first offense lands the perpetrator in the soup, juvenile or adult.
We needn’t try to make criminals honest. Changing their attitudes is probably impossible. But changing their behavior need not be. Make illegal behavior much more risky for the perpetrator than it is likely to be rewarding and in time behavior will change. And that’s enough.
I agree,lets teach them a lesson they wont forget!!!!
These people steal so many house parts that there is probalby a home depot of stolen houseware somewhere.I don’t know David if this approach would work. Threat of death has not worked and some prisons really are like hell on earth in the U.S., the Americas etc..but still they rob and kill. I think a combination of all the above education, punishement, drug treatment etc..I think the level of torture one would have to inflict on a “criminal” to put the fear of god in him/her would be beyond the limits of civil society.
The lack of liberty itself is a deterrent, but as we all know, petty thievery will typically not even get you one night in jail in CR so even when they are arrested, nothing much happens. The criminals continue to perfect their skills and recruit peers because there is effectively NO punishment in CR for this type of crime. I don’t think that Ticos need to become Attila the Hun in their treatment of people that break the laws, but crime needs to NOT be the easiest & less painful way of making a living….
I really think that the next few CR presidents will think long and hard before taking a bribe or plain infringing the law because they know that the people of CR will not care if you have been a former president, they will enforce the law and find a way to make you pay for your transgression…That is unless the next crooked Prez is prepared to move and stay in Switzerland…as ‘chepito’ did…Anyway, I think CR is a decent example at the higher levels, it’s at the petty crime level that their laws seem to be quite ineffective and in need of revamping….
They don’t need to go to the other end of the spectrum of punishment when dealing with criminals, it would be nice if they started giving the at risk populations other viable economic alternatives and if they do break the law, then putting them in jail in the first place might be more effective than escorting them thru the revolving door at the precinct level…No need to bring out the BIG GUNS when the little ones haven’t even been used….Don’t you think?
The costa rica government has to pay the bill if you claim the insurance loss so why not pay a few pennies a day instead of thousands and keep these criminals locked up who cant afford to pay the fines,bail or lawyer costs and let them rot in jail,if they can pay to get out the next time it will cost them more,common sense is learned not a gift in life. hip hip hooray.
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