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associating most crime with drugs is more typical of an american mentality than the mind set that believes in throwing money at a problem. Economic disparity is a more fundamental cause. Countries with low crime stats are economically balanced countries with strong cultural and legal incentives. Costa Rica has lately been experiencing more economic imbalance. A lot of money comes into the country but is not distributed in an equitable way. That is usually the function of taxes and we all know that property taxes in CR are a joke but I don;t see anyone laughing at the resulting increased crime rate, though.
I am an american who has bought property in Costa Rica. Lower taxes was ONE reason to do so, but certainly not the only reason and for now, I am prepared to suffer the negatives of living in a poorer country with a lower tax base. If and when the time comes that I am not satisfied with living conditions in CR, then the only options are to leave or stay and hope the costa Ricans can work their way out of the mess by increasing property taxes. Again, you get what you pay for.Good point. However, money allocated without intent, plan or education is likely to gain negligible if any results. The CR government has shown that it is neither effective nor efficient with its tax base. So i say choose not to complain about the crime, arm yourself with guards, weapons and dogs, in other words protect yourself, by your private means or do not live here. I have no problem with the former and I wish fewer gringos would come here so the crime thing is a natural byproduct of the gringo invasion.
Scot
No I don’t think it is an overblown at all. This is not a passing pickpocket incident. A tourist was held at gunpoint in an area where there are hundreds of other tourists. It is not an isolated incident! The standard hit is a car break in with all your belongings stolen.. This is far more serious.Apparently the police do not attend unless there is a body to pick up. An armed robbery, and the response was “ Call the OIJ in the morning”. What chance is there of stopping this if it is not even investigated for 12 hours?
When we came here in 1992, there was a special security force that patrolled the tourist areas in San Jose and at the beaches. They patrolled in pairs and were very visible. It gave us a real sense of security as tourists and was one of the reasons we decided to invest here. By 1994, we never saw them anymore.
Maybe the term drifting into lawlessness is incorrect, but the sentiment isn’t. In all parts of the society here, people are deciding which laws they want to follow and which to ignore. When I was driving through San Jose on Sunday, I was amused by the number of people that would stop at a red light and then if one car moved, they would all drive through.
How many places can you get a better price on hotels, restaurants or other goods if you don’t want a receipt? Only fools pay taxes!
My neighbor installed a water pump in a river on his finca. This was well off the road on private property. By morning it was gone. He was angry but not surprised. The Ticos that helped him install it told him it would be stolen.
David
Having a gun to your head is NOT an unfortunate incident. Unless it doesn’t happen to you personally. I have lived in American cities, and I had no problem leaving my car on the street overnight. Here, I wouldn’t think of it without live security.I don’t think that I am an alarmist. I have lived here long enough to be a realist. When you stop in Orotina for something to eat, leave someone to watch your car. They love to poke holes in the sides of your tires there. I have learned to keep driving on a flat tire until I can stop in a populated area. That gets me through OK, but being in the tourism business here, I cringe at the stories my guests tell me. I can’t tell you how many tourists we have helped in the last few years who lost everything the first day in this tranquil paradise.
I know that there are those who advocate that we all carry guns and defend ourselves, but this isn’t America of the 1800’s. We can’t have public hangings to control the bad guys.
The statistics in AM Costa Rica show a decrease from one month. That is not a trend! It is a monthly comparison. Show me stats from two or three years. What good are your stats when tourists aren’t even able to get the police to respond?
I do apologize to all the perpetual tourist/realtors I have offended by speaking the truth. I wish you could have sold your development properties sooner to unsuspecting tourists, but that’s how it is in paradise today.
Alberto
Diego, I kid you not…
Go to any boom town anywhere in the world and you’ll see tourism, drugs and sex crimes go hand in hand… Visit any sleepy port a year after the cruise ships start dumping passengers every week. If you can’t score drugs in 15 minutes you must look like a narc…“Obviously a Tourist or Tico” (LOL), I’ll take it as a complement.. But your radar is off today…
cheers,
ps
I’ll look for your article “Character and Net Worth”…. I’ll make sure I take my blood pressure medicine that day… us ol US guys need to take care of ourselves…From Inside Costa Rica today
http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2007/july/23/nac01.htm which is a simple translation from La Nacion’s article
OIJ Without The Necessary Personnel, Official Says
One of the major problems facing the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) is the lack of personnel to handle the increased work load, where each OIJ agent has to deal with more than 100 cases a year.According to official reports, the OIJ lacks at least 1.000 investigators to deal with all the cases, meaning investigations fall behind and cases take longer to clear.
The sub-director of the oIJ, Carlos Morera, says it all makes no sense.
The OIJ currently employees 900 officials, the majority working in San José, receiving some 25.000 cases a year, 70% of which are for assault and vehicle theft.
The OIJ offices in Heredia, Alajuela, San Carlos, Puntarenas, Quepos and Limón are the worst off, where agents just keep “piling up” the cases on their desks.
Morera said that in some cases the OIJ delegations are working in the poorest of conditions, like that of Heredia, where the investigators work out of the basement of the court house, where not only space is tight, but the fumes from the vehicles outside are affecting their health.
Morera added that the OIJ does not have the budget to employ more investigators that are “urgently” needed, saying that this year there was money for only 108 jobs.
To bring the point home, the Heredia delegation receives some 5.000 new cases a year that are handled by only 35 investigators, which means an average of 142 cases per investigator.
The same is true in Limón, where 34 agents handle some 2.500 cases per year. Limón, the most violent region in the country, with 18 murders up to June, has only 2 murder investigators.
“It must be recognized that all our units and delegations need more people, it is a fact, but there is no money”, said Morera.
According to Morero, San Carlos is another delegation that is fast falling behind, as it deals with some 2.400 cases a year and the only delegation at the charge of a woman, Nieves Rueda, it counts with only 24 investigators.
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