Crime in Costa Rica

Hi snoutoz,

Welcome to expat-blog!

I suggest you to get through this site which might be helpful; http://costarica.usembassy.gov/uscitizen.html , hope this might help.

Thank you,

David.

snoutoz

Unfortunately, crime in Costa Rica is high. Just like anywhere else, the place where you live and your whereabouts are decisive factors on whether you will be a victim of crime and the type of crime that you will be exposed to. There is people here who have never been exposed to crime, while there are other people who can tell you that everybody they know have been victims of crime.

Certainly, low income areas are exposed to high crime rates. However, some "decent" neighborhoods or towns are also exposed to high crime rates just because they have lots of valuables for thieves. Although, robberies are high and anybody can be a target, violent crime are mostly related to domestic issues and drug related issues.

My wife and I used to live in the Nicoya Peninsula, close to Santa Teresa and Cobano. Unfortunately, we were robbed two months ago, which forced us to move. They stole almost everything we had of value in the house. They even busted the safe and took everything that that was in it. Fortunately, it happened when we were not home. It happened on a Sunday night while we were out for dinner. When we returned, the thieves were still in the property. Perhaps we would have been able to prevent this from happening. The property were we lived was 20 acres in size, and very remotely located. The house was very open which made it impossible to secure. Now we live in Escazú in a six acre property with two other homes. There is always someone in the property which makes us feel more secure. Unfortunately, we just received news that my wife's horse was stolen back in the Nicoya Peninsula. So, crime can always hit you regardless where you are.

The general recommendations to live a safe live in Costa Rica are as follows:
•    Choose well where you are going to live. A growing number of people are choosing to live in condos or gated communities, rather than in standalone houses.
•    Be careful about who you bring home and who you become acquainted with.
•    Do not carry luxury items when you are out and about.
•    When you are traveling around the country, do not live your belongings unattended.

As noted, there is people who have never been victims of crime. So, do not be scared, just be smart about how you handle your live while in here.

Regards,

Rafael Valverde

There is a good article now in the Tico Times (ticotimes.net) discussing this subject. 

Just as it is in the States, it all depends on where you live.  If you live in San Jose or Limon, your chances of a violent crime are greater.

Same thing if you compare living in large cities in the States.  Just depends on what part of a given large city you live in.  I live outside of San Ramon, Alajuela and feel totally safe.  I ride a moto in and around San Jose and Escazu and just don't go into bad neighborhoods.  I feel MUCH safer here than I did in the States.  The police are also much nicer and friendlier here - and more helpful, especially to Gringos.

- Dave

Raphael, sorry to hear you had to go through this terrible experience. I can't even imagine how this must feel. 
I like to live in an open, green area, but I guess this is only possible when you live far, far away from cities.

After reading David's link Costa Rica seems to me like any other country.

Do you think violence is getting worse?

Soy,

I would not know whether crime is getting worse. It depends on who you ask. I think that generally, people would say that it is getting worse. It is not possible to rely on crime statistics for two reasons. First, the government wants to say that all is good. Second, not all people report crime.

I can tell you that the Costa Rican government does not have a clear crime policy. They do not understand the concept of deterrence and sending a message the community. Law enforcement is very inefficient regardless of the area that you are looking into (criminal law, tax law, immigration law, environmental law, transit law, etc.) so the message that they send to the community is that is ok to break the law because chances are that we are not going to do anything about it. We started talking about the issue of violent crime in Costa Rica, but lawlessness is evident in all other areas concerning legal security.

Naturally, if you do something wrong or bad and if there are no consequences for what you do, then you will just keep on doing it. If a thief is not punished for his/her crimes, we are installing the message that it is ok, so the person will continue to do crime and others will follow. From that perspective, you can conclude that crime will increase.

Regards,

Rafael Valverde

[Moderated: Irrelevant comment]

I think your main concern would be to actually get any visa.
An Egyptian acquaintance with a Costa Rican fiancee, was given one, after many months, and when he arrived at the SJ airport he was denied entry and he was returned to the last 'port of entry' which was Nicaragua. He was there for three months, even with getting the CR embassy and a lawyer involved. He eventually gave up and returned to Egypt.