How safe do you feel where you live in Brasil ? And why ?

I am a foreigner from africa , presisely Nigeria,  where I base is very cool, small city close to Porto Alegry.

I guess maybe I have been living a charmed life, because for all of the 13 years that I have been living in this country I have never had any problem or been the victim of any crime. I've never resided in what you can call a posh neighborhood in any of the 5 states in Brazil I have lived in since my arrival here. It's not that crimes didn't happen there, because they most certainly did, but they haven't ever happened to me.

There are two things that I can say for certain, however. No matter where you go in this world there is crime and travelers must take reasonable precautions to avoid being the victim of crime. That is exactly why I compiled a comprehensive list of safety tips to follow in Brazil in my posting A Gringo's Survival Guide to Brazil. I follow all of those rules religiously and while I can't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that's why I've never had any problems here, I think the facts speak for themselves.

The second thing that I have to say is that in Brazil, much like in many other places, people will treat you exactly the same way that you treat them. If you treat everyone, but especially all of your neighbors, with the utmost respect they will treat you with respect too. Furthermore, I think here in Brazil that quality tends to build you a reputation that spreads throughout the neighborhood too, even beyond the people you customarily deal with each day. It's that sort of - "Oh the guy that lives over there, I don't know him personally, but I've heard he's a real nice guy" attitude.

A couple of things to point out about crime in Brazil, especially serious and violent crimes are that they are for the most part crimes of opportunity. So if you eliminate the opportunity wherever possible, you will often protect yourself from becoming a victim. That brings us right back to using caution and following the safety tips that should be just, good old fashioned common sense anywhere. Also, most of the violent crimes committed in Brazil are, settling scores between individuals involved somehow in the drug trade or in other criminal activities. (A sort of house cleaning among bandidos); or against people who have done something (or failed to do something) that ultimately turned them into a target for criminals. Again the safety tips help out here too.

I presently live in a pretty seedy area of Macaé. Despite the fact that it has a lot of crime and drug related activity here I don't feel any less safe than anywhere else I have ever lived. In fact after dark you can hear a pin drop on the street where I live. The silence is broken only by the occasional barking of a neighborhood dog, and without exception that is always when another dog is wandering the street. Because of the intense heat here our windows are never closed and when we're at home the door is rarely ever locked, not even at night while we're asleep. There has never once been a time when I've returned home to find anything missing, or the window screens torn down. Nobody has ever tried to open the gate or scale the fence at night either.

So there you have it! Maybe it's a combination of the factors mentioned here. The criminal elements tend not to commit crimes in the neighborhood where they live too. So that's one reason that the killings that have taken place in this bairro don't have me overly concerned. I don't use or deal with drugs, I treat everybody as I would have them treat me, and I follow my own safety rules. It seems to be working well for me.

Cheers,
James

I don't feel safe at all here , how can I feel safe when I see only houses surrounded by four meters wall and electric fence on top ,or even have cutting pieces of glass , others security cameras and alarms . All this precautions should induce the feeling a safeness but I think it's all the opposite .
The criminals are free and the honest working people incarcerated .

Hello Claudiu,

I understand how you feel seeing all the high walls, barbed wire, electric circuits, etc., but I can tell you that is just part of living in big cities in Brazil. Having lived in Belo Horizonte for many years I can tell you from personal experience that, yes there is crime there and lots of it. However the truth is that it is a lot safer there than in many Brazilian cities.

As I have always said, most crimes in Brazil are crimes of opportunity, so if you take common sense precautions you take that opportunity away from the criminals. See the link in my previous posting to the Gringo's Survival Guide to Brazil.

Violent crimes, like murders, rarely happen to expats when compared to the total number of homicides. They're mostly the criminal elements and those involved with drugs killing each other to settle debts or disputes.

I never had any problems at all when I lived in Belo Horizonte. I sure saw lots of crimes, but nothing that ever involved me or effected me in any way.

Cheers,
James

I live in Campinas, a city about an hour's drive northwest of Sao Paulo. A lot of multinational corporations have offices here, so there is a big expat community. The neighborhood I live in is called Cambui and it's a fairly ritzy neighborhood (even though there is a strip bar a block away from my apartment and a bar that is popular with prostitutes just three blocks away - lol.) I have been in Brazil for 5 months and have lived in Cambui the entire time so I can only compare it to my in-laws' neighborhood in Sao Paulo (I don't know the name of their neighborhood but they live in an industrial neighborhood in a high rise apartment surrounded by other apartments that are being newly erected.), but I can definitely say that I feel 100% safer here in Cambui than in my in-laws' neighborhood which looks very gritty.

I feel very safe walking around Cambui by myself during daylight hours, and honestly, even after the sun goes down, I see women exercising solo around the park in front of my apartment...but I probably wouldn't walk around at night by myself. My husband told me that I need to take every precaution and be aware of my surroundings at all times, day or night...it's much easier to do this during the day than it is at night, so I choose not to walk by myself at night. Perhaps I'd feel differently if I were male or if I were Brazilian? As it is, considering that I don't speak Portuguese (I'm slowly learning), if I were to get into some trouble, I'd be screwed.  I do walk with my husband at night...we've gone walking around our park as late as 10:00 PM and we encountered other walkers, joggers, dog walkers, and teenagers hanging out with their friends even at that hour. As for other parts of Campinas, I can't say that I feel safe or unsafe...if a neighborhood is unfamiliar to me, I'm going to be automatically cautious because it's been ingrained in me by my husband and other Brazilians that Brazil is dangerous and that foreigners are easy targets, so I have to be extra careful.

It seems that new construction still includes barbed wire, broken glass on the top of the walls, security doors and grilles over the windows.
Yes it makes ME feel like I am in the cage.

When was the last time someone tried to kick you door in and go through your windows ???
I think all these security devices are outdated and hardly needed anymore here. OK, maybe a good lockset on your strong wooden door is ok.

Brasilians have LONG standing traditions that never seem to die. Even as things change, their old ideas don't change easily.

I think it's time to put the jail looking aptos and houses to an end (in most places).
A good looking German sheppard or other BIG BLACK DOG is the best security you can have.

GET OVER IT.

Hi Victoria !

You can say you are 50 % still in U.S now  .  Campinas is a city founded by the18th century north american refugees of the civil war . The Lost Colony of the Confederation .

Take a look at this article in the link below :

https://frankherles.wordpress.com/2007/ … to-brazil/