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I am originally from NYC and have been living in Florida for the past 7 years. I am getting divorced and hoping to move to Costa Rica (Arenal) which I have already visited, met many amazing people and love. I felt very comfortable there, however, apparently it is a ‘rite of passage’ for gringos who move there to get robbed.
I understand these are crimes of opportunity rather than violent crimes but as a woman who will be living alone this is VERY disturbing to me. Its my only concern and I don’t want to live in a gated community where I feel I am still living in Florida. Plus the gated communities seem to get robbed even more.
The cavalier attitude of everyone just bothers me and the fact that the police don’t do anything to prevent this or punish these people in some way to deter them is not very comforting.
In all my years in Manhattan I have been lucky enough not to be a victim of any crime whatsoever. I am already going through a major life change by getting divorced at the age of 61 and would like some feedback on this problem.
I am going to be in Arenal again in a couple of weeks to look at rentals and, of course, will talk to the expats there some more but was curious on anyone else’s thoughts, experiences.
By the way, I am not bringing any treasures but just the thought of having my laptop or whatever few personal belongings I will have taken from me is just plain wrong.
Most of the gated communities are not reminiscent of Florida, as many only have a gate to keep wandering livestock out …or in.
Living in a rural community does not necessarily make safer to live in, nor does it make it robber resistant, but for a single woman [i]maybe[/i] renting in a gated community would be best to start off with. Wherever you decide to rent, [u]don’t[/u] sign a long term lease until you are sure it suits you.Costs have recently risen, so please take this into consideration.
[url=https://www.welovecostarica.com/members/cfmbb/threads.cfm?forumid=B63CD37A-24E8-5ED2-F15B1D105DDD7D6D]Additional info on living here[/url]
[quote=”sherryring”]I am originally from NYC and have been living in Florida for the past 7 years. I am getting divorced and hoping to move to Costa Rica (arena) which I have already visited, met many amazing people and love. I felt very comfortable there, however, apparently it is a ‘rite of passage’ for gringos who move there to get robbed. I understand these are crimes of opportunity rather than violent crimes but as a woman who will be living alone this is VERY disturbing to me. Its my only concern and I don’t want to live in a gated community where I feel I am still living in Florida. Plus the gated communities seem to get robbed even more.
The cavalier attitude of everyone just bothers me and the fact that the police don’t do anything to prevent this or punish these people in some way to deter them is not very comforting. In all my years in Manhattan I have been lucky enough not to be a victim of any crime whatsoever. I am already going through a major life change by getting divorced at the age of 61 and would like some feedback on this problem.
I am going to be in Arenal again in a couple of weeks to look at rentals and, of course, will talk to the expats there some more but was curious on anyone else’s thoughts, experiences.
By the way, I am not bringing any treasures but just the thought of having my laptop or whatever few personal belongings I will have taken from me is just plain wrong[/quote]
I appreciate your input but I am addressing the bigger issue on why this is accepted and how to prevent it from happening so as not to live pura vida in fear. Living in a gated community which just has a fence doesn’t really make sense to me but anyway, I will be looking at all possibilities[i]”..but I am addressing the bigger issue on why this is accepted”[/i]. What can we as ‘expats’ or even CR citizens do? Complain? We do and have, but criminals are released to do it again. No-one likes to be targeted but we can only add security features around our home … and hopes this keeps us personally and our belongings safe.
You should ask the people you have met in the area you are thinking about moving too, and ask [i]specifically[/i] if they have been robbed and see if you feel that you can live there, without living in fear.
If you are in doubt, don’t make the move.[quote=”sweikert925″]The US State Department issues annual advisory reports for most countries of the world and the 2012 report (the most recent available) for Costa Rica can be read [url=https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=12155]here[/url]. What struck me about it is this:
[i]The uniformed police, Fuerza Publica, has between 12,000 and 15,000 officers working in the entire country.[/i]
Since most government agencies in Costa Rica seem to be overstaffed, I wondered why there were so few police in CR. Is that related to the refusal to have an army? Are Ticos so resistant to the idea of armed security personnel? Costa Rica (19,729 square miles, 4.7 million residents) has about the same number of police officers as Chicago, (237 square miles and 2.7 million residents).[/quote]
Uh Steve, I think you have been to Costa Rica exactly one time, right? If so, you can be forgiven for not knowing that we also have the Traffic Police, the TourisTica Police, the Transito Police, the Immigracion Police and the OIJ Police, and maybe even more I don’t know about even after living here over 5 years. I am not saying that “segregation” of police power is the best system, but you cannot compare one department of CR police to your total number of police. The numbers will still be out of balance, but while 40-50 of your police are investigating one of you hundreds of murders, our different departments are still on their beat, effective or not!
And, knowing how keen you are to statistics, have you compared the crime statistics of your 237 square miles to our 19,729 square miles?You have no idea on how crime works in CR. Just 2 days ago in a stadium PANDEMONIOM erupted. 54 detained. Just a couple of days my wife’s daughter was riding a bus when 2 guys blandishing GUNS asked the passenger’s for their money and cell phones. People in the bus where throwing themselves through windows. want more examples??
Come and live in CR and find out.[quote=”sweikert925″]
[quote=”costaricabill”]And, knowing how keen you are to statistics, have you compared the crime statistics of your 237 square miles to our 19,729 square miles? [/quote]
I have actually, why do you ask?[/quote]I asked because I figure you would know and I would like you to share. So how about a comparison of “major crime” like murder, armed robbery, armed home intrusion, assault & battery, rape, etc.? Enlighten me, please!
Anecdotal evidence and stats will never paint a true picture of crime. It seems to me to that the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime is dependent very much upon personal behavior and subjective decisions of day to day life. Walk in a park at night in any big city and the odds for becoming a victim increase. Get on any bus at the wrong place and at the wrong time and you may get robbed. I suspect it is possible to have enough situational awareness
to be able to avoid crime in CR. Maybe the stat you need is the one that tells you who has not experienced crime and how their behavior differs from those who have.[quote=”sprite”]Anecdotal evidence and stats will never paint a true picture of crime. It seems to me to that the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime is dependent very much upon personal behavior and subjective decisions of day to day life. Walk in a park at night in any big city and the odds for becoming a victim increase. Get on any bus at the wrong place and at the wrong time and you may get robbed. I suspect it is possible to have enough situational awareness
to be able to avoid crime in CR. Maybe the stat you need is the one that tells you who has not experienced crime and how their behavior differs from those who have.[/quote]So very well stated… and true of not only becoming a crime victim but also becoming a drug addict…. suffering health issues…. being involved in bad personal relationships… and so on. Bad choices and conduct often lead to bad outcomes.
[quote=”sweikert925″]Have neither of you ever been a victim of crime?[/quote]
Happy to report no…. well other than the larceny that takes place against my paycheck before I get what’s left! But I’m working on preventing that too! 😀
[quote=”sweikert925″]Wrong, actually. The gun ban was struck down several years ago by the Supreme Court. In any case that law applied only to sales within the city so of course gun dealers in the suburbs enjoyed brisk sales throughout the duration of the ban.
Even when the law was passed, those who already had guns were not affected. There was no shortage of guns in Chicago.
[/quote]You are correct. But this new state of affairs is only weeks old. It was just put into effect on January 7th. The murder statistics may well now slowly improve once more citizens are carrying concealed. But prior to this new permission, hand guns were illegal in Chicago. Wherever hand guns are banned, the gun violence goes up.
sweikert925
every time I stick my head in for a quick peek in here.. and sure enough its sweikert and his continous mental masturbation of various topics costa rica related lol
I will peek again next month and see what topics he is debating
keep in mind all this is on some company’s time that is paying him a salary to be productive..
which is typical
onward!!!
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”sprite”]But this new state of affairs is only weeks old. It was just put into effect on January 7th.[/quote]
There is no “new state of affairs”. The law left in place all guns that were held prior to the imposition of the law, and since there was a period after the law was passed and before it went into effect, gun shops did BIG business. There were a mere handful of gun dealers in Chicago who were affected and anyone who wanted a gun after the ban was effetive only had to drive a few more miles to get one. The ban was a stupid and totally ineffective exercise. It had no practical affect.The gun ban law was passed in 1982. In 1974 there were 970 murders but in 1988 that number had fallen to 660. It went up again to 943 in 1992 but since then it has fallen more or less steadily. Did the gun ban have anything to do with any of that? I don’t think so, but others do. The truth is that the gun ban probably had no affect on the number of guns sloshing around and therefore no affect on the gun violence rate.
[quote=”sprite”]Wherever hand guns are banned, the gun violence goes up.[/quote]
If that is true, then how do you account for the decline in murders (almost all of which are committed with firearms) in Chicago between 1974 and 1988? How do you account for the fact that the US has both the bighest rate of gun ownership (by far!) in the world AND the highest rate (by far!) of gun deaths?[/quote][quote=”davidd”]sweikert925
every time I stick my head in for a quick peek in here.. and sure enough its sweikert and his continous mental masturbation of various topics costa rica related lol
I will peek again next month and see what topics he is debating
keep in mind all this is on some company’s time that is paying him a salary to be productive..
which is typical
onward!!! [quote]
An insurance company I believe… you know the business model there…. Make promises, collect premiums, find a way not to pay claims…. gotta love capitalism! 😉
Sorry Steve couldn’t resist… After lawyers insurance companies are on my list of entities that I see as the root of a good amount of the evil that exist in this world.
[quote=”sweikert925″] What struck me about it is this:
[i]The uniformed police, Fuerza Publica, has between 12,000 and 15,000 officers working in the entire country.[/i]
[/quote]If the figures are accurate there is a fuerza Publica officer for every 392 residents in Costa Rica.
They are responsible only for keeping the peace (crime & disputes).They are not responsible for traffic enforcement or any other enforcement duties.In our area, Ciudad Colon, they are quite visible and effective.
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