Please tell your Costa Rican Crime story

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Viewing 11 posts - 61 through 71 (of 71 total)
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  • #190879
    sjm1580
    Member

    Scott,

    You are welcome for the airport listings in Mexico. Are you still saying there are not ten times the Americans in Mexico? If you wish to denigrate my statements please respond with facts to back up your statements. Again, the rest is just dribble as the Brits say.

    Did you remove the post with the question about the VIP members opinions of crime in Costa Rica? If you did, I question if this site is really an open forum or just your vessel to pedal books and Costa Rican Realtors (whatever Costa Rican Realtor means).

    As your website states in it’s sub-title ” Expert Costa Rica Real Estate, Living & Retirement Information to help you live the good life”. Expert is an easy term to throw around but much more difficult to attain.

    I wonder where the experts are on this site………

    #190880
    sumaSal
    Member

    sjm1582: great articles, you are my man, thank you! Crime happens on the street, houses and beaches.

    But not so very often in a condo behind the desktop.

    #190881
    Andrew
    Keymaster

    We do have other Moderators in this Discussion Forum and yes! Your new Discussion Forum posting about crime in Costa Rica was deleted.

    THIS forum thread is clearly a Discussion Forum thread about crime in Costa Rica – one that you started. If someone wants to post comments about crime in Costa Rica they can do it here, we do not need to start a new thread on the exact same topic a few days after this one.

    If you continue to start new Discussion Forum threads about crime – you’ve done it three times now – your registration will be deleted.

    As mentioned in the acknowledgement section of my book, there were dozens of people with significant experience in many different areas that contributed to my book on real estate and many more who contribute regularly to the 1,800+ articles on this site.

    If you don’t like what is included on our site and don’t feel that these ‘experts’ are giving you anything that you don’t already know then please feel free not to read the articles.

    Scott Oliver – Founder
    WeLoveCostaRica.com

    #190882
    sjm1580
    Member

    Scott,

    I appreciate your candor in the last response. I take everything I read with a grain of salt. Just because it is a written word does not make it, as they say Gospel. I think it is truly important for anyone reading articles on your website, your book (which I have not read) or any other media to take a objective look at what is written or said and decide for themselves if it makes sense. For anyone on this website to say crime in Costa Rica is not getting worse has been sniffing glue out of a paper bag (in my humble opinion) . This should certainly be one of the more important factors for anyone considering investing in real estate in Costa Rica and is certainly worth as much web space, as say promoting real estate sales people throughout Costa Rica.

    Again my thoughts….

    #190883
    *Lotus
    Member

    Yes there is crime in Costa Rica. If you are visiting as a tourist take the same precautions you would in Jamaica or Mexico and you will be just fine. If you are are relocating here rent for six months to a year then decide if the area you settle in has more crime than you can handle. If you don’t want to tempt fate and are moving here buy in a high-rise condo or a secure gated community such as Del Pacifico or Cabas Calettas this is sort of like living at the four Seasons, I felt safe at the Four Seasons..no one stole our widows. If you have a house and live in a mixed community like David Murray or Maravilla make good friends with your neighbors and when you leave have a trusted person watch your property. Crime can happen it does everyday just about in every country, but it is a relative truth. I think we can agree living in a developing country like Costa Rica has many challenges and is a little different than retiring to Palm Beach, but that’s why I love it so much because it is so very different than the US. My own experiences in the country have been wonderful as a long term tourist, I have not one complaint…I accept I am in a foreign land and do my best to go with the flow.

    #190884
    editer
    Member

    Here we go, again. Usually we have a few months respite between threads about how bad crime is becoming in Costa Rica. It seems that sjm is so hungry for someone to communicate with, that he likes to start these threads to give him something to do. I guess he’ll be beating on this horse even while the bones lay bleaching in the sun.

    It isn’t only sjm. There are several members of the forum who won’t be happy until they scare somebody out of their plans to move down to the pura vida. If it were just a matter of them forewarning CR-bound ex-pats that we have to be especially vigilant, I wouldn’t be so angry. Ex-patriots are more desirable targets than Ticos because we are operating in an unfamiliar culture and, on the average, we have more money. Any Gringo who doesn’t realize this needs to stay stateside.

    However, it’s not enough to admit that crime is already a problem and that it is increasing at an alarming rate. These doomsayers want us to declare Costa Rica a no-man’s land. Enter and you die. Some of us believe that we can stay alert and avoid the disastrous pitfalls that have plagued GringoTico. The other side argues that, no matter how many precautions we take or how situationally aware we are, all of our possessions will be stolen the moment we leave our houses to buy groceries. Realistically, I expect that eventually I’ll have some things stolen. Why should Costa Rica be any different than Chicago? But the scenario that GringoTico has painted is obviously hyperbole. If a hundred percent of his Tico acquaintances have had their homes broken into, I wish he’d tell us where he spends his time. I’ll do my best to avoid those neighborhoods.

    This thread began by asking for anecdotal evidence of the crime situation in CR. Anecdotal evidence is a pretty low rung on the ladder of proof, but it’s an interesting exercise. I suspect sjm expected quite a few stories of burglaries, punctured tire robberies, and muggings. I confess that I did, too. Surprisingly, the majority of responses were from people who say they have not been robbed. Finally, one response from GringoTico about his experiences is enough to convince sjm that his perceptions are the only valid ones and the rest of us “don’t get it.”

    Scott only recently started to add dates to the articles from the home page so I don’t know when the following appeared:

    https://www.welovecostarica.com/members/1297.cfm?sd=30

    Check out the quote by GringoTico at the bottom of that article. And what the heck, check out the following article as well.

    https://www.welovecostarica.com/members/1189.cfm

    It was written by GringoTico seemingly before he got so soured on this little country. Read his opening statement to this article. He admits that he’s a chronic complainer. He admits it freely, and I won’t disagree. I’ve seen the evidence. Then his article goes on to say why he loves Costa Rica so much. I guess that all of GringoTico’s misfortunes occurred after he wrote the piece. And yet, he states at the end of his last message that he still wants to retire to Costa Rica, but he would “do it differently.” Obviously GringoTico still believes that Costa Rica is a worthwhile place to live, and that it is possible to avoid being a victim. That’s the attitude that a lot of us on this site have.

    Disraeli said that there are three types of lies: “Lies, damned lies, and statistics.” There are so many statistics floating around that you can use them to prove just about any point that you want to make. And if you do it artfully enough, you can convince some shallow-thinking people that you are right. You aren’t especially artful, sjm. I don’t know what you were trying to prove by listing all of those Mexican airports, but it only shows me that you have too much time on your hands. You need to get yourself a hobby. Make some friends. Develop a life other than trying to stir up arguments.. At least wait a couple of months before you start another “crime is endemic in Costa Rica” thread. We can all use a rest.

    editer

    #190885
    sjm1580
    Member

    Scott,

    This issue is clearly not run its course. There has been far more interest in this posting than any other in the recent past. Just analyze the number of postings versus others. I realize it is not comfortable for you and others to discuss, but I am assuming this discussion maybe very helpful to others considering moving to Costa Rica.

    Thank you

    #190886
    Andrew
    Keymaster

    I didn’t say the “issue” had run it’s course – we could discuss this until the day we die – what I did say was that this thread has run it’s course and for your information the system software itself will close down this thread soon as it is a very long thread and I did not design the system.

    What you realize is not correct, clearly I am comfortable discussing any topic and as you will see have discussed this topic on hundreds of occasions thank you but this thread is now closed.

    No doubt other Costa Rica crime related topics will arise in the future and we can discuss them at that time.

    Scott Oliver – Founder
    WeLoveCostaRica.com

    #190887
    danymilton
    Member

    Methinks that sjm1580 has a different agenda Scott. He or she (because we don’t really know who this is) is more interested in starting a thread, baiting you, attacking you and trying to attack your credibility than discussing the topic.

    I do not remember you ever saying anywhere on your site that crime in Costa Rica has not increased and I appreciate the way you put things into perspective and since there are tens of thousands of Americans here, making comparisons to crime in their country seems 100% natural to me.

    The Ticos may be more concerned about crime than they have ever been, they are also better off than they have ever been so have more to be concerned about.

    Gringos are obsessed with shopping and their possessions so they are naturally obsessed with the possibility that someone might steal their possessions.

    Finally sjm1580, as British woman myself, I can tell you that the Brits don’t talk about dribble unless they are referring to a baby drooling or a footballer playing, when someone is talking foolishly it’s called drivel and not dribble.

    #190888
    Andrew
    Keymaster

    POSTED IN WRONG PLACE AND REPOSTED HERE BY SCOTT

    message Posted By
    Posted May 31,2008 2:27 PM maravilla

    Isn’t this horse dead yet? We’ve certainly beaten it enough. Yes, there is crime. I worried about crime before I moved to Costa Rica. I was warned about crime by people who had been robbed at gunpoint, had their entire house contents stolen, had their car broken into, been pickpocketed, etc. A little investigation into these incidents revealed that these people were in all the wrong places at all the wrong times. In three years, none of those things have happened to me. I’ve heard stories about people who had their laptops stolen from their car, but that would happen in the States, too. When I see the news articles about murders, I always look to see who got killed and it’s more often than not some lowlife drug dealer or someone who was buying drugs. Occasionally, it’s an ordinary person who gets whacked. Crime is a problem in Costa Rica. But it’s a problem everywhere, and you have to take precautions. However, I don’t have bars on my windows. I don’t have an alarm system. I leave my house unattended for months at a time. I do have a caretaker who comes everyday and I have neighbors who watch out for my property. Some of the crimes I hear about have an element of stupidity to them — like the guy sitting next to me on the plane ranting and raving about how he was robbed of his $5000 Rolex and gold chains in downtown San Jose at night. Well, duh! He’d have been robbed in downtown Denver, too. A friend of a friend had his car broken into and his briefcase stolen that had $3000 in it. Who does that? Would he have left a briefcase with three grand in it in his car in downtown Chicago? The division between haves and have nots continues to widen. That breeds crime. People who flaunt their wealth are obvious targets. It’s still the safest country in Central America and it may be safer than some urban areas in the States. But if crime is your major concern, maybe you ought not to move here.

    Reply Delete Edit
    message Posted By
    Posted Jun 01,2008 10:22 AM grb1063

    “Crime statistics attempt to provide a statistical measure of the level, or amount, of- crime that is prevalent in societies. Given that crime, by definition, is an illegal activity, every way of measuring it is likely to be inaccurate.”

    Crime rates are somewhat misleading, because the determination of the rate solely depends on reporting the crime. Central America, outside the arab world, has one of th lowest reporting rates for crimes against women. The arab world has the lowest crime reporting rate of all.

    TOP TEN COUNTRIES FOR HOMICIDE, 2003 COUNTRY PER 100,000
    (1) Colombia 63
    (2) South Africa 51
    (3) Jamaica 32
    (4) Venezuela 32
    (5) Russia 19
    (6) Mexico 13
    (7) Lithuania 10
    (8) Estonia 10
    (9) Latvia 10
    (10) Belarus 9

    Costa Rica is listed a 6.23, US @ 9.6.

    The safest countries overall are Norway, New Zealnd, Denmark, Ireland & Japan. Safest major city in the world is Hong Kong.

    The US has the highest incarceration rate and is higher per capita now than Russia was during the cold war. US and Iran are the only two countries in the world that sentence juveniles to death.

    The bottom line is that Costa Rica is the safest country overall south of Canada., followed by Chie and Uruguay.

    #190889
    Andrew
    Keymaster

    THIS THREAD HAS RUN IT’S COURSE – NO MORE POSTINGS HERE PLEASE

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