Expat Group to Put Cap on Crime
Cap Booth at 4th of July Picnic Organized by American Colony Committee
A group founded by expatriates in the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica has become a political advocate for public security in Costa Rica. CAP, which stands for “Crime Awareness and Prevention” and describes itself as a non-profit group of community members is organizing a petition to present before President Laura Chinchilla and the legislative assembly.
The group organizes its efforts into initiatives for awareness and crime prevention, and while awareness efforts during the past seven years focused on face to face interaction the current agenda calls for a social media presence and development of their web site. Prevention efforts call for community security cameras, and donations to purchase police equipment. There is also a controversial “No Serve” policy advocated for business members to refuse service to known perpetrators.
The Online Petition has 515 signatures presently, and according to AM Costa Rica the petition had 102 signatures just one week ago. The stated goals call for a revision of the criminal code, nation wide implementation of the flagrancy court system, increased prison capacity, more funding for public security, and community outreach for troubled youth.
The signature section of the petition makes for interesting reading as the signatories are asked to describe briefly their experience with crime in Costa Rica. While theft and property related crimes have traditionally plagued Costa Rica the southern zone in particular has seen an increase of organized crime directed toward expatriate home owners.
Impunity has been a big problem in Costa Rica, meaning the vast majority of criminal acts simply go unpunished and perpetrators feel there is little risk of being caught.
Affluent people have more been frequently targeted in Costa Rica than in the past. Armed robberies of upscale restaurants, and the murder of Antonio Lehmann Struve during one such robbery is a good example.
A crime targeted against affluent women in general is ”window breaking” where a young thief on foot or motorcycle shatters windows of cars caught in traffic jams to steal purses.
Express kidnapings and the infamous “Paseo Millonario” have become modern problems in Latin American countries and Costa Rica is no exception. During a “paseo” the kidnappers grab a person from outside an ATM machine, and hold on to them for several days, sometimes in the trunk of a car until the cash card stops working.
Keeping the victim is necessary as it reduces the chance an account will be frozen. Once the family can be contacted a modest ransom of several thousand dollars is usually negotiated.
Violent crime is a modern problem in Costa Rica as the small republic has traditionally remained an oasis of peace in an otherwise tumultuous Central America. According to La Nacion three people in unrelated incidents were murdered in poor neighborhoods in Costa Rica on the eve of the annual Pilgrimage to Cartago.
As a tourist keep in mind that the problems described above rarely affect visitors to the country. Tourists more often become victims when luggage, bags or electronic equipment are stolen from a hotel, rental car or public area. Many of these items find their way to local Pawn Shops as there is no law against receiving stolen property in Costa Rica.
Tackling the growing problem of crime in Costa Rica through public awareness is not a new idea, however CAP on Crime has become one of the most vocal organized through the expatriate community. Hopefully the Online Petition will help the group transcend from the Southern zone to the republic as a whole.
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Filed Under: Expat Living
