Costa Rica is often cited as the safest country in Latin America. Although crime statistics can be notoriously unreliable, it is undoubtedly the case that Costa Rica—whatever its exact ranking—is one of the safest countries in the region. On an empirical level, you will find that Costa Ricans are generally much less physically aggressive than either Americans or Europeans. Violent crimes do occur, of course, but in this country you will almost never hear of cases in which a gunman walks into a school or office building and opens fire on innocent strangers. Society here is simply less violent than what you will find on the streets of many big cities in industrialized countries (not to mention the streets of Mexico City or Sao Paulo).

The accuracy of crime statistics aside, it’s often difficult to gauge crime levels (and trends) in a given country. Many people call a place safe so long as they themselves haven’t been the victim of a crime; similarly, if someone does end up being the victim of a crime—or knows a crime victim—then he naturally forms the opinion that he’s in a dangerous place. On an anecdotal level, then, people living in metropolitan areas of the Central Valley will tell you that petty theft and home burglaries are significant (and probably growing) problems, and the omnipresent bars on home windows attest to that fact.

One important reason why it is very likely that crime statistics for Costa Rica are inaccurate is that many people fail to report crimes to the OIJ, the criminal investigation department of the judicial branch. Why spend half a day at the OIJ office, they reason, when it’s unlikely the perpetrator will ever be caught? The country needs more policemen, and it needs to pay them better. But even when a criminal is apprehended, it’s not very likely that he’ll go to jail; the somewhat sclerotic judicial system is forced to work with a penal code that is extremely lax. The good news is that the Arias administration is well aware of these problems and it has placed crime prevention near the top of its list of priorities. And, increasingly, fed up citizens have begun to form neighborhood watch programs and to collectively hire private security companies to patrol their neighborhoods.

Lest any of this scare off readers, it’s important to make a couple of points. First, much of what’s been said applies principally to cities within the Central Valley, not to small towns in the Central Valley or to beach communities, where violent crime is rare. Needless to say, even if you do live within a city, crime statistics will vary widely depending on the neighborhood you live in. But wherever you decide to live, you might want to consider living in a gated community or some other type of development that offers its own security service (the international security firm ADT has offices in Costa Rica). This option is especially appealing to people who plan on living in Costa Rica for just part of the year, as they can leave the country knowing that their home will be well taken care of. Also, many gated communities offer a management service that will rent out your house or condominium when you’re out of the country so that you can generate extra income.

A lot of people want to know if expatriates are specifically targeted by burglars. While it must be true that some thieves make the assumption that all foreigners are rich and therefore target them, it is also likely the case that thieves choose to burglarize a house simply because a) it appears to contain items worth stealing (regardless of who lives there) and b) because they see a way into the house. That said, thieves do target tourists, both because tourists are often easy prey and because they exit the country long before they might be asked to testify in court (should the thief be charged). Given that thieves might not always be able to discriminate between a foreigner who is a tourist and a foreigner who is an expatriate, it is possible that your being a foreigner in Costa Rica will increase the chances of your being targeted; unlike a tourist, however, you (the savvy expatriate) will be wise to the criminal’s games and thus better able to protect yourself.

Costa Rica is unfortunately one of several transshipment points for drugs moving from South America to the United States. Indeed, drugs pass through virtually every country in Central America, not to mention Mexico and the island nations of the Caribbean. Its impossible to know, of course, to what degree the flow of drugs through this country affects the levels of street crime and police corruption, as it is equally difficult to judge to what degree drug traffickers are able to insinuate themselves into the good graces of local politicians. This is yet another issue that the Arias administration has promised to address as it focuses on how best to combat crime. (See Chapter 17, for more information about crime and security in Costa Rica.)