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Most Criminals Are Costa
Ricans and Not Foreigners As It
is Perceived, Reports Says
Things aren't always what they
seem. The majority think that
crimes in Costa Rica are
committed by foreigners
(especially Nicaraguans), the
fact is that the majority of
those charged for crimes are
Costa Ricans, according to the
latest report by the Programa de
las Naciones Unidas para el
Desarrollo (PNUD).
The report shows that of those
condemned with a crime in Costa
Rica between 1998 and 2003, the
majority - 89% - were Costa
Ricans, followed by Nicaraguans
(5.8%), Colombians (1.7%) and
others (3.6%). The majority of
crimes are committed by men.
José Manuel Hermida, PNUD
representative in Costa Rica,
says that the majority believe
that Nicaraguans (64%) are
committing most of the crimes in
contract to only 16% Costa
Ricans, when in reality the
sentences handed down by the
courts is completely the
opposite.
Another contradiction is that
most crimes occur on the street
and between unknowns, when in
fact, the majority of police
calls are for inte-family
violence, that is between people
who know each other.
The report says that in the last
12 months 38.7% of families have
suffered some form of violence.
Men suffer the largest
percentage of the acts of
physical violence, while women
suffer from emotional and sexual
abuse, especially those women
between the ages of 25 and 34.
The report indicates a large
difference between perception
and reality, emphazised by the
media that sensationalize
events. The reality is that
Costa Rica has a crime rate of
6.5% per 100.000 inhabitants,
while the perception is much
higher.
Another important fact is the
low number of criminal
complaints made. Costa Ricans
prefer to place bars to protect
their homes (64.2% of homes have
barred according to the report),
or leave someone in the house
while away (59.9%), buy a dog
(39.2%), use specialty locks
(32.8%), organize a neigbourhood
watch (19.8%) or install razor
wire (1.32%) to feel protected.
These acts, PNUD says, lead to
less freedom and restricts
children from enjoying the home
and recreational activities. The
PNUD says that the government
spends more on a prisoner than
what it costs to educate a child
from infancy to university.
The PNUD has made a number of
recommendations, that if
implemented, would ensure
security among citizens, that
include lowering perceptions and
focusing on the realities,
training institutions to offer
better security and reduce
violence against women,
protecting children and giving
priority to programs that help
the youth develop healthy habits
and reduce the country of the
number of handguns.
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UNDP has offices in 24 countries
and supports 44 country
programmes in Latin America and
the Caribbean. They help the
people of the region build and
share their own solutions to
urgent development challenges,
supporting local, regional and
global coalitions for change and
connecting individuals and
institutions so they can share
knowledge, experience and
resources.
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