Rio de Janeiro - Crime & Safety

[Ken_Apples]

i never been robbed in rio and consider it safe using common sense. however the last 4 days i witnessed three robberies in copa / leme, daytime and nighttime. yesterday evening when i crossed av princess isabel with my gf there were a guy on a bike coming up to us from behind. propably interested in my gfs purse as i wear nothing in my pockets (money inside my bermudas). i heard him coming and stopped and turned to him and he turned his bike and instead robbed a smartphone from a guy walking 10 metres behind us. he hit the guy and grabbed his phone and speed away on the bike. just in front of the police cabin (in the middle of the avenida).

guys, should there maybe be a report in the links to reports of distinction purely about safety?

maybe you sperto or any other member with much experience in rio could write a small, yearly updated "101. what to do and do not do in rio" guide?

it's sad when guys that maybe only have the chance to travel one time a year, get caught in something bad, just because they did not have the latest info.

yes, this thread and rtff is always a good thing to do, but a small and updated, separate safety pdf or link / something in the reports of distinction could maybe be a good thing?

think about it. what if the effort just saves 1 single member from getting into harms way each year, would it not be worth it?

best regards, ken apples

[Sperto]

i never been robbed in rio and consider it safe using common sense. however the last 4 days i witnessed three robberies in copa / leme, daytime and nighttime. yesterday evening when i crossed av princess isabel with my gf there were a guy on a bike coming up to us from behind. propably interested in my gfs purse as i wear nothing in my pockets (money inside my bermudas). i heard him coming and stopped and turned to him and he turned his bike and instead robbed a smartphone from a guy walking 10 metres behind us. he hit the guy and grabbed his phone and speed away on the bike. just in front of the police cabin (in the middle of the avenida).

btw, i loved how some guys caught a pivete in flamengo the other day. gave him a lesson, undressed him and tied him to a lamp post (?).

[Bimbo Boy]

I arrived 12/18. Used an HSBC ATM at the airport to access my HSBC account. Could only withdraw $ R300, even thought it displayed $R1000 daily limit. I was able to withdraw more Reals later that day from a Banco do Brasil ATM in Copa. Today I received a fraud alert email from HSBC. On 12/19 money was withdraw from my account in Santiago, Chile. And earlier today more money was withdrawn here in Rio. Rat Bastards work quick! Last time this happened, fraudulent charges were made after I left Rio. Not sure which ATM was the culprit.

I report exactly the same. I used the same ATM. The very next day, cash was being drawn from my account from an ATM in Asuncion Paraguay!

[Sperto]

A gringo being robbed and beaten up is nothing new in Brazil. What I found interesting was how it was reported on the local news in Salvador.

Last Sunday a 26 year old german tourist was robbed in Pelourinho. A arrestão. 30 guys attacked him. He lost his camera and cell phone and got beaten up with rocks and got his nose broken.

http://noticias.r7.com/bahia/turista...festa-28012014

On the local news, Cidade Alerta (only shows violent news) , they told about the incident (I have no link). However the reporter thought it very strange that the gringo wasn't interested in making a police report. The reporter thought this was very suspicious. They showed a close-up film sequence in slow motion 5 times of the bloody gringo. All the time the reporter screaming about what this suspicious gringo had to hide as he didn't make a police report. Was he in Brazil illegal etc? Just to add effects they had added a peculiar voice to the film screaming "estranho" over and over again.

The result was it was no shame that the gringo got robbed and beaten up. The gringo most likely was the bad guy. I don't know anything about this gringo. Maybe he had something to hide or maybe he was too chocked to make a police report? Anyway I thought it was a very bad way of reporting about a foreign tourist getting robbed. What about the world cup? There will be thousands of gringos being robbed in Brazil, will those also be the bad guys?

[LukeSkywalker]

the neighborhoods and people in rio always give me the creep, like walking through a jungle full of dangerous animals.

on the contrary, i feel safe and happy with people in buenos aires. argentinians are a lot more romantic and light-hearted. even cops sometimes kid around with tourists. i always enjoy their companies.

regarding music and dance, brazilians have their deep drum percussion from africa. their samba dance is basically quick bucking and thrushing the hips in sexual ways, just like intercourse. on the contrary, argentinian's tango music and dance are far more romantic with sweet, loving moves, alternately in slow and quick tempos.

more bad pr for rio. within a week there have been robbery and [CodeWord123] in a van, a onibus crashing and killing 7 passengers and now a group of 9 tourists robbed.

two days ago 9 german tourists, a guide and a driver were travelling in a van, passing through floresta the tijuca. the van was intercepted by two cars with 6 armed bandits. they robbed money, electronic equipments, cellular phones and documents.

http://extra.globo.com/noticias/rio/...a-8027980.html

http://noticias.r7.com/videos/turist...1a637fcbd.html

[Novio]

I arrived 12/18. Used an HSBC ATM at the airport to access my HSBC account. Could only withdraw $ R300, even thought it displayed $R1000 daily limit. I was able to withdraw more Reals later that day from a Banco do Brasil ATM in Copa. Today I received a fraud alert email from HSBC. On 12/19 money was withdraw from my account in Santiago, Chile. And earlier today more money was withdrawn here in Rio. Rat Bastards work quick! Last time this happened, fraudulent charges were made after I left Rio. Not sure which ATM was the culprit.

I have heard of others having trouble with that HSBC ATM machine at GIG airport. They must have attached a card skimmer there. I would definitely avoid that machine in the future!

[Java Man]

I arrived 12/18. Used an HSBC ATM at the airport to access my HSBC account. Could only withdraw $ R300, even thought it displayed $R1000 daily limit. I was able to withdraw more Reals later that day from a Banco do Brasil ATM in Copa. Today I received a fraud alert email from HSBC. On 12/19 money was withdraw from my account in Santiago, Chile. And earlier today more money was withdrawn here in Rio. Rat Bastards work quick! Last time this happened, fraudulent charges were made after I left Rio. Not sure which ATM was the culprit.

[Java Man]

the three dudes that raped the american woman and beat her french boyfriend in a stolen commuter van, mar 30, 13 were sentenced today. the driver and his co-defendant were sentenced to 49 years. 3 months in prison. the third dude who did not beat on the frenchie, was sentenced to 21 years. 7 months for [CodeWord123] and extortion. the fourth member of the group, a 14 year old, will be sentenced by a juvenile court. these long prison sentences are misleading as the maximum that can be imposed in brazil is 30 years. last year, brazil's legislature was considering increasing it to 40 years. these guys will not serve all that time. more than likely they'll be out in less than 20 years, maybe 10.

i'm reminded of the candelária massacre in rio, on the night of july 23, 1993. eight homeless juveniles were killed by possibly 9 off duty pm death squad."only three were ever convicted and imprisoned, according to a report from amnesty international. nelson oliveira dos santos cunha received 261 years in jail in november 1996; marcos aurelio dias alcantara got 204 years in 1998; and marcos vinicius borges emanuel was sentenced to 300 years in 2003 (a full decade after the monstrous crimes). but santos cunha and alcantara have since been released from prison, while emanuel got a pardon in june of last year. in 2013, an appeals court overturned that ruling, rendering emanuel a fugitive from the law."

http://www.ibtimes.com/candelaria-ch...treet-children

a quirk in brazilian law says that anyone who gets a sentence of twenty or more years in jail, automatically qualifies for a second trial.

the juvenile will come out the best, as he'll be held until he becomes 21 years old. he'll be sent to an overcrowded, understaffed juvenile facility, where he can easily escape. no one will go looking for him.

http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/condenad...em-van-9549176

there's been reports of the government wanting to demilitarize the policia militar, as if that would solve all their criminal problems. brazil needs to change there archaic criminal and juvenile laws too.

[Poucolouco]

a german tourist and his friend went to visit rocinha after visiting cristo redentor. visiting rocinha is no problem, specially not after it became occupied by upp.

however the german tourist had the absolute brilliant idea to take photos of armed bandits. he got rewarded by a bullit in his thorax.

http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/turista-...ocinha-8556111

this is bad pr for rio, but imo unfair pr. the german guy was acting extremely stupid so he has to take the consequences.

you are right, bravo, the upp has moved in to rocinha, and it is not that large of an area to police (less than a square mile.) driving through sao goncalo and rocinha you can see small groups of police in some areas but certainly not the whole favela. one should not develop a false sense of security because of the police presence. as the hard core trafficants have cleared out, a new generation of teen age thugs has developed. under brasilian law these ratos are immune from adult prosecution. the courts put them back on the street as soon as they are arrested. they are immature and quick to resort to violence. the upp has driven out the big time drug dealers but they have not yet tamed the new generation of child bandits.

a 16 year old mini-bandit turned himself in to the police.

http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/menor-co...imento-8565958

the kid claims he was coerced. he was accompanied to the police station by an unidentified attorney and a social services provider from the church of pastor markos pereira. pastor marcos, leader of the house of god in the last days (adud) , was arrested on may 07, on charges of [CodeWord123] of congregants, money laundering and drug trafficking. excellent social counsel! competent authorities will study the best way to apply the principle of full protection to the teenager. with this kind of representation, he'll be back on the streets in a week.

http://globotv.globo.com/rede-globo/...bangu/2562979/

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[Poucolouco]

more bad pr for rio. within a week there have been robbery and [CodeWord123] in a van, a onibus crashing and killing 7 passengers and now a group of 9 tourists robbed.

two days ago 9 german tourists, a guide and a driver were travelling in a van, passing through floresta the tijuca. the van was intercepted by two cars with 6 armed bandits. they robbed money, electronic equipments, cellular phones and documents.

http://extra.globo.com/noticias/rio/...a-8027980.html

http://noticias.r7.com/videos/turist...1a637fcbd.html

three bandits, armed with revolvers robbed the passengers on an onibus travelling from jacarepagua to the village of mare on the yellow line at 9. p. m on friday.

normally this is routine crime but this week it has been piling up.

http://g1.globo.com/rio-de-janeiro/n...la-no-rio.html

[Sperto]

more bad pr for rio. within a week there have been robbery and [CodeWord123] in a van, a onibus crashing and killing 7 passengers and now a group of 9 tourists robbed.

two days ago 9 german tourists, a guide and a driver were travelling in a van, passing through floresta the tijuca. the van was intercepted by two cars with 6 armed bandits. they robbed money, electronic equipments, cellular phones and documents.

http://extra.globo.com/noticias/rio/...a-8027980.html
http://noticias.r7.com/videos/turist...1a637fcbd.html

[Golfinho]

french boyfriend what a cheapskate no taxi, makes his girl ride in a piece of merd van. other report says he let himself get handcuffed, watched the assault, then didn't stop his girlfriend go back getting another credit card and getting raped some more. [CodeWord123] assaults happen every day all over this city. story here is girl picked a rosel, err loser.

[Poucolouco]

the couple, studying in rio, were a american girl and a french guy.

http://noticias.uol.com.br/cotidiano...o-de-crime.htm

hopefully the three fat [CodeWord127] get the treatment they deserve in prison.

http://radioitaperunafm.com/site/wp-...res-no-rio.jpg

i feel sorry for the brazilian girl who got raped a week before the couple. the police didn't care to investigate her case good enough.

bangu prison is well known for serving out prison justice. i hope the three fat youngsters get their salads tossed before the week is out. they need to learn what it's like to be on the receiving end of a violent [CodeWord123] and a tire iron beating. the main offenders on the part of the police were two female officers who decided independently that the brasilian girl was a puta who didn't deserve police support. they were fired yesterday.

everyone involved in this disgusting situation has brought shame on brasil which will be hard to live down.

[Auriflama]

Be careful about girls that approach you at nighttime in Copacabana. A couple of nights ago a friend of mine was walking home alone after partying. Somewhere between Balcony and Copacabana Palace two girls approached him. Both girls went directly up to him and started kissing him. He wasn't sober and let it happened. Obviously the girls were minors.

In seconds a policía militar turned up. The PM checked his I'd and was very angry. He wanted to bring him to his car and go the police station. My friend managed to stay calm, he explained what happened (he speaks fluent portugues) and refused to go with the police. After a couple of minutes the police gave up and let him go. No bribe involved.

It's very possible that it could have been a setup with the girls working together with the police, as a way of trying to extort money.

P. S Just for the record, my friend is a MILF lover and almost never goes with women younger than 28 years.

Interesting they were doing that with the drugs at one time, You buy it then policia pops out of nowhere and gets the bribe.

[Java Man]

it's gone global. i was surprised to see a report of the arrest of the third suspect today on chicago midday tv news. in some reports, the attack is being compared with the fatal december beating and gang [CodeWord123] of a young woman on a new delhi bus in india. i wonder how the french are reporting it.

this attack plus the indefinite closing of a 2016 olympics stadium, because of structural problems with its roof, has given rio a major pr problem. it will be interesting to see how rio responds.