Rio de Janeiro - Crime & Safety

[Exec Talent]

I'm going to Rio soon, so I have been reading up on Rio some. There is a Facebook page about crime in the area. I guess some locals that want to fight crime get on a Whatsapp group message to send alerts. An article on their Facebook says the phone app WAZE is making Rio the first city that alerts you that you are going in to a higher than normal crime area.

Look at their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/021alerta/ It is in Portuguese, but you can open it will Google Chrome browser, then right click and use translate.

The problem is that there now is crime everywhere. In Botafogo, I was going to the main supermarket at 11:00 AM and a Brazilian woman had her purse snatched right out front. Gangs on motorcycles and bicycles canvas neighborhoods for people on cellphones and then call or text their accomplices on the street telling them where their next victim is located.

A lot of the government corruption had a trickledown effect. If you are not getting your extra 5000 reais a month in payoffs something has to give, like the maid, cook or eating out every night.

[Gagoo]

I'm going to Rio soon, so I have been reading up on Rio some. There is a Facebook page about crime in the area. I guess some locals that want to fight crime get on a Whatsapp group message to send alerts. An article on their Facebook says the phone app WAZE is making Rio the first city that alerts you that you are going in to a higher than normal crime area.

Look at their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/021alerta/ It is in Portuguese, but you can open it will Google Chrome browser, then right click and use translate.

[Exec Talent]

Yesterday I saw a report on some reputed news channel 'Rio experiencing crime wave before Games' showing a tourist getting mugged while walking by a busy street in rio. He was furiously attacked by a young guy who wanted to snatch his valuables & no one stepped up for help. Just a day before I read something similar on the web but didn't pay much attention to it, let me quote.

But today when i saw that live footage... omg I mean its really happening right there. Guys any idea how frequently these incidence occur & is it really a matter of concern.

One of the things I noticed in the news videos (in addition to all the first hand reports from Brazilian friends) is that the young thugs were attacking the muscle guys on the beaches. That happened in the past, but it was rare as there was a good chance they would get their ass kicked. Maybe not today, but if there were seen again, definitely.

Other things that are disturbing, the sheer numbers: used to be 5-8 now it is gangs of 15 - 20; location: used to be Copacabana, Lapa or Centro now Ipanema, Leblon, Botafogo; robberies on buses were somewhat rare. Now the favela rats are jumping up and snatching phones and necklaces through open windows.

All reports I have received is that the favelas themselves are becoming more dangerous. As rents increase, people are moving and squatters are taking over properties. Also, many middle class workers are getting laid off and shops are closing. People are laying off their domestic help. With no jobs, people have to feed their families some way which means more crime. The number one item most likely taken is a smart phone. Avoid using one on the street and even taking one out in public. During the World Cup, I knew tourists and Brazilians alike who had phones taken right out of their hands.

[Sperto]

Carnival time with many gringos in town is Christmas for the thieves.

I was sitting on the beach today with my GF. A pale and obese gringo came and sat down close to me in a sunchair under a beach umbrella. He had a mobile phone, ipad, watch, camera, small videocamera and a fat wallet. He left some of his stuff in his bermudas which he hang in his umbrella, behind his back where he couldn't see them. The rest of the stuff he left in a small under his chair.

Without any worries at all he left his stuff and went for a swim every now and then. I thought of telling him to be careful but I didn't as I didn't like his attitude and that he was taking photos of girls that he shouldn't even consider looking at. Soon two men sat down in the sand right behind his chair. They had vagabundos written on their foreheads. It was very obvious what they had in their mind. I gave them the evil eye just to notice them that I understood what they were up to.

I told my GF to keep an extra eye on our stuff and I went for a swim. When I came back the thieves had taken at least the gringo's wallet and mobile phone from his bermudas and left.

[Java Man]

Be extra vigilant when on Av. Rio Branco, in the area of the Carioca Station. Daily occurrence of strong arm robberies. Usual suspects taking usual items: Cell phones and gold chains. No Police presence. You'd exit at Carioca station to get to the Prives on Av Rio Branco 156 and 185 and Treze de Maio. Checkout the video.

http://g1.globo.com/rio-de-janeiro/n...a-imagens.html

[Vagabundo1]

IMHO, the safest place to be is in Zona Norte with a Vasco shirt on, on a public bus, to avoid being a target; to "be the hunter, not the hunted," that is, to look like the kids doing the muggings, not the victims of the muggings; maybe a little advanced mongering, but learning to use the excellent sex motels in Brazil, especially Rio, and to book freelancers is an essential skill to enjoying all that Brazil has to offer (and more safely too).

http://www.guiademoteis.com.br/rio-de-janeiro

For example, one can take the 457 bus from copa (av nossa s. Copa) to: VM, Pra Bandeira, Malaga motel, Condor Motel, Norte Shopping, Cartago Motel; and back again, and probably be safer in reality than the typically dressed western tourist yards from the Copacabana Palace hotel, waiting for Help disco to rise up from the sands of the beach.

Thank you for posting, guess you can't be too vigilant these days in Rio. I have been going to Rio for 35 years and there was always theft problems on the beach or Copacabana streets, wondering if it's any worse now then it has ever been. You would think the authorities would want to control this considering the Olympics coming up soon, bad enough the news reports of the poluted waters now you can expect to get robbed, should be interesting how it all unfolds. At least the Real is falling apart, that's one piece of good news. This all should be good news in the next year or two if this trend continues, high inflation, weak currency, unemployment, perfect storm to bring more GDP's into the market and take over some club in Copacabana and then we'll be alive again, LOL!

[Rio Bob]

Lots of muggings and arrastes in Zona Sul.
http://g1.globo.com/rio-de-janeiro/n...-em-praia.html
http://globotv.globo.com/rede-globo/...o-rio/4481528/
http://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2015...73_902604.html

Thank you for posting, guess you can't be too vigilant these days in Rio. I have been going to Rio for 35 years and there was always theft problems on the beach or Copacabana streets, wondering if it's any worse now then it has ever been. You would think the authorities would want to control this considering the Olympics coming up soon, bad enough the news reports of the poluted waters now you can expect to get robbed, should be interesting how it all unfolds. At least the Real is falling apart, that's one piece of good news. This all should be good news in the next year or two if this trend continues, high inflation, weak currency, unemployment, perfect storm to bring more GDP's into the market and take over some club in Copacabana and then we'll be alive again, LOL!

[Sperto]

Lots of muggings and arrastões in Zona Sul.
http://g1.globo.com/rio-de-janeiro/n...-em-praia.html
http://globotv.globo.com/rede-globo/...o-rio/4481528/
http://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2015...73_902604.html

[Exec Talent]

Crime in Rio is getting worse. The latest is for guys on motorcycles to cruise the neighborhoods looking for people talking on their cellphones. When they spot someone they then contact their accomplish who nabs its out of their hand. The motorcycle provides a get away if necessary.

Talk on your phones in a secure area. Not out in the open.

[Poucolouco]

Armed arrastaos assaulted cars in the tunnel that links Gavea and Tijuca, on Friday morning. Shots were fired. The group stopped traffic in the tunnel and proceeded to rob people in cars that were trapped in the tunnel. Police arrived and arrested one of the bandits. Unfortunately 5 bandits fled the scene to sharpen their skills for another day.

http://bandnewstv.band.uol.com.br/no...rio-de-janeiro

[Sperto]

Two days ago was the second arrasto in the Metro in the last two weeks. Both in Zona Sul.
The bandits are getting more inventive.

http://g1.globo.com/rio-de-janeiro/n...ro-no-rio.html
http://extra.globo.com/casos-de-poli...-15133198.html

[Poucolouco]

Today we have new manifestations. Demonstrators from the MTST (Homeless Workers Party) are protesting the government's proposed economic reductions in the huge social subsidized housing program known as "minha casa minha vida. " They have blocked the Rodovia at Sao Goncalvo, entering Niteroi and accessing the bridge to Rio de Janeiro with burning tires. Similar protests are concurrently taking place in Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte among other cities.

[Sperto]

Sperto, it is not getting better in Zona Sul-Copa is getting worse. I'm there every 2 months and I stay on Nossa and its getting worse at night-weekends arrestaos on beaches. I'm 6 ft 6 and a KIck-Boxer and I've had a few run-ins.
For sure so I can only imagine more compromised gringos. I speak portuguese and look native.

I rather answer in the proper thread to avoid cluster the Rio thread.

You think the situation is getting worse. OK, I respect your opinion.
Maybe you have something that attracts muggers?
IMHO the situation has not worsen. I move around a lot on foot, bike and bus in Zona Sul, not just Copacabana. Shit stills happens but not as much as before. I might be lucky, but in 25 years I've never suffered any robbery/mugging in Rio (that goes for Zona Sul, Norte, Oeste and Centro). I have many friends who comes to Rio on a yearly basis. They have suffered much less safety problems than before.

[Poucolouco]

Seems to be lots of guys asking for information, but few giving on the ground reports.

Would be interested in any first person (no arm chair editorial or historical commentary please) of what is going on with the protests or observations of violence or criminal activity.

The protests were peaceful demonstrations by a higher class of people than the 2013 demonstrations. No violence and no property damage. Crime is about the same as it has always been in Copacabana. You need to exercise a lot of situation awareness when walking around both day and night. Grab and run thieves are active on Av Atlantica as are a few shit shooters. The grab and run guys are a bit more organized than I have seen in the past, operating as a gang. The grabber operates on foot and quickly transfers his take to another on a bike. Police presence is high only on weekends and nearly none after 6: pm except a few PMs on beach ATVs. Dilma has made overtures about entering into a dialog with the leaders of the demonstrators. Aecio Neves is the de-facto leader of the demonstrators. Aecio, you may recall was Dilma's oponent in the October 2014 election.

[Exec Talent]

Seems to be lots of guys asking for information, but few giving on the ground reports.

Would be interested in any first person (no arm chair editorial or historical commentary please) of what is going on with the protests or observations of violence or criminal activity.