Crime hot-spots in the capital

[sesamosinsal]

Except for maybe Puerto Madero, there is no such a thing as a safe barrio in this city

Ding, ding, ding.

I was going to say that I would be just as cautious taking a bus on Santa Fe or Cabildo at 11:30 p.m. (or later) as I would be taking a bus on Callao or Rivadavia at the same time.

 

[elclandestino]

The time really doesn't matter. Shit happens 24/7/365. Bus (crowded one) is safer than walking or taking a cab

There are no particular hotspots. Pretty much the entire city is crime infested

 

[anabeeare]

So, you can consider to get out at night to take a bus, when you know you'll be probably be waiting for it for 45 minutes.
Do you do this in unsafe areas of your hometown?

I have done a lot of questionable things that one could consider unsafe but I have never waited at a bus stop at night by myself. My friends waited with me to make sure I got on the bus safely without any problems. If it was really late, I would call a trusted remise.

However, everyone's perception of danger is different: Mine happens to have been sharpened after living in Bogotá for a bit which is arguably more dangerous. Buenos Aires is a different sort of danger but with the right precautions you can reduce (not eliminate) the risk of having some sort of problem.

Oh, as for my hometown, no one is crazy (or has the balls) to take the bus late at night in the bad part of town... some of the buses have bullet holes in the side of them as testimony to Charm City.

 

[2GuysInPM]

Except for maybe Puerto Madero, there is no such a thing as a safe barrio in this city

Shhh.... lets keep that a secret

 

[marksoc]

Oddly enough, thinking about it, I felt more unsafe (uncomfortable) walking around Palermo at night from time to time with a friend because of all the reports of motochorros taking advantage of the drunk university students... whereas walking around Boedo or sometimes Barracas felt less unnerving.

When I told a professor that, he just rolled his eyes.

Because it seems to be really safer. Look, you are a thief, what are you going to do? To Palermo were there are lots of walking I-Pods? Or to Boedo, were your victim maybe has a long knife to meet you?

 

[jimdepalermo]

El Latingo,

What I've been told is that there is an obscure law allowing the police to incarcerate you for ten hours if you don't have ID. I don't know if this is accurate, and it is a slim possibility. The only time I could see if being used is if the cops wanted to harrass or shut you down, such as in response to a noise complaint or something, and they didn't have anything else.

Carrying the real passport is not advised. People usually get a photocopy made and laminate it. It's also nice to always have it in case you need it for other purposes, like renting something, etc...

When I reported the loss of my DNI some years ago to the comisaría, the policeman on duty told me I was stupid to carry it. Except where absolutely needed, like for a bank withdrawal, he recommended carrying a photocopy.

Since then I've been stopped a number of times at traffic control points carrying nothing more than the photocopy. Occasionally the officers question it, and I relay the advice of the cop who took my denuncia. Usually they then nod in agreement.

Point is that I've never had any trouble, even driving an auto. I assume if the police suspected something and wanted to detain me, the lack of good id would give them an additional excuse. But I also assume they would detain me on some other excuse even if I had it.

Given the 14-month hassle I went through to replace the lost DNI, I no longer carry the original except when absolutely necessary. As I noted in another thread, I'm getting a new DNI in order to have the cedula that's now delivered with the document, that provides legal identification, and that's easy to replace.

 

[CarverFan]

This afternoon a friend of mine was robbed by a guy on the colectivo. Will find out which number and update. Her purse was stolen from her bag, she said it was a group of 3 working together.

 

[BA_Life]

This has turned into a lively debate! I live in Puerto Madero and I've seen robberies here as well (although I must admit that I've seen more in Palermo & the Micro Centre). Plus I wouldn't dare go near Costanera Sur after dark nor eat at one of the Parrillas whilst watching the sun come up.....well that bit is not strictly true...I've done that with a group of friends and survived to to tell the tale ;-)

But as Steve and many others have said, just use some common sense. I use shop windows to see who is following me and by far I've had the most problems on Florida, La Valle, Palermo Soho and Recoleta.....tourist land (big wallets, ipods & cameras).

Even though I've seen worse crime in other cities, after almost 3 years in BsAs, I was amazed at the Ipad, Kindle, Ipod usage on the London Tube over Christmas. Oh how I wish I could whip out my BlackBerry on the Subte without it being separated from me in seconds!

Be careful out there ;-)

 

[2GuysInPM]

I'm curious... where in PM have you seen robberies? .. I read about the armed robbery at the exchange house here last year, but I'm not aware of others.

 

[LaurenW]

i'm not sure of the origen of the 'never take out your phone on a bus/subte' rule that i read about on baexpats. i always use my blackberry to catch up on emails and facebook on the colectivos. Done it every day for 6 months. Never had a problem and i always see smartphones in the hands of fellow passengers. definitely be careful and hold the phone with both hands while you're using it and don't let it sit on your lap unattended, but i think its definitely safe to use blackberries in public here.