Crime in BA

[BAwithkids]

I've heard a lot about street crime in BA, but not so much about apartments/houses being broken into. How common is this? When you leave your home, do you lock up small electronics, cash, passports, etc?

How important is it to have a safe of some sort? If the place you rented didn't have one, would you buy one? How much would one cost?

If it helps, we're anticipating living in Belgrano...

Thanks!

 

[Celia]

We had our house broken into, although there was scaffolding outside at the time...my husband scared them off but I didn't sleep well for a while after. Totally unadvisable to let police in after a break-in (unless intruders are still on the premises), speak to them through the door. PM me if you want to know why!

 

[BAwithkids]

We had our house broken into, although there was scaffolding outside at the time...my husband scared them off but I didn't sleep well for a while after. Totally unadvisable to let police in after a break-in (unless intruders are still on the premises), speak to them through the door. PM me if you want to know why!

What neighborhood do you live in? What kind of building? And oh my about the police...

 

[MizzMarr]

Everybody here knows that it's folly to trust the police and/or firemen in your house. There are ridiculously low education requirements to become an officer--if memory serves, they don't even need a high school diploma.

IF you have reason to call them and let them in, hide all valuables if possible. We had an apartment fire and were nearly robbed blind by the firemen. Be cautious, always, and don't trust automatically.

 

[Celia]

Gee, didn't know the firemen were at it too! Time to stock up on some extra matafuegos!

 

[jp]

yikes
Had never even considered being robbed by the police or firemen. Thanks for the tip

 

[AJisthenewAR]

Another police lesson... if you find a dog (and are kind enough to house it until you can find its owners), take it home with you: DON'T give it to the police! We just had a bit of a nightmare when we found an adorable dog; the police came around the corner just as we were started looking for the owner, they took the dog without saying a word and walked AWAY from the police station... sure enough, three days later our neighborhood was plastered with "LOST" signs showing a pic of the little dog. We called the owner and explained that the police took the dog but- shock and surprise!- he had already been to the PFA and they denied having it. He also received a call from a woman claiming that she didn't have his dog, but she knew who did, and for a price would take him to the dog.... so sad. The story has a good ending: the man got his dog back, but only after going back to the PFA and demanding that they give him his dog since he had witnesses. So shady and so sad. We felt like idiots for letting the police take the dog in the first place (given their reputation) but what do you do? Argue with a police officer? Lesson learned.

 

[John.St]

I've heard a lot about street crime in BA, but not so much about apartments/houses being broken into.

This limited poll (expats only) should give you a (limited) impression of crime in BsAs: http://baexpats.org/expat-life/5805-crime-bsas-anyone-2.html#post37334

 

[Sleuth]

I've heard a lot about street crime in BA, but not so much about apartments/houses being broken into. How common is this? When you leave your home, do you lock up small electronics, cash, passports, etc?

How important is it to have a safe of some sort? If the place you rented didn't have one, would you buy one? How much would one cost?

If it helps, we're anticipating living in Belgrano...

Thanks!

We live in Belgrano in a 24-hour doorman building and never even double-lock the doors when we leave. Now, that being said, my wife would refuse to live in a non-doorman building or a single-family house anywhere in the city. There have been far too many stories of home robberies, both when people were away as well as when they were home. I know of one expat couple who left Buenos Aires after being held at gunpoint in their house in Palermo.

It definitely makes sense to take precautions here, but the level of those precautions depends a lot on your particular situation.

 

[Celia]

I know of one expat couple who left Buenos Aires after being held at gunpoint in their house in Palermo.

How long ago was that?