Is buenos aires dangerous? Kidnappings & muggings: 2010 update

[sergio]

Wanna know a funny thing? A couple of months ago I went to visit a flat in Recoleta and the landlady, who was probably in her early 30s, told me that she had just come back from a trip around Italy and that she had enjoyed it a lot. When I asked her about Venice she told me she loved it, but that she didn't go out at all at night as people told her that it was a dangerous city...Now: the average Venetian is probably 70 years old, even if you read different guide books you will never read anywhere that Venice is dangerous, simply because by midnight the city is asleep and the few people you might meet around couldn't care less about you, it is a quite wealthy city, so it is very unlikely that someone mugs you. I don't find BA particularly dangerous, I don't stand out at all as I am pretty dark, the only valuable thing I own is my I-Phone, I use it on a regular basis on the Subte, even if my Argentinian friends don't even dare texting when travelling on the underground as they are scared someone might snatch the phone off their hands! My piece of advice: don't listen to what middle-class Argentinian people tell you as they are paranoid and they are scared of their own shadow. This is South America, it might not be the safest place on earth, but I am pretty sure that if you use a bit of brain nothing is going to happen to you!

I had my mobile taken right out of my hands -- happened in a second in broad daylight. Has never happened to me anywhere else in the world.

 

[perry]

Listen Buenos Aires is the city of hysteria where everything is grossly exageratted and where paranoia is fueled by the media to a willing populace.
I will say it again and again petty crime is worse here than many places but violent crimes are much worse in the USA and many other western societies.

If you look at the TV here every crime is repeated 24/7 and the details of each crime are displayed for all to see. There is no censorship here of covering violent crime and for this reason if you watch local TV here you will be quite scared and paranoid after a while.

 

[mcaffa]

They don´t have an intelligence agency

Untrue, I know someone who works for Argentina's equivalent to the CIA.

 

[muppditt]

As far as petty crime goes- pickpocketing, mugging- yes, it is common enough. You lose some money or property and feel scared.

As far as a crime where you actually DIE in a city of 13 million:
-2 murders per day in public places (so not counting murders by people who know each other in their homes...the most common kind of murder)
vs
-22 deaths per day involving automobiles.
Hmm. 'Dangerous' is often more about how scared a person is, how he perceives and imagines situations.
Every other person says to not walk on the streets at night, take a taxi instead. When in fact you are more likely to die in the taxi in an accident than being a victim of a crime walking on the street.

 

[steveinbsas]

As far as petty crime goes- pickpocketing, mugging- yes, it is common enough. You lose some money or property and feel scared.

As far as a crime where you actually DIE in a city of 13 million:
-2 murders per day in public places (so not counting murders by people who know each other in their homes...the most common kind of murder)
vs
-22 deaths per day involving automobiles.
Hmm. 'Dangerous' is often more about how scared a person is, how he perceives and imagines situations.
Every other person says to not walk on the streets at night, take a taxi instead. When in fact you are more likely to die in the taxi in an accident than being a victim of a crime walking on the street.

While the above statistics support the conclusion that you are 10 times more likely to die in an accident while riding in any type of vehicle than be murdered in a public place, we would need to know how many crimes are committed in the streets of BA to draw a conclusion regarding the ratio of deaths in car accidents to crimes in the streets.

If there are more than 22 "street crimes" in BA on a daily basis, you would be more likely to be a victim of a crime in the street than die in an accident while riding in a taxi (or any vehicle).

 

[marksoc]

Do not worry about under-reporting of serious crimes. Each serious crime, especially if it involves "whites" (middle class and up, tourists, etc) will be reported ad nauseaum by the media (ie Clarin and La Nacion). So what you see on TV and read are the crimes that happen. None of the people I know have never been subjected to any serious crime, I was robbed at gunpoint once,but in a side street in La Boca (no, I did not go there specifically to see how felt being robbed). Stop the paranoia.

 

[cruizes]

-2 murders per day in public places.

Just a little clarification please..... Are the 2 murders per day in public places at Disco and Carrefour Supermarkets and then Coto on alternating days?

The management should be so embarrassed of the slow service and attitude that the people give to customers - especially in the "rapida" line. I am new at Spanish so I am guessing that "rapida" means slow as hell! Maybe there is hope for my Spanish after all.

 

[BROOKLYN]

what was the homicide count in 2010 in buenos aires?? just curious

 

[Lucas]

what was the homicide count in 2010 in buenos aires?? just curious

4.6 per 100,000 inhabitants

When compared by city, Buenos Aires reports a murder rate of 4.6 per 100k ...as compared to smaller Chicago´s 18.02 per 100,000 residents.

from here....

 

[clooz]

While the above statistics support the conclusion that you are 10 times more likely to die in an accident while riding in any type of vehicle than be murdered in a public place, we would need to know how many crimes are committed in the streets of BA to draw a conclusion regarding the ratio of deaths in car accidents to crimes in the streets.

If there are more than 22 "street crimes" in BA on a daily basis, you would be more likely to be a victim of a crime in the street than die in an accident while riding in a taxi (or any vehicle).

Only "you" the statistical entity would then have a higher probability... You the individual savvy expat who avoids the riskier crime areas and takes a taxi would have a different probability. I imagine that taxi-accident risk is distributed more evenly over barrios than street crime but dunno really.

It would be useful to have some insight into why some taxis drive like hell and others take their sweet time, so I could pick a safer one before flagging it down.