Subte Robbery Alert (C Line)

[victoria]

Just for clarification ... I don't want to start a grassroots movement against subway crime, I'm a temporary resident who just likes to think out loud. It's not my city to fix. It's also a way to creatively deal with my anger as a crime victim.

Back home we have a bumper sticker saying, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."

The cardboard collectors should be outraged too.

 

[orwellian]

Just for clarification ... I don't want to start a grassroots movement against subway crime, I'm a temporary resident who just likes to think out loud. It's not my city to fix. It's also a way to creatively deal with my anger as a crime victim.

Back home we have a bumper sticker saying, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."

The cardboard collectors should be outraged too.

I hear ya, I was pissed off too when I got stabbed. Even more pissed off that I was so drunk that I could not remember the guy's face.

 

[Sebastian78]

"Is this the price for living in any big city?"

I believe it is. Here is another story...

I am here for a 18 months with interuption and luckily I havn't been robbed so far... but I almost started a fight with a taxi driver, who locked the doors on my wife and me and said the 50 peso note we gave him was fake. He repeated that he wants to call the police and I replied "Please call the police" getting louder and holding to him other notes of which he could have chosen from! My wife who is Argentinian and I actually believed that he didn't have change... but in the moment the car locked I lost it and after I told him many times to call the cops, he eventually got out, opened my door and dragged me out of the car that I almost fell into the street. In that moment I lost it completely and was about to give him a punch, but my wife had to hold me back. Damn I was furious... We had the 50 pesos checked at a kiosqo and it was all fine. The taxi drove off, we were shocked but realized that we actually didn't pay at the end.

So much to Taxi Drivers. I know that (hopefully most of ) the poor guys that drive taxis only want to earn their money, but even that is no excuse to drive like hell threatening someone's life.

However... I learned a lot from my wife, how things work here, so luckily there were not too many bad incidents for me.

Good luck to all, be always watchful and show confidence and awareness... be conscious and respect the big city with all their dangers... maybe it helps.

 

[Maikito]

WOW Sebastian, ur story is sad. I'm sorry that happened to you.

 

[ElQueso]

My brother-in-law got robbed Monday in Congreso at about 6:00 am.

Came out of his "hotel" to go to work. He had 200 pesos on him to buy groceries for the next two weeks (he's young and eats a LOT of hot dogs and hamburgers...). He saw a girl and a guy step out in front of him, and having been robbed twice before, reacted quickly and turned and ran. A couple of buildings ahead a guy steps out with a knife and another one across the street. They were quite prepared. No one around at all but them. They also took his lunch he'd packed that day (he works construction), which was packed inside a brand new backpack, which they also stole.

You know, he's been robbed three times now over about two years. My sister-in-law has been robbed twice in 4 years. A cousin was reportedly raped by a taxi driver but was too scared to do anything about it and never even told anyone until almost a year later.

A friend of my wife's was walking down the street one day on an errand for her employer (the friend is a maid for a well-off family). It was about 7:00 pm. She had to get some flour or something, I don't remember. I also don't remember what neighborhood it was. A couple of buildings away from her employer's building, an elderly couple (in their 60s) moved to block her way and the man showed her a knife, though he didn't actually brandish it so to speak. He told her in a calm voice to hand over the phone and the money she was carrying. She was terrified and did so. The woman then said she would say a prayer to one of the saints (can't remember which one) that she get her belongings replaced and they took off at a slow crawl while the girl stood there for a few moments, petrified.

A lot of the crime I've heard about has been against the poor. Poor against poor. I don't think there's any real way of knowing how much that is, either. They rarely if ever report it because they know it won't do any good: they know that it's just the way life is in their world.

So the wealthy/middle class and the foreigners go screaming to the cops - but how much "poor crime" is reported?

 

[steveinbsas]

My brother-in-law got robbed Monday in Congreso at about 6:00 am.

Came out of his "hotel" to go to work. He had 200 pesos on him to buy groceries for the next two weeks (he's young and eats a LOT of hot dogs and hamburgers...). He saw a girl and a guy step out in front of him, and having been robbed twice before, reacted quickly and turned and ran. A couple of buildings ahead a guy steps out with a knife and another one across the street. They were quite prepared. No one around at all but them. They also took his lunch he'd packed that day (he works construction), which was packed inside a brand new backpack, which they also stole.

You know, he's been robbed three times now over about two years. My sister-in-law has been robbed twice in 4 years. A cousin was reportedly raped by a taxi driver but was too scared to do anything about it and never even told anyone until almost a year later.

A friend of my wife's was walking down the street one day on an errand for her employer (the friend is a maid for a well-off family). It was about 7:00 pm. She had to get some flour or something, I don't remember. I also don't remember what neighborhood it was. A couple of buildings away from her employer's building, an elderly couple (in their 60s) moved to block her way and the man showed her a knife, though he didn't actually brandish it so to speak. He told her in a calm voice to hand over the phone and the money she was carrying. She was terrified and did so. The woman then said she would say a prayer to one of the saints (can't remember which one) that she get her belongings replaced and they took off at a slow crawl while the girl stood there for a few moments, petrified.

A lot of the crime I've heard about has been against the poor. Poor against poor. I don't think there's any real way of knowing how much that is, either. They rarely if ever report it because they know it won't do any good: they know that it's just the way life is in their world.

So the wealthy/middle class and the foreigners go screaming to the cops - but how much "poor crime" is reported?

What difference does it make how much crime is reported to the police?

So what if the stupid criminals prey on the poor?

The smart ones know where the money is.

This is an expat website and the expats I have seen who are most vulnerable are those in Recoleta with the big cameras around their necks.

They are the ones who need to be warned.

BEFORE the crimes happen....

if they have the luck to find this site before they visit...

 

[ElQueso]

What difference does it make how much crime is reported to the police?

So what if the stupid criminals prey on the poor?

The smart ones know where the money is.

This is an expat website and the expats I have seen who are most vulnerable are those in Recoleta with the big cameras around their necks.

They are the ones who need to be warned.

BEFORE the crimes happen....

if they have the luck to find this site before they visit...

Well first, the comment about how much is reported is just a comment. I am simply insinuating my belief that the crime rates in BA are understated.

Second - criminals who prey on the poor are not as stupid as criminals who prey on richer people and tourists, where there is at least a slightly higher chance that there is going to be a problem. There are a LOT more poor than rich and tourists and they are in parts of the city that are not as well watched (if at all) by cops. It's a volume business.

These aren't masterminds stealing art and jewels, whether it's rich or poor they're stealing from. Poor people exit from poorer buildings without security guards or porteros. There is more chance to encounter them in situations where no one can protest. The poor are expected to (and do) submit and less are likely to do something stupid to attract attention or cause problems than a foreigner who might pursue them or try to stop them.

As far as this being an expat website - yeah? So? The people you described are not even expats, rather ignorant tourists (anyone who goes to a foreign country with all their bling hanging out walking down the street, in a third-world country particularly, is ignorant). I think it's great that they might look here and see how dangerous BA can be, but the fact that this is an expat forum and a discussion about crime in BA as seen by the poor here are not mutually exclusive subjects.

Of course, I'll grant that none of this is germane to the thread, which was originally about Subte robbery and possible involvement of officials of the line...

 

[sam3g]

I personally, am looking forward to moving back to Minnesota

Ah well, thanks everyone. Why do we feel stupid when we get robbed? That's the worst part, and also dealing with the anger. Some of you will remember that my teenage son was robbed at gunpoint while visiting me at Christmas, so some of my anger is retroactive from that incident.

It's not like I'm not street smart--I was born and raised in Detroit (though we didn't have a subway). In Detroit it was all about guns. Life in the inner city was always predatory. That's one of the reasons I moved to Minnesota. It's no fun to live in fear, as BradleyHale so accurately describes. Is this the price for living in any big city?

I think In BA, because I'm walking and taking public transport, I'm feeling unprotected by not being in my own vehicle (though a car in front of my house had its window smashed and glove box robbed in the daytime). Is car jacking a problem here?

Is the safest mode of transportation the collectivo?

 

[luismarcos]

i carry one of those money belts if i am carrying a substantial amount of money (you can get them in a farmacia)..the funny thing is that i have never been robbed on a subway in Bs As (i have been here since 1994) but i was THREE DAYS in NY last year and a pickpocket got my frigging wallet! the good thing is that i had my money and license in my money belt

 

[fifs2]

Well first, the comment about how much is reported is just a comment. I am simply insinuating my belief that the crime rates in BA are understated.

Second - criminals who prey on the poor are not as stupid as criminals who prey on richer people and tourists, where there is at least a slightly higher chance that there is going to be a problem. There are a LOT more poor than rich and tourists and they are in parts of the city that are not as well watched (if at all) by cops. It's a volume business.

These aren't masterminds stealing art and jewels, whether it's rich or poor they're stealing from. Poor people exit from poorer buildings without security guards or porteros. There is more chance to encounter them in situations where no one can protest. The poor are expected to (and do) submit and less are likely to do something stupid to attract attention or cause problems than a foreigner who might pursue them or try to stop them.

As far as this being an expat website - yeah? So? The people you described are not even expats, rather ignorant tourists (anyone who goes to a foreign country with all their bling hanging out walking down the street, in a third-world country particularly, is ignorant). I think it's great that they might look here and see how dangerous BA can be, but the fact that this is an expat forum and a discussion about crime in BA as seen by the poor here are not mutually exclusive subjects.

Of course, I'll grant that none of this is germane to the thread, which was originally about Subte robbery and possible involvement of officials of the line...

Elqueso I will apologise on expats behalf in case Steves comments make it sound like locals crime stories have no merit being posted on this site - his point may be valid but it lacks the empathy that your close family horror stores merit.
Yesterday I encountered a taxi scam - the guy picked me up drove round various blocks like crazy for about 12 mins and then said "oh no look my taxis overheating, I'll have to stop here at the side of the road to let it cool down so you get another taxi and that will be 14 pesos please"..well in the past as a scam virgin I would have said "oh poor you heres 20 pesos and best of luck fixing the car"..but as I knew I was being scammed I said " have no reason to pay as you didnt complete the trip" and got out..he called me various rude names...but also proceeded to drive away at full speed which confirmed the scam...a small victory for justice!