You know this sounds like the beginning of becoming the next Mexico. There everyone thought that crime was just something that happened in the big bad capital, people in Veracruz where I owned a house told me that only "pinche chilangos (term used for people in Mexico City)" lived with crime. My first trip to CR I heard the same thing, that all the bad shit only happens in San Jose. Well fast forward a couple of years and sure enough crime was in Veracruz and just about everywhere. People became immune to it, they started moving into gated areas, hired worthless rent a cops, got escorts and armed guards...I mean stuff you couldn't believe. The government's response? Ban cell phones being used in banks to prevent robberies and create a new police force mostly with guys from the old one. Ridiculous. The crime spread because economy didn't get better and the thieves were opportunistic. When everyone figured out how to slow them down in Mexico City they went to other cities where people weren't ready for them, and then onto the next city and so forth. CR the last time I went seemed to be getting that way, "crime is up because of the Nicas and Colombians and we can't do a thing about them, so be smart and hope for the best". Sad to see it happening almost all over again to another place, no one should have to just accept crime when it hardly existed before.
