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Crime in Granada

Granada Police Activity

We had reported previously that there were more muggings and thefts recently though it seems to have quieted down somewhat but Hipica is coming and that always creates more incidents.

Out of the four incidents I was aware of at the time of the article, three of the victims did not report the crime. The other victim reported the crime and a person was apprehended. Report the crime or nothing can be done! We can’t hold the police responsible when they are not aware of the crime. I am always amazed how people are quick to blame the police when there is more crime.

A meeting was arranged with our police chief to discuss the issues.She shared their statistics with me and reported crime was down significantly. I explained that tourists usually do not report crimes since they don’t have the time and they’d rather forget a bad incident on their vacation. The chief further explained that they believed many of the muggings were related and controlled by a gang leader and he is being sought now.

To assist in tourist-related crimes Nicaragua now has something called “anticipated proof” which means the tourist can fill out a report, give all the necessary information then leave the country. When the trial comes up, the suspect can still be prosecuted even though the accusers or victims have left the country.

We agreed that many people do not fill out the crime report form and that it would need to be simplified to get more results. We are looking into making this a page on a website but in many languages. This already exists but only in Spanish and it is a bit complicated.

We also discovered a “point at the pictures” brochure that would make it much easier for a victim to describe what happened to the police. It was very expensive so we are investigating if we could make it ourselves. We would then make this available to the Tourist Police, hotels and tour operators.

We are speaking to the USA Embassy and some Managua universities to see if we could get some assistance to get these two projects completed.

If you wish to help us with Amigos de la Policia, let me know. You are not allowed to complain if you are not helping, especially those of you with a business.

Some obvious tips:

  • Do not flash money around – $100 is a lot of money here.
  • Do not wear jewelry of value especially necklaces and bracelets – the thieves are not that bright and cannot tell the difference between glass and diamonds.
  • After dark take a taxi or at least be in a group.
  • Get a large dog if you live here. Little Bonnie, the chihauhau, does not frighten thieves
  • If someone approaches you with bad intent, scream your head off or yell “robo,robo”. Anything!
  • Beware of your surroundings – be ready to describe the assailant (clothing color, tattoos, etc.)
  • Report the crime – success is what makes the criminals do it again – Do you really want to be the reason for the next crime?
  • Put the police phone numbers in your phone

To contact the police:

New national hotline number. Dial 101 and someone who speaks English supposedly will answer then direct the query to the local police. It is sponsored by Claro so only Claro phones can make the call and I hear it is active only during the day.

Tourist Police Head – Amaru 8464-0122 Speaks perfect English and has helped many people here. This is the first call you should make.

Tourist Police General Number – 8391-5997 Some English spoken depending on who answers. Second number you should call.

Granada Police Switchboard – 2552-2929 2552-2977 Spanish.

The regular national number is 118 which is the equivalent of the 911 in the states. When it answers, you will hear Spanish dialog, press the number 2 then wait 5 seconds and press 4 which should take you back to Granada.

* There is no guarantee any of these phones will be answered or that the police will respond soon. And most important of all, don’t call me unless you have called these other numbers first. I’m paid even less than the police.

Last Minute News

Just checked with the police. They have captured seven of the people committing the robberies and are looking for 10 more though five are believed to have fled to Costa Rica. A guy named Toby is believed to be a ringleader of  these recent robberies.

DB

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