| Brazil does not have a death penalty. Brazil has a | | | | cities, Brazil is pretty much the safest place on earth, |
| liberal juvenile justice system that seems far too | | | | with an outlandishly low crime rate. By comparison |
| lenient on youthful offenders. These factors have | | | | the USA is far more dangerous than Brazil. |
| contributed to the high level of crime in Brazil. | | | | There is one other exception to this low crime rate in |
| There is a considerable amount of freedom in Brazil. | | | | Brazil. The popular tourist attractions and beaches do |
| Freedom, as opposed to totalitarian police states, has | | | | have some criminals taking advantage of tourists. |
| its price in increased criminal opportunities for the | | | | These crimes tend to be pick-pocketing, purse |
| criminal element of society. Illegal drug activity has | | | | snatching, camera snatching, and similar crimes. Even |
| increased in recent years in Brazil. There are gang | | | | Vatican City has such pick-pockets working the |
| wars, and turf battles over the drug territories, and | | | | tourists there too. This is an unfortunate fact of life |
| some innocent bystanders are killed in some of the | | | | worldwide in every tourist hotspot on earth. Savoy |
| battles. Fortunately the majority of these drug | | | | tourists can usually avoid being victimized by these |
| related crimes are contained in the poorer sections of | | | | petty criminals. |
| the largest cities in Brazil. If you are not dealing drugs, | | | | Do not flash expensive items such as camcorders, |
| and not spending time in the high crime inner cities in | | | | cameras, and notebook computers. The red light |
| Brazil, then you are in much less danger of becoming | | | | districts (AMOR à ZONA) should be avoided. |
| the victim of a crime that you would be in any place | | | | The slums (favelas) are high crime areas. ATM |
| in the USA. | | | | machines tend to attract robbers. Thieves work the |
| Actual Crime Rates in Brazil compared to the USA | | | | beaches looking for purses and wallets lying near |
| and Japan | | | | sunbathers. They grab the purse or wallet and run. |
| An analysis was done using INTERPOL data for Brazil. | | | | Solution: Do not leave your purse or wallet in view. |
| For purpose of comparison, data were drawn for the | | | | Dress down. Try to look native. Do not stand out. |
| seven offenses used to compute the United States | | | | A word of warning about the Brazilian petty criminals |
| FBI's index of crime. Index offenses include murder, | | | | and their methods. |
| forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, | | | | Petty thieves commonly work the public |
| larceny, and motor vehicle theft. The combined total | | | | transportation system looking for tourists. They ride |
| of these offenses constitutes the Index used for | | | | the public transportation system (mostly busses) |
| trend calculation purposes. Brazil will be compared | | | | looking to identify a target, usually with a purse or |
| with Japan (country with a low crime rate) and USA | | | | expensive camera in easy view. They will wait until |
| (country with a high crime rate). The following figures | | | | the bus is stopping and opening the doors, then they |
| are per 100,000 population. | | | | grab the item and jump off the bus. Lately they |
| Offense: Rape, the rate in 2001 was 8.50 for Brazil, | | | | have been grabbing whole backpacks, when the |
| compared with 1.78 for Japan and 31.77 for USA. | | | | tourist is so foolish as to take off his/her backpack |
| Offense: Aggravated assault, the rate in 2001 was | | | | on the bus. Solution: Be especially careful on the |
| 0.61 for Brazil, 23.78 for Japan, and 318.55 for USA. | | | | busses in Brazil. Do not take off your backpack. Do |
| Offense: Larceny for 2001 was 309.91 for Brazil, | | | | not make it easy for the thieves to grab your |
| 1401.26 for Japan, and 2484.64 for USA. | | | | valuables and run. Fortunately it is incredibly rare for |
| Offense: Motor vehicle theft in 2001 was 88.51 for | | | | these petty criminals to become violent. They almost |
| Brazil, compared with 44.28 for Japan and 430.64 for | | | | always run away no matter if they are successful or |
| USA. | | | | not in the purse snatching attempt. They run not |
| The rate for all index offenses combined was 927.41 | | | | because they are afraid of the tourist, but because |
| for Brazil, compared with 1709.88 for Japan and | | | | they are afraid of a mob or the police catching them. |
| 4160.51 for USA. | | | | However, you should NOT chase a purse snatcher. |
| Source: | | | | They are often armed. The inner city criminals in |
| A Comparative Criminology Tour of the World | | | | Brazil are especially afraid of the cops. The police in |
| Dr. Robert u.edu | | | | Brazil are almost as trigger happy as cops in the USA. |
| San Diego State University | | | | Fortunately they seem to know the difference |
| Japan is considered one of the safest countries on | | | | between tourists and the street criminals. |
| earth, with a very low crime rate, however Japan | | | | In summary, you are far more likely to have your |
| has almost twice as much crime overall as Brazil. The | | | | wallet or purse stolen in any city in the USA than in |
| USA has over 400% more overall crime than Brazil. | | | | even the tourist areas of Brazil. If you stay away |
| However, these statistics are skewed and misleading. | | | | from the inner cities and especially the favelas and if |
| Brazil's crime is much localized, almost exclusively | | | | you do not deal drugs or buy illegal drugs you will be |
| limited to the large inner cities. The crime rate in the | | | | far safer in Brazil than in the USA, Canada, or even |
| rest of Brazil is comparable to the crime rate in | | | | Japan. There is no need to be afraid of crime in Brazil. |
| Vatican City. In the rural areas of Brazil, hitchhiking is | | | | Come on, live a little. The sky is not falling down, and |
| still common with very few criminal incidents. Even | | | | Brazil is not so dangerous if you just use common |
| crimes against property are almost unheard of | | | | sense. |
| outside the large cities in Brazil. Outside of the inner | | | | |