Crime in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

I have just come back from Rio. It is magnificent city with serious issues. Unfortunately.

I just came back home from Rio. Spent 2,5 weeks there with my friend. We are both Finnish and in our twenties.

I guess we were just lucky because nothing bad happened - the only thing we witnessed was a taxi crashing with biker - but it's something we would see in our home town as well and happens every now and then everywhere.

We took busses to Buzios, Angra, and Paraty and everything went fine. We also explored the city of Rio by subway, Ubers and walking. And no - we did not go to the North Zone, Just Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Sao Conrado, Pedra da Gavea, Botafogo, Leme, Centro, Lapa etc... Plenty of things to see on those "safer zones".

I am well aware of the problems of the city and the horrific quality of living in the favelas, so I would never say it's a paradise or the best city in the world. Most of the shootings happen in favelas so they are relatively easy to avoid (for the visitors - god help the locals).

But for a visitor (or at least for us) it was something we will never forget - in a positive light. The city was so beautiful with all the mountains / hills, beaches, palm trees, forests and parks and a lot of cultural sites to see. Also - food and drinks were cheap for us as europeans, and we were always treated with respect. Many of the locals did not speak english, but they were eager to teach us a couple of words and use their hands and facial expressions to try to make us understand what they wanted to say. They were always helpful and asked if we needed help, do we know the way, were are we going etc.

The weather was perfect in July, I would not visit during the local summer as it could be too hot for me. It seemed to be off season as there were no queues to any tourist attractions and we could just walk in easily without waiting.

Ubers were really easy to use and the drivers were nice and did not drive too fast or anything. The only bad car trip we experienced was an official taxi we had to take once when we did not have the wifi connection to order uber. He was driving too fast and took his hands off the wheel during the drive, spoke loudly portuguese and we understood nothing. It was a scary trip and took like 20 mins so that was maybe the only bad experience we had.

I even walked back home at 4am alone from the bar, like 20 mins. That was in copacabana though. I was pretty drunk and in the morning I got scared when I understood how dangerous it could have been.

We both have dark hair, tan and wore flip-flops so I guess we did not stand up from the crowd that much.

I can't tell everyone will be safe there and it's the best destination to go f.ex with your family, but I wish I didn't read all the horror stories before leaving, because for me the fear was not helpful - I even thought about cancelling my flights. Now I'm glad I didn't because it was awesome, and I will totally go back some day. Hope the situation gets better before that. I'm also worried about the local businesses if no tourist wants to go there anymore - it could drive more locals to the poverty and even worsen the situation.

Even though Rio has a major crime problem, that history was a POS.

Detroit is a child’s playground compared to this city despite being one of the most violent cities in the USA

Don't got here. Even your kids are prime targets for kidnapping, or worse. There are safer places to go such as in the US or even in Europe, and Australia. Brazil is a deathtrap for tourists and locals alike.

I spent Carnival in Rio last year alone. I didn’t wear jewellery or smart clothes. I didn’t carry a bag - just a cheap day pack -and only used my phone in safe places. I used the metro and walked miles - no problems I went to the Sambadrome by Metro and returned at 4am. Very busy and full of revellers. Avoided parts of centro and used lockers at Ipanema. I’m a savvy ‘older’ traveller. Favelas are a ‘no go’ unless you go with a local guide. Some are ‘pacified’ others not. Be sensible...
Had a brilliant time with no hassles.

I got robed in Santa Theres by some horrible men and then they wanted to sell me drugs. Try to avoid Santa Theres.

I stayed in Rio for a week.
It was a pleasant experience except for the part where I was chased by a bunch of dudes trying to rob me and had to sleep to the sound of gunshots every other day.
The food is nice, people are nice (the ones that don't wanna to kill you).

I have been visiting Rio de Janeiro since 2002 and it was much safer and of course cheaper as the value of the U.S. Dollar was 4-1 Brazil RS Real . I visited for my 45th trip this past January 2017 and due to return on next month . I have never been robbed or attacked so I feel very fortunate compared to others . I do plan to return next month and stay in the Copacabana or Ipanema areas . I always keep my eyes open no matter where I travel abroad or in the U.S.A. . Basically the world is just much more dangerous now in many places but their are still safe places to travel . My advice is to just be alert wherever you travel in the world . Don't become parinoid just become and stay aware of your surroundings .

Lovely 4days in Brazil enjoying the weather and meet some lovely locals too. All good people.beautiful smile. On the 5th day My gold anchor necklace has been snatched. It was a preasent from my bestfriend on my 30th. So i was gutted. I cant believe how quick it happened. Before i knew it something sharp is in my neck. It was all a blur. All i know is my necklace is gone. To think i was wearing a jacket since it has been raining for the last 2 days. Definetely the snatcher has a good eyesight.

A German living in Rio for slightly over 3 years, I have not experienced or personally witnessed a single crime committed against me or my family, in Rio or anywhere in Brazil. I do live in a relatively save district though and take a large number of precautions; I rarely use public transport and actively avoid particular areas of the city. I underdress in public, carry no wristwatch, do not show my mobile phone and only carry small amount in cash. At my working place in Manguinhos, I regularly hear gunfire and bullets hit buildings near my office.

A comment for the mentally deranged #Brazil is Hell:
Dear sir: PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE THE REASON WE HAVE WARS, HATRED, RACISM if anybody should be exterminated that is you and people like you

Hey Guys, I am planning to move to Rio soon, like within 3 years. I could really use your guys's imput. I speak very good portuguese, I am involved in construction, ( painting is my trade) and I will have my ass. Degree in Applied science. I plan on finishing my bachelors there as I will only need a few credits.

I am an Australian who came to spend 6 nights at Rio , stayed at Ipanema (meant to be an expensive , touristic area) - got robbed 2:30PM when walking in Cobacapana beach (wasn't showing any fancy or expensive jewellery) , I ran behind the robbers trying to catch them , none of the people in streets showed any help, no police in the area , on the way back to hotel I have met policemen they couldn't help as they couldn't speak English.
You have to spend your holidays very cautious, in panic , not enjoying - I have been to many other big cities round the world , didn't experience these feelings of unsafety at any of them but at Rio
I have been to police of tourism reported the robbery they were nice but what can they do ? they said it is very common at Rio
I will never think of re- visiting Rio

Brazil is hell. They are just a bad sociological experience made by world elites that try to push their evil agendas down the throats of free people around the world.
In Brazil they got all first: heavy miscegenation, mixed marriages, police killing white people just because they are white, disarming people and arming criminals, "minorities" policies to "protect" blacks, gays, feminists, and poor people from "evil" whites (Brazil is AN AFRICAN country! Pure breed whites are only 10% of population there), laws to "socialize" criminals, open-doors immigration policies for THIRD-WORLD countries (Brazil is a THIRD-WORLD COUNTRY itself, but they opened their doors to other 3rd world hells).
That is why they created that coward scum that is Brazilian people. They will accept any humiliation, be treated like animals, spit on face, spanked, and they will still be smiling with their horrendous toothless mouths and saying "can haz beer, bbq and play soccrah".
And the legend about beautiful Brazilian women? Just a legend, Brazil has the largest TRANSVESTITE population in the world. Pretty much, 90% of Brazilian males are faggots (as in being feminized coward passive gay). So, women to have any male there need to look like men, very muscular and not feminine at all.
If the world escapes from the hell globalists are trying to take us to, Brazilians must be all exterminated or the will contaminate humankind and any hope of a better future without globalist criminal scum will be lost. Brazil is the root of all that evil in the world, and they must pay for have existed. Read Count of Gobineau about Brazil to understand that Brazilians must be destroyed for the sake of our children's future.

To #jc on Aug 14, 2016 :
This is STUPID. You rate how it "feels" walking down the street? Bunch of racists on here.

Shut up, moron. How is that racist? Or is any criticism of anyone, anywhere now considered racist?

If you have enough to be in a certain area you should be fine if you're robbed? There is so much wrong with that line if thinking. You are entitled to nothing. If you work hard, you typically earn more. You deserve the payoff. Don't make excuses for other's successes and your lack of effort and failures. Fact check the rise in entitlement benefits given over the past 7 years. There's an obvious, unbiased answer for you. Work for your stuff, don't steal it. It isn't racist to point out the obvious, it's just not politically correct. This way of thinking is destroying our civilized society.

Wow, reading these reviews really doesn't want to make you go to Brazil. I haven't lived there, but I stayed for 2,5 months and also been to multiple Favelas. Obv Rio can be dangerous but don't kid yourself. Chance that you will be robbed is small! And if you do, just give your stuff in general. Don't wear expensive stuff and have something to give like a few dollars if they rob you instead of having nothing which can anger them. People are amazing in Rio and it's easy to spot the ones who are trying to rob you. They are not doing their best to do it all secretly. Really, don't worry so much! One of the best cities in the world for sure. Specially if you have enough money to stay in Le Blond or Ipanema you should be fine! Every big cities in the whole of South-America have enough places that are safe.

I find it incredible that you sheep put up with this madness. You allowed yourselves to be dusarmed, and now I read 1 post where people didn’t just bend over and cough it up.

That is why crime is so bad. Lots of weak, pliant sheeple.

If you had 4 man protection teams with pursuit and protection from overwatch, I bet you could serve bait victims out and simply blow away the offenders. Leave the bodies hanging from a light pole.

To hell with poor, poor them. Exterminate these vermin. Start with the police. You need a string, incorruptible leader who would surround this place with an army, sweep it clean and burn out the pesriferous favelas.

Build new low income housing, a prison camp and a large execution pit. I'm drag thise scummy policemen in, interrogate them using effective methods - water boarding, stress pisitions, and - da Ilyich executions of the uncooperative.

Too harsh? Enjoy anarchy in your gun free socialist paradise.

Unbelievable.

I was in Rio last year and it's not safe at all. Stay away. Olympics are going to be terrible

I lived in Rio from 2009-2010. I was a single 21 year old blonde haired green eyed girl and I didn't have many problems- I was mugged once in Lapa on an empty street at dusk. Lapa is so sketchy though. If stay in the tourist areas, stay on busy streets, and avoid skinny children like your life depends on it (it's not the big, muscly well-fed looking people you need to watch out for but the skinny, drugged up children) then you'll probably be fine. Always be watching your surroundings, and be a savvy traveler.

Rio is not a safe city. Things CAN happen randomly (stray bullet, random attack, bus/ metro robbery) but in places where the tourists go they don't happen every single day, every single moment - still you have more of a chance getting hurt in a random car crash than act of violence.

Remembering that most likely nothing random will happen, you still do need to be vigilant 100% of the time, not paranoid.

Keep an eye out for people (especially children!!!) that look like they are out to cause trouble, because 50/50 they are. Don't be an idiot an walk around with a camera, even in crowded places during the day like Copacabana or Ipanema... I have seen MANY get snatched in grab and run style operations. Likewise for phones. Keep some robbery money every time you go out (as if you have nothing it is not unheard of the robbers will be angry and act violently) and perhaps think of using a cheap/ old cell phone (For your photos, upload them regularly to a cloud... a little less traumatic to loose a phone and not your vacation memories!) If you are a tourist take an Uber or a taxi, especially at night. Walk in groups and not alone. Don't walk around on the street yelling and talking loudly in English/ foreign languages or acting like a clueless foreigner who is oh so enchanted with how different and beautiful everything is or someone with bad intentions will probably notice you and target you. Finally, enjoy, it is possible to have an amazing time if you go with the right attitude and use common sense - just remember things can happen, but more chances than not that they will not happen. Every place has its threats and dangers, Brazil is certainly no exception but it is not a war zone.

We have arrived in Rio just for a week and settled in Ipanema. The shot we have heard on the third night of our stay. It was good that we were on the 7th floor. When I looked through the window, I saw the cops, walking in the yard with automatic weapons and and looking for somebody. They walked around more than half an hour.
Two days later, we have seen how a mobile phone was snatched from a woman's hands in the middle of the day on Copacobana promenade.
The landscape in Rio is wonderful, but we will never return.

After 10 years living in Rio de Janeiro i AM leaving.. The city is no longer the city of God but the city of the devil.. Shootings, stabbings, robbery, assaults mean every day is a stressful thing just going outside your front door.. For those defending Rio and saying it's the same as other large city's, that's a pathetic thing to say.. The Brazilians use that excuse and unless you lived in a war zone it's not true.. Brazil is at war with itself.. Don't go, there's far better places to go where your life is valued and the sun shines..

i´m brazilian and live in rio,it´s sad to say, that rio is a dangerous city, but not as i saw in many comments. I never saw one person with gun on the street this is not common. I don´t walk with my cellphone in hand anywhere, because if i do i´ll probably be robbed. There is some places more safety like zona sul (ipanema, copacabana and lagoa) and more dangerous like downtown and maracana. Copacabana beach isn´t safe, sometimes there is robberies around, i recomend Barra beach is much more safe. Before travelling to rio be aware about the places you´re going to visit. you can have this information in every hotels.

Luis E. If you are lucky enough to lived there for 40 years and nothing ever happened to you then you are a happy man. I'm not influenced by the media. A man was shot less than 500 meters from where i used to live. Two more were killed less than 5 km away within the same semester. Both cases i witnessed myself. Most people i know either have been robbed or know someone that has been. I was robbed twice at gun point, on of which the criminal robbed everyone in the bus.

If i were to say whats on the news, i'd mention the 200+ stabbing that have occurred since 2015. Maybe they are all fabrications... but i invite anyone reading this to search crimes in rio on youtube. Maybe those are all fabrications of my military influence.

Hello. My Boyfriend and i are going to rio on 14th march, we Are from Denmark so scandinavian looking, blue eyes light skin and light hair. We Are going to live in botafogo on our stay there. But I think are we more in the risk zone for crime when we look like we do?

Impossible to enjoy anything in this city, the feeling of imminent danger ruins it all. You don't feel safe for a single minute, doesnt matter where. I will never return to this horrible place for the time of my life. Leaving Brazil for good in January and no plans of coming back - ever. This country is in the toilet.

@TheProblem,

do you live on earth? You obviously haven't heard. Murders have ballooned back up in Rio in the last two years.

There were 4,500 intentional homicides in Rio during 2014, a rate of 35 per 100,000. It isn't 20 per 100,000 [which is what the media will say], it's 35. Just be careful of what you read in the newspapers and online, they don't research things like this very thoroughly. Even the more reputable outlets.

@Luiz E.,

Rio is a city of 13 million.

Pablo's concerns about getting killed by a stray bullet are maybe the product of watching TV news on a daily basis or being indoctrinated by a militaristic lifestyle to believe there is an enemy around every corner.

Rio had 62 cases of people killed by stray bullets between 2008 and 2013. In a city with 6.3 million people, it is hardly a case for personal concern.

On a personal note, I have never seen anyone getting shot in more than 40 years living in Rio.

I went to Rio with a male Brazilian friend. We stayed with a woman friend of his. His friend lived in a middle class block of flats. There were armed guards, always two men, at the reception. They sat behind bullet proof glass and the doors were locked. Even to get to the door was a barbed wired metal fence about 12 feet high. You had to ring the bell for guard to open the gate. Cause of all this was chronic inequality.

Rio is a beautiful city, i was born and mostly raised here. Unfortunately it has become incredibly dangerous... Stabbings have become a everyday thing... since january 2015 there have bem over 160 cases of stabbings. Yes, people come out of nowhere stab someone and leave with their things (cellphones, purse, bike, etc...) i am deeply shamed to be from here. I am saving up to move to Europe in august, already have my tickets. TO ANYONE COMING HERE, BEWARE!

My American\Brazilian son was beaten to death by the Rio police 22.4.15.
To the best of my knowledge he was was involved with any type of criminality. He was employed and had just started a micro business. I have no information why the police picked him up yet. He was walking his girlfriend home at 10pm in Realango, a favela.

I lived in Brazil for 10 years. Undereducated Brazilian men are relatively aggressive and many prone to violence using weapons. Be careful what you say, placate, flatter and keep any negative opinions to yourself Gringo.