A few lines should be said about Rio de Janeiro safety issues and how to act in the streets. Even if the Brazilians are a fantastic people who are usually curious and friendly to foreigners, Rio de Janeiro is a big city of great social poverty with assaults, robberies and petty theft.

Also the traffic in Rio is different from what most countries are used to. At night cars are allowed to cross even at red lights because of the danger of traffic light assaults. Drinking and driving is also quite liberal as the police never controls this, making the roads an extra hazard.

My friend who was here for a brief time got scammed by two shoe shiners. While one approached him, stealing the attention, the other put some fat / oil on his shoe. Then the first shoe shiner cleaned his shoe and demanded 50 real (17$) for the job which is very much in Brazilian money. When he refused the two shoe shiners began to act aggressively, so he payed them 20 reais to get away from them.

Some of his problem was his attitude on the street. Looking like a lost tourist is always an invitation to be robbed or scammed. I have put together a small list of precautions one can make to reduce the risk of being robbed:

1. Do not carry your passport. It’s not necessary. A copy is good enough.

2. Always exchange for local money “Real” and avoid using cash machines at malls or at the street where everyone can see you withdrawing money

3. Avoid going around with allot of money, credit cards are accepted almost everywhere.

4. Dress down! Don’t wear expensive watches, fancy expensive cloths and jewellery! Keep your valuables locked in your room. If you look like you have a lot of money, you are more lightly to be attacked.

5. If you loose your hotel key, report to the hotel reception at once.

6. Carry your camera or video devices in your bag, out of sight.

7. Don’t take valuables to the beach! Never leave your belongings unattended. A tips is to ask a Brazilian sitting in the vicinity to look after your things while you refresh in the sea.

8. Stay close to people, avoid empty dark streets. You’ll see where the Brazilians walk in the streets. Try to not stick out from the crowd.

9. For taxis, ask the reception to get one for you. If you take one in the streets, look for a taximeter and the photo of the driver with a taxi driver authorization. Any suspicions, take another taxi.

10. The reception is trained to inform you of attractions, museum and the like. They are happy to help you.

11. When at the streets, if you find the many sellers irritating, try not to look at them. Looking invites to contact. This also goes for people living on the streets. Avoid staring at them. Sometimes all they need is an excuse to make trouble, some are drugged and so on…

If you have been exposed to any type of crime, there is appointed specific tourist polices to help you. The following is contact information:

DEAT – Delegacia de Atendimento ao Turista
Rio Tourist Police
Phone: 2511-5112 / 3399-7170

Or

BPTur – Batalhao de Policiamento em Areas Turisticas
Military Police for tourist areas
Phone:
3399-7457 call centre
3399-7562 intelligence service

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