Security in outlying areas of Medellin

dumluk Serial expat

430POSTS

7 years ago

Ok, now that we have a coherent response to the question about bringing in merchandise from abroad thru a private mail server, we can move on to the next crucial question.....security.......can anybody tell me what level of security one can expect in Medellin and also los alredadores de Medellin.....Even so far up and away as Guatepe......Are there home invasions? Are they sometimes brutal and bloody? Like here in Panama? Is it necessary to have cameras, dogs, alarms and guns just in case? Or do all you good folks in Colombia live in perfect peace and tranquility with completely trustworthy neighbors looking out for you when youre not home.........and highly responsive trained and equipped police to rally to the call? Cant wait to hear on this one.............

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Quechimba Banned

338POSTS

7 years ago

Some people should never leave their home state.

Like people want to live in a Bubble, like Michael Jackson.

A lot of good that did him

Of course there are home invasions..like anywhere.

If you live in the comunas in estrato 1 you are asking for trouble.

Just get an apartment with a vigilante..and one who isnt corrupt.

I have been living here 6 years and not a wiff trouble of that kind .But in estrato 5 and 6 mind you.

Venezuela in 2009 was a different story.

Guns and dogs? To be honest, the guys I know with guns and dogs are the ones that seem to have the problems. They attract the problems.Thats how Karma seems to work.

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Quechimba Banned

338POSTS

7 years ago

The Colombia police are gonna help you..

Ja ja ja..

Forget that one.

The best thing about the Colombian police is they dont bother you or pester you for money, like in other developing countries.

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Floridaray Contributor

115POSTS

7 years ago

Dumluk there arent any utopias in this world ive seen. And ive been to everystate except Hawaii. All canadian provences on the US border, mexico plus i worked in asia and europe several years. We have bloody home invasions in my home state of Florida.
But in the 2.5 years ive lived in Colombia ive never had a prob. But i try to be respectful,and i watch my 6 no matter where im at on this earth. Admitidly i do live in a safe barrio of rionegro: san antonio and dont do too much stupid stuff. Personally i tend to stick to small urban areas but if i lived in BFE on a finca id get a gun and dogs. Thats just me though.
My roommate just moved here after 5 years in Computal (sp?) Panama and he said he never saw anything like you describe there...where he was living anyway. Personally compared to Miami i find colombia rather tame. Ive hung out here, cali and santa marta. You can find dangerous places just about any city worldwide.
I am flying to panama next month though do a little surfing and fishing in Camputal. My roommate whose also going says same as here. Watch ur 6 and should be no probs.
Good luck

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dumluk Serial expat

430POSTS

7 years ago

That would be Cambutal in Los Santos province. I go there to surf sometimes myself......Have never had a problem in that area...But I never lived there......David is the fastest growing city in central america and has about 35 gangs, 5 or 6 real bad ones....lotsa guns and young guys eager to use em (I read that there are about 250 gangs in Medellin) .......Crime in Chiriqui has skyrocketed.....But yesterday It was front page news in the Panama America about the levels of insecurity in the country....it has really gone downhill in recent years.....Has a lot to do with the inefficient judicial system, just like Costa Rica, and probably Colombia too....The cops can only do so much within the parameters of the law........The law favors the criminals.......unfortunately, and the police tend not to pay much attention now to robberies unless there is a homicide involved. They have their plate so full of murders now that they cant keep up with it.....Even tho they have more cops per capita than anyplace Ive ever been except maybe Cuba.........Im a veteran of vigilante law from way back in the wild west daze of Costa Rica..........So no stranger to the realities of living off the grid in latin america.......Yes, Im kinda in BFE in the splendid country of rivers and waterfalls and black gold soil, with views to forever........a lot like certain parts of Colombia.......But the culture here is really atrasada.......and lots of inbreeding.......you could call it Appalacia, Panama .and the cops do not like to go into the back woods stomping thru the mud looking for bad boyz........But as you say, at least they dont normally bug me for money, altho it has happened....Especially when youre driving........Thats where they hit you..........

cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

7 years ago

Floridaray wrote:
Dumluk... in the 2.5 years i've lived in Colombia I've never had a prob. But i try to be respectful,and i watch my 6 no matter where im at on this earth....

My roommate just moved here after 5 years in Computal (sp?) Panama and he said he never saw anything like you describe here ...

I am flying to panama next month though to do a little surfing and fishing in Camputal. My roommate who is also going says same as here. Watch ur 6 and should be no probs.

Let's see if we can decode three of Ray's more esoteric references.

1. "Watch your 6."

This apparently is a military saying, meaning watch your back, watch the imaginary clock position for six o'clock on the back of your body.

2. If Ray lived "in BFE on a finca"....

Hmmm. There is an airport in Germany that uses BFE as its identifying code. Somehow I doubt that Ray was thinking of a finca or country weekend home in Bielefeld, Germany, however.

A website for acronyms lists dozens of possibilities for BFE, including Boy Friend Experience .. and Booze, Food and Entertainment.

3. A beach community in Panama variously spelled above as possibly Computal and Camputal: I will leave it to our Chiriquí province, Panama-based correspondent, Dumluk, to sort out the proper spelling.

As an old surfer dude, maybe he can tell us if he has 'hung ten' there.

cccmedia

cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

7 years ago

I see that while I was writing my post, Panama correspondent Dumluk has already given us a corrected spelling of Cambutal...

...and confirmation that he has, in fact, been surfing there.

Good job, Dumluk.

He and Ray apparently are on the same page for knowing BFE. I'm not there yet.

cccmedia

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dumluk Serial expat

430POSTS

7 years ago

As I said before that would be Cambutal on the Azuero Pen close to the national park Cerro de la jolla........on the line with the province of Veraguas.........there is good surf in that region. Its actually a good choice for living in Panama......there are some higher elevation options, and Las Tablas is a nice little city with its own genetics.......somewhat different than the rest of Panama......More Colombian really.........its where most of the major politicians have come from historically...........

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dumluk Serial expat

430POSTS

7 years ago

#10

Bum F%&k Egypt is what I came up with..........I scanned the range of options and landed on that.......Its called problem solving quotient CC.........but then he may have had something else altogether in mind......haha........dunno.......but at least it works in context....

Floridaray Contributor

115POSTS

7 years ago

#11

Thats what i meant. Back home we just used it as in, the middle of nowhere. Thanks for the wave report. Watch ur 6? Yep , ex military like a lot of gringos here. Like FUBAR.
Thanks for the warning about David.

Floridaray Contributor

115POSTS

7 years ago

#12

Dumluk good to hear your opinion of Las Tables and combutal. Las Tables is where my roommate lived for 5 years but im considering relocationg there or more likely combutal. I love living here in the Andes but really im a born and bred beach boy...old guy. And thats what i want to get back too.

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cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

7 years ago

#13

If these two Beach Boys meet up in October at Combutal, Panama .. kindly post copy and "art" (as we used to call photos in my 20th-century newspapering days).

Can be posted on the Combutal/Chiriquí/David/Panama forum(s) .. and then link us to it for the Colombia forum.