Newcomer Totally Disgusted

[KateNTK]

El increíble robo de dos policías a una mujer desmayada

Las cámaras de seguridad de Florencio Varela captaron el momento en que los efectivos de la bonaerense asaltaban a una persona desvanecida en su auto; acceda al video

www.lanacion.com.ar

 

[CreyCruz]

Yes the country is messed up.

I remember when I first came to argentina, I got robbed at gun point and my friends were like "oh yeah, no big deal, be more careful"

Then I asked them if I should go to the police and they went crazy "QUE????? SOS LOCO?????"

Its a known fact here the police are corrupt scum and much scarier than los ladrones

 

[SamBarto]

This is why you cant inform the police when your place is burglarized. The police will come and case your place and then later rob you. It's all very sad. When BA was cheap there were a lot of expats defending Argentina, finding excuses for every problem, saying how it is just as bad in the US. I don't see so much of that anymore.

 

[DaveDed]

I personally think that it's really sad that these policemen robbed a person who they are paid with our taxes to take care of in an emergency and not use that as an opportunity to rob them.
I myself have had mostly good experiences with the police here, I had a small retail business and the ones I befriended that worked in the area where my business was never ever asked me for any type of bribe, or anything like that.
I will say that the police here are underpaid and feel that the government is working agianst them and does not support them.
I am originally from New York City and we had our share of corrupt, mafioso and drug dealing police back in the 1960s and 1970s and it was really bad, 99% of that was cleaned up though, with tough new requirements for police such as only hiring police with at least 2 years of college, higher salaries and cost of living adjustments, good publicity and support from the mayor. Of course here there is a lot of distrust for the police that goes back many years and it will be hard to change that anytime soon. Even more so with this video. How unfortunate.

 

[SamBarto]

It never fails that someone brings up the US when Argentina is the subject. Of course there are some rotten apples among the NYPD police but corruption is not the NORM there as it is in Argentina. I suppose even the NYPD police who took bribes have the decency not to leave a woman unconscious while they robbed her of her laptop.

 

[earlyretirement]

This is why you cant inform the police when your place is burglarized. The police will come and case your place and then later rob you. It's all very sad. When BA was cheap there were a lot of expats defending Argentina, finding excuses for every problem, saying how it is just as bad in the US. I don't see so much of that anymore.

So true Sam. In fact, I stopped posting/reading this forum for a long time as it seemed like some people were totally out of touch. If you posted something negative about Argentina you'd get them disagreeing with you and defending things or saying the same problems existed in the USA, yadda, yadda.

I only came back again when someone posted the story about that BAFinance guy ripping people off. So I came back.

It seems like people are finally waking up to the fact that these "same types of problems" aren't happening in the USA. Sure the USA has it's fair share of problems and probably always will. But you can't compare it to what is going on in Argentina.

30% yearly inflation, currency controls, locals not being able to use their ATM cards abroad, alarmingly increasing crime.

I still love Argentina and probably always will but NOT blind to what is happening there. Things are deteriorating there rather quickly the past few years and with the 30% a year inflation the next few years probably won't be pretty.

 

[SeeLess]

Indeed, and another big difference is that the legal framework doesn't accord the same rights of self-defense as in the US.

Although the keystone cop vibe of some law enforcement here will feel great if the US keeps ramping up its police state measures.

 

[earlyretirement]

SeeLess is exactly correct. For all intent and purposes, the judicial system in Argentina is broken and simply doesn't work. Trust me on this one. I lived in Argentina 7+ years and can give all kinds of examples. The legal and judicial system doesn't really exist in Argentina.

Say what you want about the USA but the judicial system here for the most part works very well and you have recourse if you have problems. Not so in Argentina for the most part.

 

[SeeLess]

It works in the US, for the little guy, as long as he's not going against the big guy, especially a big bank.

Still, nothing quite as horrifying as being intimidated or victimized by cops, or even witnessing it. And I mean horrifying, demeaning, enraging in the true senses of those words.

Still, it seems to me there's lots of good cops here on a day to day basis. It's probably just that the good ones can't fight corruption any better than ranters like us on the expat board can.

Also, although there's lots of gasping about street criminals working with the police, I don't think it taints the character of them as much as we'd like to think. The police probably don't have the man power to actually police all the poor people in BA, so they cut deals with crime rings that then guard their turf against other thieves, on the understanding that violence and serious incidents should be limited. It's been explained to me that the horrifying violent crimes that make the papers are incidents of that de facto system failing and the perpetrators and those they work with are often dealt a rather heavy-handed extra-judicial blow by the boys in blue. This is also the source of the "don't resist" mentality, as the general agreement is that heavy violence is foregone if one cooperates.

Although, that's no palliative for the anger one may feel if they are victimized. It certainly doesn't do much for the countless stories I've heard of gratuitous violence beyond intimidation for the purposes of theft. I don't believe in blaming the victim.