How is giving a cop 500p a big problem? Most of us are braking a USA law most of the time anyway.
- Thread starter drisforme
- Start date
Stopped this afternoon by 2 cops at Sosua for money
I think we can agree that the police in this country are poorly paid, poorly trained and poorly supervised.
"Asking" for "contributions to the cause of the day" is predicated on power being able to produce fear. Fear of inconvenience, fear of detention, fear of persecution, fear of a trumped up charge and a general fear that foreigners do not necessarily fare well in the justice system here and will be subjected to even more corruption during that extended process.
Those that explain away their acquiescence by converting pesos to dollars and see a bargain, prefer just to get out of there as quickly as possible or suggest that poor police are somehow justified in earning a "2nd income" this way are just masking their own fear of the police so they do not have to admit or acknowledge the reality.
Paying a bride does nothing to prevent the police from asking for another one later on. Bribes are not insurance against future legal problems and do not ensure better service or a rapid response if that is ever needed. Paying a bride does mean that if you call for help, the first truckload of police to arrive will all be there with their hands out expecting more of the same. Paying does nothing more than reinforce the police behavior and ensure that you and certainly someone else will be in that situation again.
This cycle of corruption stops when the public is no longer afraid of the police. Foreigners are particularly vulnerable to abuses because they often speak limited Spanish, do not have a lawyer on speed dial, are often in the country for a short period of time and becoming embroiled in a legal problem would be disastrous especially if their passport is confiscated. For a tourist, it's not easy to get the larger sums of cash needed to satisfy lawyers, prosecutors and other predatory officials. A few hundred or a thousands pesos to the ladrone leaning in your car window can seem to be a bargain at the time and maybe it is for some.
Some of those who have chosen to live here and expose themselves to this disservice, have decided that being a victim is easier, more convenient, cheaper and that they are powerless to effect change or better their lot in life. The lesson of the school yard bully from years ago should have taught them that, they may suffer a few fleeting indignities initially, but a strong and sustained response will remove them from the sights of those who seek an easier and more profitable mark for fear and intimidation.
If you pay, either out of a sense of convenience or for any other reason, you are part of the cycle that repeats itself in the DR everyday. In the moment, it is difficult to understand that the police do not wish to do the paperwork and present you before the Fiscal so you will not likely be charged with any crime even if temporarily detained. If you do not pay and agree to accompany the police to the station the secondary screws are tightened and the cost goes up because more officers are now involved. Like telemarketers and phishing emails, this scam is based on volume and follows Dominican economic logic - Asking 100 people a day for a few hundred pesos immediately is better than planting a packet of drugs under your seat and playing the long con.
The fear people feel is real. We all feel it when the cops are behind us or signal us to pull over. We know that a lot of the time, the request for money is coming and those with a bill or two tucked into their sun visor are just the type of person the cops are looking to meet and the reason that so many get stopped in the first place. You know this, I know this and everyone but the tourist understands this - some just refuse to admit that they are too scared to stand up for themselves. Once you put your fear in check and refuse to pay and are not arrested, or assaulted or locked up you'll see that the local cops will remember you because spending the time to deal with you again means they miss dealing with X number of others with whom they may have better luck.
Fear is their tool and they work hard to keep it that way. Regular drivers and expats are pretty safe from reprisal if they refuse to pay. Those engaged in crimes, serious traffic accidents, drugs and illegal guns, they are the ones who get to experience the long con with very little chance of walking away scot-free.
In this country, fear of any sort of official difficulty on the part of foreigners is palpable and often discussed. It's called "shooting fish in a barrel" or "leading the lambs to slaughter", take your pick.
"Asking" for "contributions to the cause of the day" is predicated on power being able to produce fear. Fear of inconvenience, fear of detention, fear of persecution, fear of a trumped up charge and a general fear that foreigners do not necessarily fare well in the justice system here and will be subjected to even more corruption during that extended process.
Those that explain away their acquiescence by converting pesos to dollars and see a bargain, prefer just to get out of there as quickly as possible or suggest that poor police are somehow justified in earning a "2nd income" this way are just masking their own fear of the police so they do not have to admit or acknowledge the reality.
Paying a bride does nothing to prevent the police from asking for another one later on. Bribes are not insurance against future legal problems and do not ensure better service or a rapid response if that is ever needed. Paying a bride does mean that if you call for help, the first truckload of police to arrive will all be there with their hands out expecting more of the same. Paying does nothing more than reinforce the police behavior and ensure that you and certainly someone else will be in that situation again.
This cycle of corruption stops when the public is no longer afraid of the police. Foreigners are particularly vulnerable to abuses because they often speak limited Spanish, do not have a lawyer on speed dial, are often in the country for a short period of time and becoming embroiled in a legal problem would be disastrous especially if their passport is confiscated. For a tourist, it's not easy to get the larger sums of cash needed to satisfy lawyers, prosecutors and other predatory officials. A few hundred or a thousands pesos to the ladrone leaning in your car window can seem to be a bargain at the time and maybe it is for some.
Some of those who have chosen to live here and expose themselves to this disservice, have decided that being a victim is easier, more convenient, cheaper and that they are powerless to effect change or better their lot in life. The lesson of the school yard bully from years ago should have taught them that, they may suffer a few fleeting indignities initially, but a strong and sustained response will remove them from the sights of those who seek an easier and more profitable mark for fear and intimidation.
If you pay, either out of a sense of convenience or for any other reason, you are part of the cycle that repeats itself in the DR everyday. In the moment, it is difficult to understand that the police do not wish to do the paperwork and present you before the Fiscal so you will not likely be charged with any crime even if temporarily detained. If you do not pay and agree to accompany the police to the station the secondary screws are tightened and the cost goes up because more officers are now involved. Like telemarketers and phishing emails, this scam is based on volume and follows Dominican economic logic - Asking 100 people a day for a few hundred pesos immediately is better than planting a packet of drugs under your seat and playing the long con.
The fear people feel is real. We all feel it when the cops are behind us or signal us to pull over. We know that a lot of the time, the request for money is coming and those with a bill or two tucked into their sun visor are just the type of person the cops are looking to meet and the reason that so many get stopped in the first place. You know this, I know this and everyone but the tourist understands this - some just refuse to admit that they are too scared to stand up for themselves. Once you put your fear in check and refuse to pay and are not arrested, or assaulted or locked up you'll see that the local cops will remember you because spending the time to deal with you again means they miss dealing with X number of others with whom they may have better luck.
Fear is their tool and they work hard to keep it that way. Regular drivers and expats are pretty safe from reprisal if they refuse to pay. Those engaged in crimes, serious traffic accidents, drugs and illegal guns, they are the ones who get to experience the long con with very little chance of walking away scot-free.
In this country, fear of any sort of official difficulty on the part of foreigners is palpable and often discussed. It's called "shooting fish in a barrel" or "leading the lambs to slaughter", take your pick.
Visitors are a different Fish - Buster
Horses of a different color
Not here long enough to -
enjoy long term benefits
get a court appearance to plead their case
this is the nut of preying on tourists -- IMO
Both barrel and slaughter scenarios
Horses of a different color
Not here long enough to -
enjoy long term benefits
get a court appearance to plead their case
this is the nut of preying on tourists -- IMO
Both barrel and slaughter scenarios
Sounds like where you live there are frequent check points and the police like to shakedown gringos often(?). Mind telling me where it is - so I don't ever drive through there?!!!
Because some expats are so cheap...Be easier to pull a quarter out of frogs ass...
You have prove it, you are tougher than I am - spending a minute in a Dominican prison it isn't for me, thus I rather pay up too.
they would rather die than give a cop 100 pesos, but they fork over thousands every time Belkis tells them her mother needs cataract surgery, which might be twice a month.
I am sorry to hear of your experience. I drive there once a year, and did encounter a roadblock yesterday outside of Puerta Plata province on the return home. I just greeted the guy warmly in English, not Spanish, and asked how he was doing. He looked at me, smiled, extended his hand, and told me to go. I went and did not look back.
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it is as easy as that. to hear some tell it, there is this foreboding idea that they are going to drag you out of the car, confiscate it, demand your footwear, and send you home barefoot, if you dont buy them a beer.
People like that ....
I bet they really spiked up the No Coast economy during their stay !!
Sorry to lose them ......whew !
why do I feel better ??
I bet they really spiked up the No Coast economy during their stay !!
Sorry to lose them ......whew !
why do I feel better ??
I give money to handicapped beggars in the center of Santiago almost every single time I
walk down Calle Del Sol but I'D RATHER DIE TWICE than give a cop 100 pesos. Anyone who knows
me will tell ya how nice I am when Belkis comes to me with some bullsh*t story asking for money.
and the bad treatment of the tourists goes on as well as the expats....the People that control the DR need to talk to other places in latin America that did the same, and lots of the tourists never came back...like Jamaica...coast of Mexico...and more....easy to lose your customers....almost impossible to get them back..........Doc..........