When in Colombia it may happen that you become victimized. We are going talk about how to report a crime in Colombia, so that you will have a few initial steps to take if something happens to you. I will also bring up my personal story of what happened to me as we go along in order to give you some context.
Cellphone Theft on The Bus
While living in Santiago de Cali in Colombia I one day had to go to an urgent meeting with my accountant. I decided to take the bus.
The bus was jam packed with people and everyone there could barely move while inside. Afterwards I remembered feeling a slight touch, like someone slightly moved past me. At the time I thought nothing of it, since I had my mind occupied with what I was going to discuss with my accountant.
A while after exiting the bus I put my hand down my pocket in order to pick up my cellphone. I couldn’t find it. I felt a few times more, but yes, it was gone. This was the first time I had been pick-pocketed, but I wasn’t really surprised. I just went “well well”. This was something I had kind of foreseen. This was bound to happen someday, sooner or later, while being out in public in Colombia. I had made sure to never walk around with an expensive cellphone, but instead a much cheaper one as a precaution.
I Had Registered the Phone
The lost cellphone itself was not the main problem. The problem was that I had registered it in my name. This could potentially cause some issues if it ended up in the wrong hands. When I purchased the phone the store clerk told me that I, being a foreigner, by law was required to register the cellphone at the operator’s office.
Hence after purchasing the cell phone I had gone to the office of my operator (which is one of Colombia’s largest). Upon arrival I saw mostly confused looks, when informing them that I wished to register the phone. I explained to them that the clerk had said that it was a law requirement.
The whole process took an entire hour, while the staff was slowly walking back and forth, changing documents, switching between different tasks. Chatting about mundane things also seemed to take precedence. They furthermore had to redo the process a few times. There seemed to be quite the confusion among them regarding how to do it.
If citizens in a country are supposed to follow the law and follow proper procedure then common sense dictates there ought to be an incentive to do so. Clearly this was not the case this time due to the aforementioned circumstances.
Visiting The First Police Station to Report A Crime in Colombia
After I had lost my cellphone I didn’t really know how to go about it. How do I report a crime in Colombia? I decided to go to one of those small police stations/posts they have all around the city, that basically just consists of one room and maybe 2-3 officers.
I noticed pretty quickly that this probably wasn’t the right place to actually report a crime in Colombia. There were some confused looks and told then they told me something like “I guess that is done online”. This seemed to be an office with officers only did patrol duty. Nobody who could/or was willing to actually receive my submission.
I nevertheless also asked the officers where I could report the crime in person, just in case it didn’t work online when trying to do the submission back at my apartment. I had this as a backup plan, since I knew since before that online platforms do not always work as expected in Colombia.
This case was no different. When trying to file a report on the police website it was so slow that nothing was happening, and it crashed all the time. I had to basically reload it around 8 times and fill in the same information over and over again. I also noticed that I, due to some technical error (?), could not advance in the process on the website if I was a foreigner.
Visiting The Second Police Station
Since I luckily had foreseen this situation, I then decided to go report it in person. I am not sure about the other Colombian cities, but in Cali there are several larger police stations (or rather barracks/compounds) throughout the city. Hence, I decided to go to the one that one of the officers at the first station had mentioned.
I arrived at the compound late in the afternoon, around 5, and was told by the front guards with machine guns to come back in the morning between 8 and 12 am, since they only receive my submission during those hours.
The next day I went to the same place and once again approached the front guard with the machine gun, in order to ask him where within the compound I could find someone that would receive my case. He was quite friendly and helpful by the way. I could then enter the compound area.
While inside the compound to report a crime in Colombia
The whole area looked more like a military base than the type of police station that we have in my own country. This is however quite common in Latin America in my experience.
I finally reached the office with the correct official, who then told me to come by the same day at 3 pm sharp. He urged me to be very punctual. I returned at the designated time and the officer was very helpful in receiving my case.
I got the opportunity to explain my case in detail and the surrounding circumstances. After the briefing the officer handed me a document that would vindicate me from any wrong doing if anything would ever happen.
This is the most important thing when you are going to report a crime in Colombia. It is important in other countries as well, but even more so in countries with a massive bureaucracy. An official document vindicating you is the most important thing.
Visiting The Police Main Investigatory Office
After a few weeks I received a letter informing me of a specific date and time to go and visit the police main investigatory office, in Colombia called the “Fiscalía”. At first I was a bit confused since the date was on a holiday. However, I went there anyway, just in case, and merely encountered a guard guarding an empty building. He told me that the date on the slip was wrong and told me to instead come back the next day. I guess specific dates and hours can be quite dynamic when you are going to report a crime in Colombia.
I came back the next day as instructed. This time I had to wait in a pretty big line outside in order to just get into the building. Please be aware of that you will need to hand over your cellphone, which you place in a locked box when entering such a building. If you are not comfortable with this you should leave it at home.
Thereafter I went to a room where I met a senior investigator. There were also other people who had ended up in the same situation. We went through some material in order to see if we could arrive at some kind of conclusion or theory. We didn’t and that was basically it. End of story.
Now What Have We Learned Regarding How To Report A Crime in Colombia?
- Avoid taking the bus during rush hour when it is jam packed. Thieves will try to take advantage of this circumstance.
- Be aware that thieves will notice if you seem occupied with other things. You will have your guard down and this will show. It is necessary to be attentive at all times. In Colombia there is also an expression for this called “no dar papaya”, which insinuates that the victim is to blame for his own “vulnerability” which I would say is not that unreasonable to be honest.
- When reporting a crime in Colombia, don’t go to the smaller police posts which you can see everywhere. The officers stationed there are only on patrol duty and will be unable or unwilling to take your case. Instead visit the larger compounds, preferably early.
- Avoid reporting a crime on any website. It will most likely be faulty. As with many other things in Colombia, the only real way to do it is in person. Don’t rely on the tech. You might also be blocked from using it as a foreigner. If this still is the case to this day I can not say.
- Get a copy of the police report. This is what will vindicate you if you have to answer questions from officials later on. And if your Spanish is not up to speed and you are having trouble understanding it then I will be more than happy to take a look at it as I since long have worked with Spanish to Swedish and Spanish to English translations.
- Be aware that some officials will put a lot of emphasis on punctuality, while others not at all. It can be difficult to know when each circumstance applies, especially as a foreigner. But I guess we just have to roll with it.
- Know that few people speak English, so learning some Spanish is probably a good idea in case you ever need to report a crime in Colombia.
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