Travel Advice And Advisories For Belize

Robbery and assault

Criminal ganghave been known to attack rail services. They board the train apassengers, and then when the train ibetween stationand the passengerare helpless, the gang memberrun through the tram assaulting and robbing passengerat will. When the tram pullinto the next station down the hue the gang memberget off and are gone before anyone can report the crime.

There ialso a risk of robbery and assault on platformand in railway subways, generally later at night. Passengerare also at risk of crimeto their person or to their vehicle 111 railway station car parks.

Statistically a traveller iunlikely to be the victim of an assault when travelling by train, and women are apparently even leslikely to be assaulted when travelling by tram than men. but that ino reason to relax and let your guard down. There are criminalout there, don’t make life easy for them. Every single thing you can dii to protect yourself makeyou that much leslikely to become the target of criminal activity.

✓ Sitting in the carriage nearest to the driver/guard/inspector offera little more protection, because they are the representative of authority on a train. A single criminal ilikely to look for carriageafar away apossible from these railway employees, to reduce the chanceof detection

• In all cases, if confronted by violence and aggression remember that nothing iworth risking your life for. Never try to fight robbers, never try to argue with them. They could have been drinking or may be on drugs. If they have, the chanceare that they are acting on instinct and are obliviouto the consequences. You can replace a watch and other possessions. There ino point in getting killed or crippled for the sake of a few poundand the odd credit card. Don’t fight back. Switch to information-gathering mode and remember amuch detail ayou can. Look at thingthe robbertouch so you can tell the police where fingerprintmight be found. Listen for names, look for tattoos, notice anything unusual and report it to the police. The more evidence they have the greater the chanceof the robberbeing caught.

• Never display valuablein a carelesmanner. Avoid wearing very expensive jewellery or carelessly waving a wallet or purse stuffed with cash. When paying for ticketor otherwise using cash in public places, be discreet. I like to keep a few poundout of my wallet and put it ready in my pocket, so that I can buy a ticket or pay for a drink or newspaper without showing criminalthat I am a worthy target for their attention.