The "Safe Christmas Operation" to provide more surveillance and security during the Christmas and New Year holidays has begun, announced to the Ministry of Public Security.

The holidays between Christmas and New Year's Eve are celebrated from Monday, December 25, 2023, to Monday, January 1, 2024.

The current surveillance operation will continue until January 7, 2024. It is carried out to protect people from crooks which usually increases due to people carrying more money to spend on these dates.

Usually, on holidays, people get the so-called Aguinaldo, or Christmas bonus, to do their Christmas shopping, celebrate New Year’s Eve or take a family vacation during the holiday break, which is from the last week of December to the first week of January.

Due to the holidays and the start of the high tourism season, the police reinforce their presence with over 6,000 officers located on highways, national parks, tourist sites, entry and exit points of the country, among many other places.

 

The surveillance operation includes a more numerous presence of police officers in streets, boulevards, ATMs, and shopping centers, among other areas where people visit to do their Christmas and New Year shopping.
 
The guard operation is carried out by land, sea and air with the coordinated participation of all police forces such as the Ministry Police, Tourist Police, Mounted Police, Bicycle Police, Air Surveillance officers, Coast Guard officers, Traffic Police, Migration Police, Municipal Police, the ministry said in its statement.

These police forces work in coordination with park rangers, officials of the National Emergency Commission, Red Cross paramedics, Costa Rica firefighters, judicial agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization and the 9-1-1 Emergency System team, the ministry added.

Authorities call on people to take basic precautionary measures to avoid theft such as not exposing their money in public places, not leaving their belongings in the sight of strangers, avoiding wearing jewelry in public places, not walking through isolated places and not leaving their vehicles parked on the road.

If you see something suspicious don't hesitate to call the police emergency line 9-1-1, authorities noted.
 

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