Police Stops in Nicaragua 🇳🇮 How They Work
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- Опубліковано 23 сер 2024
- I get a lot of questions or raised eyebrows when we talk about going through police stops or checkpoints along the beaches or highways. For North Americans this is a very odd arrangement, but in much of the world, especially in Latin America, it is totally normal and expected. It is a different mechanism and approach than used in North America and can be confusing without understanding some context behind it. #police #nicaragua #driving
21 December 2023
Some odd music creeps in for just a few seconds. Sorry about that, seems okay though, lol.
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Hey Scott
Thank you for the information as always
I experienced my first stop on my way home from Managua… I was a bit nervous as I didn’t understand why we were getting pulled over (it was just me and my daughter). Had I seen this video prior to the experience I would have been much calmer! But it turned out after they performed my vehicle inspection, they had me get out of my vehicle and showed me that my rear tail light was out… had no idea! I called my husband to talk to the cop for me in Spanish… the cop wound up asking for cordobas and let me go on my way. Fixed the taillight the following morning! But I am thankful for this video as we did not know about the fire extinguisher in the trunk! Good to know!
Yes, that's a bribe, generally as used. La Mordida CAN be used for either, but generally implies that the cop is creating a fake charge and doing so to make you pay him. That should not happen here anymore (it does, but it's highly illegal and the crackdown is intense.) A cop doing that is taking a big risk. I can't tell you how many times I've been stopped and I had a cop in the car with me, had a cop tried to pull that the trouble they'd have been in would have been epic. But no one ever has, so that's good. But having done something wrong... like speeding, merging wrong, lights out, and getting pulled over and not wanting to deal with the ticket, it is common to ask if you can pay on the spot instead of paying in Managua (that's how tickets are handled) and if the cop accepts TECHNICALLY he's supposed to send that money to managua and not keep it. That's you volunteering for an easier solution, you can always not volunteer and go show up in Managua to pay your fine. You CAN call that La Mordida too, but it's not how it is commonly used.
We are currently in nicaragua and were stopped twice yesterday. The first stop the police said we had an infraction and crossed a solid line although we were just following two other vehicles that went around a slow moving vehicle but we were singled out and they told us we had to pay the infraction or they would take our car. We don't speak Spanish so we tried communicating with cell phone translations. After being stop for 20 minutes or so, we had to pay the police $20 and he let us go. The second stop we were asked for our papers and we were able to go. I was told to make copies od our drivers license but the police will not accept the copies, they want our actual license.
Who told you to make copies? Definitely your original license is required. You are always supposed to have it, and your passport, on your person. Not that locals do this, but that's officially the rules.
Online vlogs I looked at said police will hold you license hostage if you give them your actual license. And you will need to pay to get it back.
We do have our actual license and passport with us while driving.
I got stopped two or three times while driving around. My lack of Spanish mostly just frustrated the cops and they waved me through.
I was actually pretty afraid of it because in Mexico it often means they expect a bribe.
Yeah, so different here. I've been stopped many times, and even had something wrong (little things like a taillight out) and they haven't even asked for money when it would have been easy. They just said "get it fixed before you come through again". Nothing more. Totally just being helpful.
We've been stopped multiple times both our trips. The first we were accused of an "infraction" and they were going to take my driver's license for 30 days. That was an hour into the country. We were stopped three times that trip, twice for "infractions" and once to check papers. The officer's were more frustrated with our lack of Spanish than anything else and let go. The last trip was the first we had one of our stops result in a fine from an "infraction" and we paid $20 US at the stop. Unfortunately our young son had his cellphone on the seat beside him which caused some issue (presumably they'd thought he was recording) but ultimately we made our way after paying our fine. We now stay in san juan and have since made sure we have a few US dollars during our travels.
Our next trip is March or April and we aren't expecting anything different. As odd as it may seem only our first stop was somewhat hostile, the police otherwise have been relatively pleasant. Status quo perhaps?
Carry Cordoba, not dollars. Carrying US makes you far more of a target because it makes it clear you aren't used to Nicaragua or connected. If they think you are a newbie tourist, especially one with dollars that hasn't had time to hit an ATM yet, they'll definitely be emboldened to assume you don't know the laws or have the knowledge of how to report them or to call a lawyer.
They can't take your license for 30 days. They take it and it is sent to Managua. It's a pain, but you get it back like the next day.
How long ago was this? This is not the norm, at all, and you can definitely report them because this is seen as a crime against the country... an attempt to discourage tourism. That's serious, an attack on the entire economy when a cop breaks the law to make the country look bad.
Given how much I drive, and my family drives, and we are here full time, and haven't had this happen once in three years, and no one we know up here has had it happen in years... it's shocking to hear that someone had it happen and more than once. I know that being in SJDS obviously makes things so much worse, that region is the wild west and full of tourists that are easy to spot. In most of Nicaragua expats are more likely to have resources to get the cops in trouble, not less, so running a scam like that can carry a lot of risk. But in SJDS the chances of the foreigners being tourists is super high and the chances someone will know what to do to report them is low so they are more likely to take the risk, I would think.
But that's crazy. Rentals cars definitely make that more likely, as they know locals basically never rent (including the expats.)
@ScottAlanMillerVlog Thanks for the reply. We've been down each of the past two years and will be going again this spring. The first trip down we got a bit lost in finding a grocery store and ended up in the street market area behind the airport in Managua, that's the first incidence. The fellow that pulled us over was in full military garb, gun and all. He'd wanted 500 Cordoba.
That same trip literally 6km from the airport to return home we were pulled over for running a light, which didn't exist.
The last trip down we'd been pulled over a few times at check stops between SJDS and Rivas. Only the last time on our way back to Managua to head home did we end up paying.
We have a place now in SJDS so it will be our 'base' for exploration in the future.
I had touched base during our first trip down but weren't able to connect in Granada at the time. We continue to watch the videos and felt particularly nostalgic with the walk-around in Poneloya.
Thanks again for the info and the insights on utilizing local currency more often.
Awesome on watching the show and making the move down.
Okay so this is important, that guy in the military garb wasn't police, and wasn't legal. That was a bandit, a literal highwayman, pretending to be military. Had the military known about that, he'd have risked being shot on sight. Impersonating military is a big crime, especially if using it to rob people. Real police that stop you never have a gun (on the one stopping you) and are always in light blue. That's the Celeste, they handle traffic. Someone with a gun should be there, but it's a different department called the Negra (they wear black, very complicated names here.) They protect the Celeste but will never stop you (for a driving thing, they DO stop you if you try to break into a government building, however.)
So in this particular instance, that wasn't a police shakedown, that was you being robbed at gunpoint by a criminal. Thank goodness it was only C$500!
I’m curious if there is a increase in gringos and new residents/tourists in Nicaragua, will this be a threat to low cost of living/rent in the country? Due to social media and UA-camrs getting the word out on how inexpensive Nicaragua is a place to live!
You've got your own episode on this posting ni a few days!
@scott, why did you ditch the wide-angle camera view experiment on your videos?
I didn't realize that i did. which wide angle was i trying?
@ScottAlanMillerVlog maybe I used the wrong term. You have a video shot out in a field and it appears you had the camera at a distance such that we could see the environment around you. You mentioned that you were trying that approach out so we can share your experience
Gotcha. Well I've been sick so walking around has been hard. Hopefully in the next few days, I miss my walks!
Hey Scott I just came from vacation from nicaragua for the fifth time. I hired a taxi to take me san juan del sur. And taxi driver was randomly pulled over. Taxi driver advised me it is common and random. Seems like it was just a vehicle papers inspection. But I've heard from many people being pulled over for legit reason like speeding and were foreigners. These foreigners just pull out a $20 bill and officer tells them to go on their way 😂
Yes, paper inspections are the norm. BUT if you are speeding, they will definitely pull you over. They aren't supposed to take money on the spot, but if you offer, it's hard for them to resist. Especially as they know it'll make you happy, still will discourage you from speeding, make their lives easier, make your life easier, and provide a huge amount of income to them. Those are not a shake down, that's a driver literally bribing a police officer. Cops shaking you down is very rare. Cops accepting bribes to look the other way on normal infractions is common. Really common. And that's a reason not to carry US dollars, that bribe will be $20 instead of C$500 which is more like $13.50. There's basically a 50% penalty on things like that for people carrying USD.
Precinct 5 out of Managua never accepts bribes and if it is blatant enough they will charge you. If you speak Spanish you can act like you think they are asking you to pay the fine to them.
Yeah I'll avoid police states but thanks
Yes, for sure, that's why we moved to a freer country where it isn't a police state like the US. I'm glad you see the US for what it is. Time to get to where everyone is free until proven guilty instead of a country where everything is illegal and the cops are above the law. Getting away from police state (common law) was our number one thing in choosing a country.
Sorry Scott but this was not a realistic video. I know you live there and have to make the country appear in the best light. We have been to nicaragua three times and LOVE the country... except the police. We commonly get pulled over for NO reason. After pretending some back and forth and telling us how serious the situation is, the police say if we give them 800 cords we can go. Of course the other option is to let them take our licence so we pay the bribe and move on. This is the norm with gringos in my experience and others that I know.
What jurisdiction is this happening in? I'm all over quite a lot of the country and know of no one here having that issue. I know it DOES happen, but there's something about the people who "come and go" versus those that live here full time. Do they recognize us and treat us normally? Do they somehow identify the in and out people? Is it that you have a rental car and they can tell or something? Literally I've had this happen one time to me in nine years. A friend had it happen to his driver, not to him, last week and he was furious about it, this was Managua. But it's his first time in three years. So while he's really upset, he's been stopped countless times, no issues, and one time in Managua his driver had it happen to him.
I don't think it's the norm with gringos. But it could be the norm with gringos that are not full timers (I'm not a resident, but I seem like one even to the police.) Maybe the police somehow know that I'll easily allow them to take my license and easily show up with a lawyer and file a very serious report.
Now you SHOULD be pulled over for "no reason", that part is absolutely correct. You are supposed to be getting pulled over quite regularly if you are driving. But you should have your papers ready and if nothing is wrong, you should be all set. I easily have it happen 1-3 times every time I go anywhere on a trip, and 5-6 if it is a holiday. We hit them sometimes going to the market, definitely going to the beach that's just 12 minutes away. But never do they ask for a bribe or try to give a ticket. They just check our papers and wave us on with a smile. No issues at all.
I just made a short video to ask the community about this. I want to gather some info about this type of stuff. When I was here in 2015, this was normal. Now, living here full time for three years, it's so rare that if someone has it happen, everyone hears about it. Things that I think are relevant.... what departmento is it (police are broken up by department), are you confident no law was broken (like making a turn into the wrong lane, speeding, lights are good, passing in a no passing zone, etc.), did you have your papers and license ready for them? Where you in a rental car? Are you a full timer (resident or border runner), or do you just visit (and do you think that there is some way that the police could guess that after they pulled you over?)
Can you think of anything else that might create the opportunity for the police?
When you say that you know lots of gringos having this problem.... where do you tend to know these gringos, and are they permies or tempies here in the country?
I really don't have to show in the best light. If this is legit a problem somewhere, I'm happy to be a resource for collecting data and finding ways to alert police management. Those rogue police are enemies of the government, trying to make a quick personal buck at the expense of the national economy. Their actions discredit the country and are an attack on teh tourist investment and infrastructure. The police, at a higher level, want to catch those people.