Costa Rica abolished its army on 1 December 1948, and wrote the prohibition into Article 12 of the 1949 Constitution. So everything that follows is police, not military — even the bodies that do jobs armies do elsewhere. The Ministry of Public Security puts it plainly: the Fuerza Pública has no armoured units and no military ranks.
Here is who does what, and which one you would actually deal with.
Under the Ministry of Public Security
Fuerza Pública — the national police
The uniformed police you see everywhere, successor to the old Guardia Civil and Guardia de Asistencia Rural. Patrol, first response, public order, riot control, K9, mounted and bicycle units.
This is who you call for a burglary in progress, a domestic disturbance, a neighbour dispute or a road blockade. Emergency number 911.
Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas — coast guard
Created in 2000. Territorial waters, maritime search and rescue, fisheries enforcement — and in practice the bulk of Costa Rica’s Pacific cocaine interdiction, often working with the US Coast Guard under a bilateral patrol agreement.
Servicio Nacional de Vigilancia Aérea — air surveillance
A small fleet of light aircraft and helicopters doing air surveillance, medical evacuation, drug interdiction and transport for other agencies. No combat aircraft.
Policía de Control de Drogas
Narcotics investigation and interdiction, working alongside the OIJ and the drug-trafficking prosecutor’s office.
Policía de Fronteras — border police
The land borders with Nicaragua and Panama: migration control support, contraband and trafficking.
Policía Turística — tourist police
A specialised Fuerza Pública unit and, for most visitors and coastal residents, the one they will actually meet. 294 officers across 11 tourism regions, with 240 having second-language training and 55 fluent in English.
It is funded in part by the ICT, the tourism board, under an agreement with the ministry — roughly US$1m in equipment between 2018 and 2023, plus funding for new posts at Santa Teresa and Cahuita.
If you need police help in English, this is your best chance of getting it.
Outside the Ministry
OIJ — Organismo de Investigación Judicial
The most important one to understand, and the one people get wrong.
The OIJ is not under any ministry. It is an organ of the Judicial Branch, reporting to the Supreme Court, created in 1973 as an auxiliary body to the criminal courts and the public prosecutor.
Three divisions: Criminal Investigation (homicide, property crime, sexual offences, cybercrime, vehicle theft), Medicina Legal — the forensic morgue at San Joaquín de Flores in Heredia, where every unattended or violent death goes — and the Forensic Sciences Laboratory.
This is where you file a criminal complaint. Headquarters in Barrio Catedral, San José, with 12 regional delegations and 13 sub-delegations. Confidential tip line 800-8000-645, also on WhatsApp.
Policía de Tránsito — traffic police
Under the transport ministry, MOPT, with fines administered through COSEVI. Roughly 624 officers covering about 8,000 km of road network.
They issue tickets (partes), attend collisions, run alcohol testing and check vehicle documents. Remember the rule that costs foreigners money: after an accident, do not move the vehicles until Tránsito and your insurer’s adjuster have both attended.
Policía Penitenciaria
Under the Ministry of Justice and Peace — custody and security in prisons and juvenile detention. The ministry describes it as the country’s second-largest police body.
Policía Profesional de Migración
Under the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería. Immigration enforcement, deportations and airport document control.
DIS — Dirección de Inteligencia y Seguridad Nacional
Reports directly to the President or the Minister of the Presidency. It detects and analyses threats to national independence and territorial integrity.
The crucial limitation: the DIS cannot raid, interrogate, summon or arrest. It may only support other authorities when a judge authorises it. Its files are classified and the President can declare material a state secret.
Policía Municipal
Created by individual cantons under the Municipal Code — 27 cantons had one as of 2020, and the number has likely grown. They enforce municipal ordinances, parking and vendor licensing and provide visible patrol. Their criminal-law powers are limited; they support the Fuerza Pública rather than replace it.
How to file a denuncia
The practical distinction that saves people a wasted afternoon:
- Fuerza Pública responds to a crime in progress and will take a report at the scene.
- The OIJ or the Ministerio Público (Fiscalía) is where the formal criminal complaint — the denuncia — is filed, and where a case file is created.
Go in person to any OIJ delegation with your cédula or passport. Bring documentation: invoices, serial numbers, photographs, a medical report if relevant. You will be given a case number, and you should expect to chase progress yourself.
Insurance claims for theft normally require the OIJ denuncia, so if you have been robbed, this step is not optional even if you have no expectation of recovering anything.
Property-crime and fraud denuncias can be filed online, but the online channel requires a Costa Rican firma digital certificate, which most foreigners do not have.
For noise, illegal construction or environmental damage, the route is not the police — it is the municipality, SETENA, or the Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo.
What police can and cannot do
- Officers can stop and identify you, and detain someone caught in the act.
- A house search requires a judicial order, except in flagrancia or genuine emergency.
- Detention without a judicial order is capped at 24 hours before the person must be brought before a judge.
- There are no lawful roadside cash fines. A Tránsito ticket is paid at a bank or against your marchamo. An officer asking for cash is not following the law.
- Drivers must carry licence, cédula or passport, and the vehicle’s derecho de circulación.
Corruption and trust
Costa Rica scores 56 out of 100 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, ranked 46th — clean by Latin American standards, unremarkable by OECD ones, and down two points year on year.
Petty street-level shakedowns are uncommon compared with the region. The more serious pattern in recent years has been narco-penetration of institutions, including cases involving officers and port workers — set against 873 homicides in 2025, the third consecutive year at or near record levels, driven by trafficking disputes concentrated in Limón, Puntarenas and parts of the metro area.
Police and foreigners
Officers are generally correct and non-confrontational. English is patchy outside the tourist police and airport units.
Carry identification. A passport, or a copy plus your DIMEX. Both the Fuerza Pública and Migración can ask for it. Tourists are not usually asked about immigration status in a routine stop, but overstaying is a real exposure at the border.
Reporting a crime as a foreigner is straightforward but slow, and the OIJ report is often more useful to your insurer than to recovering your property. Your consulate can help with translation and finding a lawyer, but cannot intervene in a case.
The wider point
A country with no army has to do public security entirely through civil police, and Costa Rica built roughly a dozen specialised forces to do it. It works reasonably well, it is under real strain from trafficking, and it remains — nearly eighty years on — one of the more remarkable constitutional experiments in the hemisphere.
Living here legally
Carrying valid documentation is considerably easier when your status is in order. CRIE — Costa Rica Immigration Experts handles residency applications, renewals and citizenship.
See the residency options in Costa Rica, or get in touch.
Article by Glenn Tellier (Founder of CRIE and Grupo Gap)
Don't wait, contact us right now!
Call or WhatsApp Costa Rica +506 8373 2085 or +506 8706 3888
Call USA/Canada +1 305-906-6784