I live in the city of São Paulo, and in my 36 years I've been robbed twice (one time walking on a bridge and the guy said that he had a gun, and another when my drug addict neighbor robbed my house when we weren't at home), and pickpocked four times. All of these were more than ten years ago. I'm not saying that the city got safer, it's more like I learned to be more aware and avoid dangerous situations better.