Perceived safety usually improves with time in country, because the early unease is mostly unfamiliarity rather than actual danger. Newcomers cannot yet read which streets, hours, and situations are fine, so everything feels slightly uncertain; a year later the same city feels ordinary. That said, expats do face elevated risks: scams aimed at people who do not know local prices, petty theft in tourist areas, and above all road traffic, which harms far more foreigners than crime does.
Local knowledge is the best protection, so acquire it deliberately. Ask colleagues and neighbours what they avoid and take their answers seriously, learn the emergency number the first week, keep document copies separate from originals, and be conservative at night until you can read situations like a local.
Sensible structural steps: register with your embassy, know your nearest decent hospital, vet landlords and drivers through references, and follow your home country's consular guidance since it updates during unrest. Then relax; hypervigilance is neither necessary nor sustainable.