Conde Nast recent article about STJ crime

I've searched and searched some more and can't find this article online. Please let me know if anyone does find it. No chatter about it on vinow just yet, but if and when it comes, I will be happy to dispel any rumors, calm fears, etc. Looking in from the outside, the Esther Frett situation might seem scary for a tourist looking to come to St. John, but those of us who live here and know more facts of the case, and have heard the rumors swirling around it time and time again see the situation for what it is. And I'll stop here before I get myself into trouble.

Here ya go.

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2005/09/27/mired.shtml

Hi John.

The caribbeannetnews article you posted is dated September 27, 2005 and STTResident is interested in the latest issue of Conde Nast.

Hello Stt Resident,

I read the article in the print magazine, it is about Villa Safety. Didn't find it on their website. The article started with the author reflecting on his personal experience with a burglar in his vacation rental on Puerto Rico and continued on to discuss villa rental popularity in the Caribbean and then on to the recent incidences of crime in villas on smaller Caribbean islands like Tobago, St. John and Anguilla. Examples were given, some petty and some frightening - long details in a news report way were not given. Quotes from villa managers, victims and police departments were given. A section listed questions to ask villa companies about villa security and how to increase security while on vacation/staying in a villa. A short sub-article discussed villa safety in European villas and another short sub-article discussed smaller islands & police departments in a bit more detail. Mentioning that on smaller islands crime hadn't been an issue until recently, that its still uncommon but increasing, so police departments are not experienced in dealing with it and less money is spent on police forces on small islands. An example given discussed that the East End police office is sometimes closed on St. John. It also mentioned that many properties have open floor plans on smaller islands. The 24/7 security was mentioned in the article concerning another island where some villas have this in place.

I can see how a reader that was traveling to one of the islands discussed with the intention of staying in a villa would be concerned, in particular if the security systems in place at the villa they had booked wasn't something they had thought about or asked about. I thought the article gave readers insight into the issue and gave advice on what to look for and ask concerning villa security.

--Islander

Thanks for the nfo, Islander. I'll keep my eyes out for the issue and look forward to reading the article.

I just hope that the average visitor will be able to put things into perspective and not shy away because they think that villas need to be surrounded by barbed wire barricades and roaming guards with attacking Rotties.

Cheers.

I didn't realize it was in Conde Nast (ouch! very reputable and widely read). But, I have been receiving PMs and emails asking about this and my opinion of safety on STJ in villas - inquiries mentioned "an article".

I just read the article and it's not good. St. John is used as a negative example multiple times throughout the article. For example, this is a sub-article to the main piece called "Climate Change." Both articles are by Kristoffer A. Garin

"The rash of crimes against villa renters on Tobago and St. John shows that even out-of-the-way and traditionally safe destinations require a certain level of vigilance. On Trinidad's sister island of Tobago, break-ins by machete-wielding intruders have led the British Foreign Office and the U.S. State Department to warn travelers against renting a villa there unless it has 24-hour security guards. In May, two villas--one with nine renters, the other with six--were the scenes of such violent robberies. The Foreign Office subsequently strengthened its warning to read: "Extreme caution is advised if renting villas...Crime against tourists in Tobago and the inability of the Tobago authorities to apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators is a serious concern." Conde Nast Traveler was unable to reach a government spokesperson for comment.

On St. John several couples were followed back to villas and robbed at gunpoint this year and last. In May, victims were tied up, blindfolded, and told that they were going to die as their captors ransacked the villa. "We are aware of the situation, and it is the priority of the U. S. Virgin Islands Police Department to catch any perpetrators," says police commissioner Elton Lewis. "we encourage guests and residents to exercise common sense safety."

Ironically, large islands such as Jamaica and St. Thomas--which have suffered over the years because of a few highly publicized crimes against tourists--can be safer than small islands because locals are more aware of security and law enforcement is better funded. When Tobago's tiny police force wanted to start undercover patrols following the break-ins, they had to ask the chamber of commerce to pay for an unmarked rental car. In a similar vein, local newspapers report that a new police station on St. John is often closed due to staffing shortages."

Some really scary examples were given like the instance in January where two tourists in their 70s were shot and left for dead in their villa in Anguilla. Also mentioned were, "...a rash of violent rapes and robberies of tourists at vacation villas on Tobago..." St. John and Tobago were mentioned a lot, giving me the impression that they may be the two areas in the Caribbean with the worst problem.

I have to admit, the article has shaken my confidence. I love, love, love St. John and have never felt threatened there while staying in a villa -- although I was warned last time to keep all the exterior villa lights on all night and while I was gone in the evening. I won't cancel my planned trip for November, but the out of the way villa location that I have chosen has me worried since I'll have my little boy with me. The article has me feeling like we'll be on our own to fend for ourselves...like sitting ducks. The article insinuates that it's prudent to rent villas with security systems and potentially 24 hour security guards as used on Tobago. I think tourists may give the Westin more consideration after reading this article.. ?? That would be a shame I think.

I hope all of you knowledgeable folks can help with some damage control. It's really not a pretty article in a very powerful publication. Do you think the police department will step things up? What should those of us who want to defend St. John and set the record straight, tell others if asked?

A simple, yet very effective deterrent which has been espoused in prior posts is to mount surveillance cameras which are visible to potential intruders. Since dogs are less desirable and even banned in most rentals, cameras can be both a deterrent to intruders and give the owner/manager the opportunity to both provide a watchful eye and record any such attempts from a remote location. My 2 cents :-]

Tough situation. Villas in places like Jamaica, Bali, Barbados, Morocco, etc. come with "staff" - maid, cook, houseboy, security, etc. This is one of the reasons why I don't frequent villas in these areas. Personally, I don't like anyone in my villa but me and my travel companions. Once I start adding staff, I would feel a loss of privacy.

This is what makes the VI villas so attractive - the privacy. I suppose it is also what makes them targets for crime.

My first thought is to pack a registered firearm in my luggage (not sure of the rules around this in the USVI) and keep it in my villa. Then again, if I have to go around toting my "piece" from villa to villa, I am not really escaping urban life and relaxing. But, I bet some machete wielding thugs would think twice about entering villas if renting vacationers were starting to answer that call with a .38 special. Again, not ideal because it may just send the message to the thugs that they should enter villas with the same.

So, I suspect the best solution is what is probably being recommended (lock up tight, keep exterior and interior lights on at night, etc. Maybe gated villas and those with security systems will increase in demand - security systems with panic buttons and silent alarm codes (security system users know that you can disarm your alarm with a special code that signals to the police that there's an intruder with you).

But, once you do all of this....will you really feel relaxed? If I have to mind the gate around my villa, remember the security codes for the alarms, watch TV security monitors, keep lights on at night, close up the house, worry about the camera recording my attempt to remove tan lines by the pool, ...then, heck, I am worrying more than I do in Philadelphia!!

Think about why people are so willing to enter a vacation home in the islands and not willing to enter your home in the city in which you live:

1. They have no idea what to expect if they enter your "home home" - the joke could be on them!
2. Crimes are solved at home (this is, I believe, the #1 problem in the VI - crimes aren't usually solved)
3. Neighbors know who should and who shouldn't be around your home at home
4. You're not likely to keep large sums of cash in your home

Well, the VIPD is getting some bad press here. I am not sure why they don't feel collectively embarrassed by the fact that they can't keep people safe - residents or not. The BVIs don't play - crimes are taken seriously. When will the VIPD get their act together? At this point, the world is watching and waiting.

Here's a link to the story - paste it into the address bar. Conde Nast took it down apparently but you can get it off a Google search if you click "cached" under hit returned for "Kristoffer A. Garin st. john".

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:e88qETDb9pwJ:www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/detail%3FarticleId%3D10388%26pageNumber%3D2+Kristoffer+A.+Garin+st.+john&hl=en&gl=vi&ct=clnk&cd=2

The BVIs are generally less affluent than STJ and STT and criminals go where the money is, which is why many criminals in the USVI are West Indians from down island. Police Departments can't keep people safe as they can only act AFTER a crime has been committed. In a small place where everyone is related to everyone else it is not surprising that those who witness crimes do not acknowledge their observations to the authorities. People are violent creatures, we have become obsessed with illicit drugs, and we are a nation that strongly believes in freedom, including the free market economy. Unless we're willing to abridge our freedoms, by eliminating the haves and the have-nots and becoming socialist or by enacting draconian punishments like chopping off the hand of a thief, it seems to me that the only way crime here could ever be ameliorated is if we were to populate our law enforcement personnel with outsiders who have no personal ties to the islands – and there are lots of reasons why that will never happen. Lastly, crime is on the rise everywhere, not just on STJ or Tobago or the Caribbean:

"Mon Jul 31, 2006 HAMILTON, Bermuda (Reuters) - A drive-by shooting, a gunman spraying bullets into a bar and a teen-ager gunned down in his car in a gangland-style hit -- it's not the image that most people have of once-sedate Bermuda.

Yet the British mid-Atlantic island, long a picturesque playground for vacationing Americans, is grappling with a gang problem that some fear is heading the way of urban America or other island getaways in the nearby Caribbean."

The full story is here:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-07-31T121140Z_01_N28421235_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-BERMUDA.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage3

bluwater writes:

"Well, the VIPD is getting some bad press here. I am not sure why they don't feel collectively embarrassed by the fact that they can't keep people safe - residents or not. The BVIs don't play - crimes are taken seriously. When will the VIPD get their act together? At this point, the world is watching and waiting."

Without the cooperation of citizens there's not a police force in existence that will be effective in deterring crime. The BVIs don't play because their citizens don't play. On islands that are as small as the ones in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, people know who the criminals are. There is a much greater sense of community in the BVI and far less tolerance for crime among its citizens. The crime problem won't go away in the USVI until the people who live there collectively "get their act together".

Richard and dnt, your insight is always so helpful.

I still believe it goes back to the police to keep people safe: not to "rat out" those who come forward, not to seek to retaliate against those who speak against the system or take a stance, to protect witnesses, etc. It has to start somewhere, so why not start with those who are responsible for enforcement?

Citizens will be more agreeable with cooperating if they believe things are taken seriously.

There is a cycle of excuses: police can't help because citizens won't cooperate - citizens won't cooperate because police won't help - it was always this way - so be it, etc.

Yes, crime is everywhere, but that doesn't mean that everyone should roll over for it. Hey, around here if something happens or looks like it MIGHT happen there are town meetings, sit ins, sit outs, vigils, community events, the media is called out, the mayor is asked to show up and discuss, people rally and camp out in front of stores where drug dealers were establishing their hang-out, they set up cafe' style tables and chairs and local restaurants will bring dinner to the drug dealer's corner for the 10-15 people who "sit out" each night - and everyone rotates and takes turns with the sits outs - and the police keep watch and are grateful for the efforts.

The police department has a community relations division that works with the citizens to PREVENT crimes, not solve them. Each community relations officer is assigned to a neighborhood. It is HIS/HER responsibility to act as the go between for the neighborhood community and the police department. He comes to the block meetings, teaches citizens how to handle various complaints and needs, etc.

There is Town Watch, walkie talkies handed out with direct frequency to your Community Relations Officer ,etc. Signs are posted on blocks that are "Town Watch" blocks.

Would none of this work there? Maybe not. But I have never heard anyone mention what DOES work there, only what doesn't and why. Is it just a way of life that is accepted as norm? What happens when it gets worse?

The difference between the USVI and places like Bermuda is that US Citizens go to the USVI expecting to be protected like Americans. When they arrive and something bad happens, they feel like they're in another country and things operate totally differently than they do at home in the states.

If the affluence of the USVI draws the criminals, that same affluence should call for more support of law enforcement.

Sorry if I am rambling but this really worries me. It just doesn't seem to get better and I don't know what solutions are underway, if any. Had a long discussion today with a very good girlfriend - with family on Tortola - talked about crime. She also works with the mom of the man who was tied up in the villa on STJ last spring. So, lots of emotion today around what will be. It just angers me....that the criminals have so much control and citizens feel so helpless.

Richard, what do you believe to be the catalyst for the greater sense of community in the BVIs? It is because there are so few down-islanders on those islands and more native citizens?

Blu,

You asked, "...what do you believe to be the catalyst for the greater sense of community in the BVIs? It is because there are so few down-islanders on those islands and more native citizens?"

Yes.

The BVIs make it extraordinarily difficult for outsiders to live there. One way the BVI discourages foreigners is through taxation. Many nations have tax credit agreements with the U.S. so that when a U.S. citizen lives in and pays income tax to a foreign nation they receive a credit on their U.S. taxes for the amount paid to the foreign nation. The BVI has no such agreement with the U.S. so a U.S. citizen who lives in the BVI must pay steep BVI taxes on their income and then they must also pay full U.S. taxes on their income. Another way the BVI discourages foreigners is by making it extremely difficult for a non-belonger (anyone who wasn't born in the BVI) to own property in the BVI, and belonger status requires a minimum of twenty years residency in the BVI without being away from the BVI for more than 90 days in any calendar year, and no more than 25 persons per year are granted belonger status. Also, the BVI is very tight with work permits, frequently issuing them for only a year at a time and always only when there is no suitable local applicant for the job.

Since the U.S. has always been a nation of immigrants, few of the tools used by the BVI to control its denizens could be applied here.

The first question about the CN article just popped up on the Visitor's forum. I still can't post on that forum because of some sort of a glitch, but just a heads up to those who can!

With respect to crime, when I speak of "community" I am referring to a collective set of values. I don't know that it is correct to blame foreigners for the value system that exists in the USVI which allows criminals to act with impunity. Pervasive in the USVI is the acceptance of criminal activity and defiance of authority, and a deafness to principles and reasoning. It wasn't always like this. If foreigners are to blame then I think we would be able to point to a sharp rise in crime during the 60's and 70's when the influx of down-islanders was at its greatest. I could be wrong, but I don't think such a correlation exists. Growing up during that time we didn't lock out doors and violent crime was almost unheard of (excluding Fountain Valley of course). One would also have to surmise that if it's foreigners to blame, then they had to come from islands where criminal activity was the norm and they brought the behavior with them.

One only has to look at the Bahamas, where the population is just under 300,000, to see a sharp contrast in attitudes toward criminal behavior. You can't point your finger at foreigners because the Bahamians recognize their dependence on foreigners and to some extent, embrace them. Haitians, who come from a country of violence and who make up a significant portion of the Bahamian workforce, appear to have little impact on violent crimes while residing legally and illegally in the Bahamas. This is not to say that the Bahamas don't have their share of violent crime - they do, although crime is almost non-existent outside of the island of Grand Bahama (specifically Nassau). A couple of months ago I stayed at the Abaco Inn on Elbow Cay where they don't hand you a key to your room because their aren't any locks on the doors. The Bahamian police solve around 70% of the murders that occur in Nassau, and even a greater percentage on the out islands. They could not do this without the cooperation of their citizens.

And STT, what would you post on the vacation site.

I think the argument of more down islanders in USVI = more crime is a poorly thought-out argument. I don't know if you are aware of this, but the BVI has a lot of down islanders too. Although down island migration to the BVI is much more recent.

Unlike the USVI, the BVI is a part of CARICOM, which makes it much easier for down islanders to migrate to the BVI than to the USVI, where they would need an American visa. The BVI gov't advertises in newspapers on other islands looking for people to come to the BVI and work. Most Caribbean countries don't even need a visa to visit the BVI, either. It is much easier for a Caribbean person to migrate to the BVI than the USVI.

Also, the argument that the USVI is more affluent than the BVI is also poorly thought-out. In recent years, the BVI has had a higher standard of living than the USVI. I read a Daily News article that said the average salary in the BVI was 30-something thousand a year! I am sure the USVI's average salary is much much lower.

Hi DL.

In order to work in the B.V.I. everyone except Belongers are required to have a work permit, which is issued only in cases where the position cannot be filled by British Virgin Islanders. Few folks from down island have specialized skills that Belongers do not have so many of the down islanders in the BVI do not qualify for a work permit and instead work for cash . I am familiar with CARICOM but the "free movement of labour " that its membership supports applies to "removing obstacles to intra-regional movement of skills" ( http://www.caricom.org), so for someone from down island to qualify for a BVI work permit the skills brought to the BVI from down island must still be skills that are unavailable within the local BVI Belonger work force.

Average annual HOUSEHOLD income in thee BVI is $24,000/year and the average household size is just over 3 persons per household ( http://www.bvi.gov.vg) whereas in the USVI the average annual INDIVIDUAL income is $31.941 ( http://www.usviber.org/ECON05.pdf)

Like STJ, last year Tortola also experienced a home invasion and an armed robbery at Bobby's Cane Garden Bay but many folks didn't hear about it because unlike the USVI the BVI exercises more control over the airing of its dirty laundry.

dntw8up,

Where exactly on that site did you find the $24000/yr figure?

This article on the VI Daily News says that the BVI Chief Minister said that "PER CAPITA income stands at about $37,000, putting the territory at the forefront of the entire EASTERN CARIBBEAN." (emphasis added with caps)
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17592549

According to the USVI Business Opportunities Report, as of 2005, the USVI's per capita income is $17,932.
http://www.businessopportunitiesconference.com/links_resources/islands/VirginIslands.pdf

Also, if the USVI average income is $31,000 as you said, then why is the poverty rate so high (30-32 % depending on what source you get it from)?

The same BVI gov't web site you gave me says that "63 percent of the Territory’s 16,049 workers are foreign born." Most of these people are from down-island.

Down islanders came to the USVI in large numbers in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, but immigration from down island is much smaller now adays. Inter-Caribbean migration to the USVI nowadays tends to be from the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica. While there are still down islanders who move to the USVI in small numbers, the only down islanders you really deal with in the USVI today are the ones who have been here for decades and their children who commonly identify with USVI culture. Nowadays, it's places like BVI and St. Maarten that see down islanders in significant numbers.

Hi DL.

"Where exactly on that site did you find the $24000/yr figure? "

The www.bvi.gov.vg site is not very user friendly but if you follow "About the BVI" and then "Facts and Figures" about halfway down the page it says "Average Income Per Household $24,000."

"Also, if the USVI average income is $31,000 as you said, then why is the poverty rate so high (30-32 % depending on what source you get it from)? "

The average USVI income rates are provided by the government; I don't know who provided your poverty rate but usually such things are tracked through social services. When both income and poverty rates are high, one explanation is that the "undocumented" workers are not factored into the average income rates since taxes are not paid on under the table monies but "undocumented" workers are factored into the poverty rates because they use social services.

DL,

One thing about crime statistics is that a crime must be reported to be counted, and once reported a department is obligated to pursue the criminal(s). Given that criminals in the BVI are armed and law enforcement is not, and given that folks on small islands tend to be interrelated (meaning the criminals and law enforcement are kin), I have heard Belongers say on more than one occasion that it's not worth reporting any but the most egregious crimes because nobody wants their unarmed officer friends and family members injured or killed challenging armed criminal friends and family members.

promoguy: I gave the initial "heads-up" on the Conde Nast article because I felt it was sufficiently worrisome to warrant the attention of all us who live here given the prestigious nature of CN and its opinions. And likewise I gave the heads-up on the first query appearing on the visitor's forum which of course was to be expected. That thread has already become quite large and no doubt will continue to grow by leaps and bounds.

What would I say if I COULD post on the visitor's forum? Probably nothing for a while unless the discussion got completely outrageous but I doubt that will happen as most of it thus far has been well-measured with good points made.

As far as down-islanders contributing to crime in general in the Virgin Islands, I do have a couple of comments. The term "down-islander" generally refers to people who came from or come from Antigua, St. Kitts, Nevis, Dominica , etc. In the case of the latter, not to be confused with those who come from the Dominican Republic.

I'm probably due to be hung, drawn and quartered or at least put in the stocks for my next comment which is that these "down-islanders" were raised in a typically British educational system and raised by likewise-educated families who, although maybe poor by today's standards, received an excellent education and basic grounding of discipline, combined with a command of the English language and literacy which enabled them to go out into the world at 16 or 17 years of age without HAVING to go to college to achieve those basics. Their progeny are the LEAST likely crime candidates in the Virgin Islands today because they work long and hard to ensure that their children are also a product of a strong familial educating group where homework and manners go hand in hand.

Haitians and "Santos" come here looking for more than the poverty they came from. Many are illegal. But in my opinion and from my knowledge, whether they be "legal" or not, they're extremely polite and not only do as best they can to become integrated into a whole new society for them but work very hard for both themselves and, particularly, their children. Many of them find learning a new language difficult but the children quickly become bilingual.

The down-islanders, the Haitians and those from the Dominican Republic aren't the major cause of crime here. Their relatively few crimes are crimes of passion.

The perpetrators of crimes here are the products of many local broken and dysfunctional homes. Ignorance and neglect beget ignorance and neglect and so the pattern, unfortunately, continues - and is perpetuted by a public education system which is basically an abysmal failure. The children who come out of the public school system with major support from their families do OK, and often extremely well. But there's a large percentage with no such support and there's the problem. Overly simplistic, I know darn well but feel free go ahead with the barrage and I'll take my licks!

The community working with the police is a whole different ballgame, although related. I'll hold that for another discussion as I've already talked enough for one night.

Cheers to all, and happy Post-Chris ho-hums!

I second St T Resident completely - maybe I am biased being English....but I totally agree with him. Some of the kids that my daughter brought home etc......Down Islanders...polite to a fault.