crime free on stt? is it possible?

"Is it possible to live/work in STT without fear?"

Yes.

Been here over a decade and I've never felt less than comfortable...never even lock my doors...

the way i see it is if someone steals my iPod, i pray they really need it. skeptics might argue that the proceeds from selling it would go to nothing good, but it's not always the case. some steal of need. i'd love to catch someone stealing something of mine and see what he does when i give him two! if you've never seen Jesus grip a heart, give it a try!

"If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic." - Luke 6:29

Ok, you were on STT and felt safe? I fail to understand your question. Or is it not really a question?

Even though you live in a gated community stateside you still run the risk of getting robbed. Thieves love gates. Look our crime rate is higher then most places based on population. We also have a huge drug problem which adds to crime greatly. Odds are if you use common sense and live a responsible life the worst that MIGHT happen is your home or person getting robbed, which can happen stateside. Just be prepared for the worst, dont go out with alot of cash or keep cash in your home. Don't leave your home here vacant, get a house sitter when you go off island. And insure your contents. Just don't expect the police to do much at all. Its not like stateside, you will most likely have to go to them if anything happens.

crazy4now... I take it your job transfer interview/visit went well and you are considering making a move?

I don't live on STT, I'm on STX (which some may try to tell you is more crime filled than STT)... and I have never lived in fear... and as others have said on this thread and on your previous thread... many of us absolutely love it here and embrace all that it has to offer. A lot depends on your personality. You say you are a precautionary person...thats good no matter where you live.... but how did you feel on your visit to STT? Were you afraid in the grocery store? Were you afraid in traffic? Were you afraid everytime you were out of the resort? My niece came to visit last year from California. She'd never been anywhere except So. Cal..... she'd led a pampered sheltered life and this place was too real for her, too many people that weren't like her... too many things she'd never seen. She was worried all the time and she couldn't ever live here but I couldn't live her "way" either.

I don't live in fear, that wouldn't be living. I'm also not stupid and I try not to go places or do things that are risky.
No one can guarantee anything. We can only tell you our own experiences. If you are smart about where you go and when, and you take normal precautions of locking your car/your home, etc... . as you say... don't walk in the middle of a busy street... then you will most likely have no problems.

But... fear is personal. You could live here forever and never experience any crime at all and still live in fear. The question is really if you are intrigued enough by our islands to want to experience life here. Is the job one that you will enjoy the challenge of? Will you be able to afford living here in a way that makes you feel safe? What was your gut feel for the island ... did you love your visit and want to see more.... or were you afraid to drive out the gates of the resort by yourself? Only you know how you will feel about living in our semi-third-world virgin islands! Only you know if you will live in fear or not.

Best of luck to you wherever you go! and ENJOY LIFE! It might be shorter than you think.

To LindaJ:

I felt safe because I was in a highly secure 5 star resort. My question is weather or not I could still have that same comfort level living in the community?.

With what I have heard on this board from long time residents and some media, I was wondering if perhaps someone was inaccurate about the crime stats.

To Everyone:

I am so happy to hear your good words. I have lived in many places that allowed me to see all different types of people and behaviors. Yes, I have been afraid when I would go downtown (way down) in the heart of Detroit with my dad, where he worked. I would watch the pros's get picked up outside. But I sure as hell would not go out there myself.

I lived in an area close to Detroit, where my husband got mugged at the corner store. I had a one and two year old at the time and could not even leave the house. We made tents in the living room and used our imagination since going outside you could end up injured with a drive by. One night I noticed a bright light on next door, and when I looked the guys car was on fire from the neighbor across the street that was angry with him. So he thru a cocktail in the back seat.

Yes, I have had my share of living in places that you take precautions. My point was, I did not think it was as bad as I had heard, and I just wanted to verify.

The trip did go well, and I did see the litter and the scary driving, but I also saw the beauty, the peace and relaxation. I even enjoyed the iguanas, thankfully no centipedes or big spiders!!!

Right now crime is all over the USVI maybe a little more in STX than STT but i heard that last week in STJ which is the island with less crime tourist renting villas are being robbed by gun point in house invasions . In regards to Mahogany run there is a gate with security and i see that the security patrols the area frequent besides that allot of the state homes have their own gates and security systems. My suggestion don't be over concern avoid certain areas of the Island specially at night and solitary places be very aware of your soroundings and use common since but the area of mahogany run is right next to where i live in peterborg is probably the safest area in the island.

Where do you get this "a little more in STX than STT"???? It is just NOT TRUE at all: if anything the islands are about EQUAL in crime rate. I am just so sick of hearing Thomians say how much worse stx is when it is not. We just now pulling ourselves out of the quagmire of a bad reputation, getting some tourism back, starting to promote the island for its wonderful qualities of people, culture, nature, food etc...and people like you cannot seem to accept that. STOP STX BASHING!!

Its OK if they bash STX helps keep the secret. Don't forget the Fountain massacre.

Watch out, Stxem he may have statistics to quote & we know he's always right. 🙂

Actually hes wrong as usual, as far as violent crimes, stt had more in 2007 then stx. Remember when he said 50% of the people living on stx were puerto rician and vigorously argued it. And wouldn't believe the truth when given the link to the cenus. And now he's overwhelmed us with bad statistics from minor magazines.

http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17619494

I doubt he belive any real stats.

Look Betty i am not trying to put STT over STX you are mistaken but every time you read the newspaper here o see the news there is something everyday in STX. I am not saying that STT is a Paradise but that in general crime spread all over the USVI and in certain sectors is more than others that is it. Now in Regards that 50% of the Population in St croix is either Puertorican or Puerto rican descend i am not backing out of that argument if either you post a US census that says a 10 or less percentage is Puertorican is valid but if you read the post i said also Puertorican heritage and you cannot argue that allot of Crucians have Puertorican heritage in their blood.

uhm...I did post a cenus link that said the puerto rician pop is less then 4%. If you go back and look at the thread you will see it. Its when you stopped arguing. I really can deny the hertiage slant as well. The west indians here consider themselves west indians, not west inians/puerto ricans. These islands are not a mini puerto rico as I know you like to believe. Yes there are puerto ricans here but there are also texans here as well. The sheer number of texans hovensa brings to stx might well out weigh the puerto rican population. I really will not argue this point again its a silly discussion. You just always present your arguements as facts and not what they really are, opinions.

And as far as what you perceive the news or tv to be talking about I can't agrue with your perceptions, they are simply not fact. But the article I posted is.

It could also be that the editors of the news paper are biased. No that can't be, a biased newspaper, heaven forbid.

How can facts be biased? If they are saying there are so many murders commited this year in stx and this many in stt, whats editorial about that? I agree articles can be slanted but the one I posted was pretty straight forward citing fact over fact.

I was not referring to facts or the article you linked, but what is printed in the paper. If a newspaper prints all that happens in one area, but only some of what happens in another area, it would give a skewed look between the two areas. This "could" be why Rokipatel see more things bad going on in STX.

Ahhhh, thank you for explaining.

If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny. In my earlier post I mentioned some might TRY to tell you that STX was more crime ridden than STT... :)... they always do. Many people on these islands seem to try to push that notion .... newspapers will put an STX crime on the front page and hide STT crimes in fine print in order to keep tourism unaware of the wonderful island of ST. Croix or maybe they are afraid fewer people will want to visit STT and are protecting their cruise ship biz.... I don't know why but its been going on for years and although those of us who live here know 'it ain't so'... sometimes we hear it so often we almost get convince ourselves. I personally think the government departments always try to favor STT and make STX look like the 'not as attractive' big sister ... but thats just my opinion.

Meanwhile... Us Crucians have a hard time deciding whether to argue and let everyone in on the secret of how fantastic STX is... or let it slide and keep this place to ourselves. The proof is in the pudding as they say.. and STX is growing in popularity with Tourists and New residents alike. But... we are off topic now and we could argue about which island is better to live on all day. I'm glad I live on the big island.

I think he may be right about the PR population. I read some where in an old Avis article a few years back that it is estimated that up to 49% of the STX population has some Puerto Rican ancestry. The census figures only mention those that define themselves as Puerto Rican. However, in St. Croix there are MANY Crucians who identify as West Indian but have some Puerto Rican ancestry somewhere, so it would not be surprising if up to half of the population had a Puerto Rican ancestor somewhere.

and more than half probably have a caucasian ancestor somewhere, but I'd bet they don't identify themselves as white.

According to the 2000 Census, STX had a total population of 53,234. People who described themselves as "Hispanic" was 11,277. And of those, 7,357 said they were of Puerto Rican origin. That is about 11% (right??) of the STX population who identify as having Puerto Rican background.

When you fill out a census don't you just check one box? For instance I list myself as caucasian but I am of Irish and native American descent.

What does seem true is that if you MENTION CRIME you're likely to get "attacked" 😉

Stats would be helpful because perception can be misleading. I currently live in a nice middle2uppermiddle class suburb here in the states (with a change of zipcode pending!) and the weekly police blotter is full of petty crimes. Yet annually they publish a report of how low our crime rate actually is.