crime rates in St Croix??

Anina,
We have about 51,000 year round residents here. We have about the same crime rate as any city in the states of that side. My wife & I have lived here for about a year and a half. We have had no problems. If you are drunk real late at night or looking for drugs, you may have some problems. Otherwise if you use common sense and take the same precautions you do stateside, you probably have nothing to worry about. We live out in the country (relatively speaking). We feel secure. Hope this helps.

Ric

I get very tired of people saying "St. Croix" and then immediately saying "crime rate." The fact is that St. Croix is a very quiet island with no more crime than anywhere else on the planet, and substantially less than most places. It seems that the media has a formula that says "STX = crime". Cancun had seven murders in one day not too long ago, but you don't hear them saying that Cancun has a high crime rate. Jamaica has had scores of murders already this year, but the media doesn't bad-talk Jamaica like they do St. Croix. Several years ago, a man took a rifle and killed 31 tourists in Australia, but no one says to stay away from Australia. In 2001, airplanes were flown into tall buildings in Manhattan, killing over three thousand people...no one says to stay away from Manhattan...but poor little quiet St. Croix gets all this bad press.
There are NOT a lot of homicides on St. Croix, and the ones that were committed last year were by people who knew each other and had some dispute, usually over drugs.

A recent series of exit interviews of cruise ship passengers who had spent time in St. Croix shows that perception really is reality.

95% of those surveyed said they'd rather have stayed out at sea than have visited St. Croix. This, according to the VI Daily News. Many said they felt uncomfortable with the overwhelming police presence.

And why was there an "overwhelming police presence"? Because STX wants to get cruise ships back and they didn't want the passengers getting mugged and then complain to the ship. Remember, the cruise ships left because of crime against their passengers. It's true that the majority of the isle is beautiful with great people, but there are always the few who ruin it for everyone else.

Are you implying that St. Thomas is "safer" than St. Croix?? I remember when the US Navy had to stop its sailors from going ashore on St. Thomas because they were being robbed and murdered.

Frankly, you can keep the tourists in St. Thomas. That industry is too finicky. It's only a matter of time before some outrageous criminal event occurs on St. Thomas and the cruise ships stop coming.

Keep the cruise ships...on St. Croix we prefer supertankers.

Post Edited (02-11-05 08:52)

Marty on STT wrote:

> Remember, the cruise ships left because of crime against their
> passengers.

The cruise ships left because they wanted certain concessions from the VI Government that they couldn't get. They decided to punish St. Croix by not coming here. I for one hope they never return. St. Croix can do well without cruise ships dumping crap into the water, thank you very much. Even the supertankers at HOVENSA are more environment-friendly.

The cruise ship that STT quoted was in port for refueling, at night . Nobody knew they were coming, it was not a social visit. The police scrambled to mobilize officers upon learning that some of the passengers wanted to get off the ship and roam around Frederiksted, thereby the "overwhelming police presence" which generated the feelings of unease.

Damned if you do, and damned if you don't....show me where St. Croix has more "crime against passengers" than any other port of call. Wanna know the rest of the story?? The one or two passengers in question who had the "crimes" committed against them were in an area known for drug peddling. What the heck is a cruise ship passenger doing in a housing project ??

Post Edited (02-11-05 09:03)

Dear Anina:

I have been to St. Croix many times and have found it a wonderful place. In fact, we bought two acres on the east end with a view to retiring and moving there.

There is a little bit of tension on St. Croix. Personally (I am a former federal law enforcement officer), I would not go walking around Fredericksted at night. However, I would go just about anywhere else. Just use the same precautions that you would at home an you will be fine.

Dave

i currently live in the bvi. i've been to stt & sju. statistically, not just based upon opinion, does anyone know if the crime rate is actually higher on st croix than in st thomas? may be considering a move over to the usvi & would like to know more about stx...

Native Son,

I am "implying" nothing. I say what I mean, and mean what I say. The Navy had to quit coming here because the sailors were having trouble, true, but they have returned since. It's the same "people" that caused the Navy to leave here, as caused the cruises to leave there.

STT, being the number one cruise destination on the planet (more cruise ship passengers visit STT than any other destination in the world), will always have cruise ships. Why? Because tourism being the only industry here (at least you have Cruzan and the oil refinery), if crime got out of control, gov't would take the necessary measurements to ensure the continuation of cruise visits. If the gov't didn't, the people would. (the Taxi Association is almost as storng as the mob! Haha! They alone could cure crime! Haha!)

And "The cruise ships left because they wanted certain concessions from the VI Government that they couldn't get. They decided to punish St. Croix by not coming here." is entirely incorrect. It's true that they wanted certain concessions (the almighty dollar is still king), but it was a combination of that and the complaints by cruise ship passengers (and employes) of crime and the lessening of demand for STX as a cruise destination. There are many, many articles, in many, many papers, that will give you the truth, in detail, should you seek it.

Marty wrote:

And "The cruise ships left because they wanted certain concessions from the VI Government that they couldn't get. They decided to punish St. Croix by not coming here." is entirely incorrect. It's true that they wanted certain concessions (the almighty dollar is still king), but it was a combination of that and the complaints by cruise ship passengers (and employes) of crime and the lessening of demand for STX as a cruise destination. There are many, many articles, in many, many papers, that will give you the truth, in detail, should you seek it.

As always, I respect and value your opinions. You say that my statement was entirely incorrect, but then you say that "it's true that they wanted certain concessions...", so therefore I'm not ENTIRELY incorrect 🙂

The truth is, a cruise ship came to STX at night for a pit-stop. STX is NOT a port of call for this particular ship, merely a refueling point. The passengers were not expected to leave the ship, and Frederiksted was not prepared for them to do so. Your kids do not leave the car and run around the gas station while you fill up. The passengers were asked whether they would like to get off the ship and walk around the pier area. Extra officers were placed on duty to ensure their safety. This, of course, backfired, as Americans are very panicky these days and fearful for their "safety".
NO passengers or animals were injured during the pit stop. However, the press managed to turn it into a negative event for STX because some passengers said that they would rather stay on the ship and eat, dance, and gamble than enjoy all of the night-time scenery available on a Caribbean island.
We do not need some fat cruise ship passenger from Hootin' Holler who saved six years to go on a cruise and only has enough money left to buy a T-shirt casting aspersions on our home because he/she saw some police officers on patrol. That is the truth, should you seek it.

Post Edited (02-15-05 08:31)

First off reading all the passionate comments from ANY of the islands is nice. I will be moving over to STT within the year, and seeing such passion for ones home area is still a wonderful thing.
That said, regarding crime what IS being done to cut down on crime rates. I was reading recently the police cars were in need of some dire attention ( stt I believe) Is this the same for the actual officers? In regards to training, enough staff etc....
Recognizing a problem is a good start, I'm just curious what steps are being introduced to get a solution. Or on the path to one.

Haha! OK, NS, you got me on that one! Haha! You're not ENTIRELY incorrect! Haha! And I appreciate your description of the overnight stop for fueling. You hit the nail on the head with that one.

Thanks everyone for your comments! I feel better knowing what people who actually live in STX have to say about the matter rather than just reading an anonymous article. Hopefully, my job interview will go well and I'll get to stay!!

I went on a job interview to STX last year and decided not to relocate because of the visit. I did not witness any crime, but for some reason I did not feel really safe. Of course feeling safe or unsafe does not mean anything - what matters is if you actually are safe or not, and I am not sure how to figure that one out. Safety is relative, and I never could find any crime statistics for the USVI. The closest area I could find statistics for was Puerto Rico. I went to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports which normalize the crime rates so that cities of different sizes can be compared fairly. The general trend was an increase in crime rate as one moved from the Midwestern U.S towards the southeastern U.S. and a continued increase as one moved towards PR. I have not looked at the statistics recently, but I think PR had something like 6 times the crime rate of the Midwestern U.S. I do not know if that trend continues as one continues to the USVI. It might, but it might not.

Another thing you may not have considered is something that could be an issue in all of the USVI and not just STX. That is tropical diseases. You may want to visit the CDC website - I think it is at www.CDC.gov to get information on diseases that exist in the tropics but not in the continental U.S. It may or may not be new information to you.

Good luck on the interview, I do not think you could find a more beautiful place to live.