Crime Report

I don't take back anything I've ever said about crime here.

Jane,
What are you going to do about it? All the way up in the state of Washington. A recent poster from Tacoma wants to move down to the islands because of crime there. That's your new state correct. HMMMMMM people that live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

What the heck are you guys talking about? Crime is bad here pretending that its not that way because nothing bad has happened to you personally is absurd. Jane is not saying that these are not beautiful islands, but crime is a real issue and burying your heads in the sand and not telling potential newbies what it is really like here is not fair. The full articles can be read at www.virginislandsdailynews.com they are on the main page that pops up. Its not just murder that was up but armed robbery as well, in greater numbers in stt.

jane i absolutely refuse to stop living my life because of crime here there or anywhere, we know there is a problem here, i am not going to hide in my house because something may or may not happen to me, i can only speak for myself here on STX,i have never in 14 yrs had a problem here,in addition to posting here have you emailed the senators, the newspapers here, the governor or are you just an outsider trying to stir up trouble, by posting on this site you are merely preaching to the choir and we do that quite nicely ourselves.

Who is pretending? What do you suggest we do? Whining & constantly going on about it does nothing. I've stated my experiences & those of the people I've known here for decades. Should I lie & talk about how I wear a bulletproof vest to pick up a carton of milk? For those who have left, enjoy your new places. For those still here that are scared all the time, maybe you should go back.

and betty if people took the time to read how this site works and how to use the search button instead of just posting away we'd not be having this thread come up every other day,unless of course they do it too somehow stir up crap and try to scare real tourists away.

I'll be here long after you leave to get your new knees, because the medical care here is lacking and too expensive. I've never lived on stt and you couldnt pay me enough money to live there so maybe its and island difference, but I've never met any people here on the island that didnt all talk about the same issues....crime, cost of living, education etc.... So maybe the whole island needs to go back? And the difference is that you do something, write now i'm currently involved in the group thats protesting WAPA rate increase (we'll be at Sunny Isle Saturday at 8am til noonish for all those that wish to join!) and volunteer at the anminal shelter, I stay involved in the community, I vote, pay taxes,etc. So i'll will talk about the issues all I want and not just say the islands wonderful because the weather is nice outside. You dont fix anything by keeping quiet.

You're getting to stuck if your ways if you think its just whining. Is the Daily news just whining? Thats the stupidest argument I've heard.

Betty,
The crimes have increased with kids with guns mostly against each other. Whats your suggestion to fix the problem?

Ahhh... Nice to see (from a "newbie's point of view") that this is a REAL internet forum!

No, seriously, I'm an avid member of another forum (Florida fishing forum) and the "family" gets in arguments all the time..

Helps us "newbies" get to know each of you a bit better!

Now, back to the topic... I'm interested - keep it going!

So, crime is up, some people don't like seeing this posed as often as it does and that makes others feel like heads are being buried in the sand... Violence on kids with kids with guns is the main problem?

If I lived there and had the free time, I would probably see if there was something I could do about it... Maybe...

It all comes down to parents and the schools. If the usvi would use the federal money they get to improve the schools, get better teacher and the parent would help support their children's schools I think you would see a huge improvement in crime here. Badly educated children from poor families don't have options in the usvi. Our public schools should have 100 percent college placement just like our private schools. The islands are so small if parents were really involved, banded together with other parents they could make a difference quickly.

I live here, I don't stick my head in the sand! I read the paper and shake my head with no answers. In order to fix a problem you have to understand the problem. I don't understand why kids kill kids, where do the guns come from etc. What proactive action can be done by anyone? I'm all ears, help me understand the problem, come forth with a plan that could to lead to a resolution/solution. Oh and the parents of some of these kids are still kids themselves. How about the violence in the entertainment industry that desensitises youth about life via movies and song. On the mainland Kids go to school and try to wipe out as many kids as they can .This has happened, so how did those stats compare that year for CO. Maybe I'm just stupid.

Well, honestly, from what's been written/typed here so far, I don't see a difference in what's going on down there in Paradise in what's going on here in the mainland U.S....

Nobody is SOLVING problems here either... Don't feel different. Sure, some people are really doing some good work, and I'm sure there are people on the islands doing what they can, but I think the same underlying problems abound...

I think everyone knows about crime on the island and we don't try to hide it. Even though I don't agree with Betty about a lot of things she lives here and from her statements, she is proactive here on the island. There is good and bad everywhere you go and the VI has more than its share of problems. The problem I have is with people who don't live on the island, who are not involved in trying to solve it's problems, who hate the island and take every oportunity to bash it, doing their best to scare off anyone who might move here and make a positive difference. Those people need to get a life and move on. There are many people from the states and else where who have made this their home for years and love it here. It doesn't feel good to have someone constantly bash their home and offer nothing positive. I moved here with an adult daughter, an elderly disabled mother and a 4 year old. We are not afraid and we do not hide in our house.

Tammy

Betty, I HIGHLY doubt you could one up me on community involvement. I was a victim of violent crime years ago in white bread suburbia with an extremely low crime rate. It was never solved. I never said I was leaving "to get new knees." I've been operated on in the RLS hospital here & have no complaints about the surgery, the hospital OR the doctor. I have insurance. The price was way higher than the States but the costs are high because of all the free treatment they give to others.

Gee, I doubt you'll be here long after I leave. Won't you be slaughtered in your bed? 😉 Isn't your husband a marshall?

The City of Tacoma has approximately double the number of people than the VI and the murder rate per 100,000 for 2006 was approximately 11. A quarter of the VI's rate. So, if he finds it violent there.....heaven help him when he reaches the VI.
It seems that the level of violent crime in the VI is within the tolerance limit of many of the responders to my post and that is OK. It is their personal opinion and they may well be isolated from the problem areas. However, there are many families with young children on the Islands who cannot "buy" their way to a peaceful neighborhood and I reserve my concern for them in the main. Most of you are free to leave if it gets too bad or you become a victim.
Don't be so knee jerk defensive - your personal opinion is not the ruler by which concern should be measured, it is the number of human beings who lost their lives or had them dramatically altered by violent crime on the Islands.
PS Not all of the Pacific North West is Tacoma - our murder rate up here on the Olympic Peninsula (population nearly 100,000 was 2...not 2 per 1000, but 2 in total. So, perhaps he should move up here - shorter trip! Seattle's murder rate for 2006 was only 5.1 per 100,000 people and that is a major city.

and betty you know as well as i do birth control and education would go a long way down here, i've been here long enough to remember one of our illustrious senators referring to the projects here as "self cleaning ovens" now with that kind of mentality running rampant here, with law enforcement in charge of the drug import and gun import rings down here and yes i mean the people your husband rubs shoulders with on a daily basis, remember the dea agents arrested and charged with drug running, with idiots like russel,servile and judge kendal running the place,with wapa as the biggest cash cow for senatorial payouts ever, it's going to take alot more than a simple protest at wapa to take care of anything here, it's going to take something drastic like a mercenary or 2 to finally clean the place up, and so now jane is that the type of anger and discourse you were trying to stir up with your odious post?

There are many families with children who cannot buy their way out of poverty ridden areas all over the world. Why are you singling out the VI. Jane, enjoy Washington. Pick another cause. Something you can be proactive about.

cant wait to get there... i'll feel like a real-life pirate. guns and "swords" blazing. arggghhhh!

no, seriously. sad situation. this is a big part of why i am coming. i did read the news article. don't get me wrong, i have never been there and don't have any idea of what it's like. but i PROMISE: if i am fortunate enough to make this move and survive long enough to learn my way around, i'll be looking to help. i am not coming down for a vacation.

I am not singling out the VI, I live in the vi it is my home and with as many resources as this island gets from the federal govt it is insane the state the schools are in.

I think people who have relocated and gone back are an invaluable source of information for people wanting to relocated here, people like Jane and Teresa. All of us will most likely go back at some point. Does that mean they don't know what it takes to live here or be an even bigger help on which pitfalls to avoid? Jane has lived on stx much longer then most of the posters from stx. If islander doesnt have a problem with relocaters who have moved back to the states but still post then its no one else business to tell them they can't.

I'm not sure what you were trying to say trw it seemed kinda all over the place, it seems like you were the only person to take it too the level you did. This is a relocation board NOT a tourist board, if you want that click on vacation board on the right hand part of your screen. You will hear people debating these subjects all over the island. Whats wrong with that?

I disagree with you about protest, its the way laid back attitude the islands have that are part of the biggest problem. Until enough locals start to really care about the islands and do something about it it won't change. Unless stx & stt becomes like stj and the locals can't afford their own island anymore.

all over the place i think not it was about the crime and corruption we deal with here on a daily basis, if you want to protest do it the next time the PSC meets,not at sunny isle when people are trying to get their errands done with a minimum amount of fuss and hassle, wapa does not set rates the psc does, picket the members,picket their homes and businesses, take a page from the ACT UP manual on how to protest effectively, remember how we disrupted turnbulls address in f'sted a few years back, now that was effective.

Jane,
I think I'll take my chances in STX, and not go to Washington State. You should try to be happy for the rest of us that have to struggle everyday in paradise. Unlike you with the nice cold, damp , grey weather up north.

Betty,
It's getting past my bed time so I have to piggy back this message sorry. Betty why are you so angry about STX.

I was talking about Jane not you Betty when I asked why are you singling out the VI. You live here and will be here for a while longer but it is no secret that you don't like living here. That's fine. You don't have to like living here and sometimes you post positive things about STX. Jane however does not live here anymore and hates STX. She had a bad experience here. No secret there either. I don't understand her need to continue to post and blast this island at every turn. Many people love living here and are proactive in effecting positive change to this island. This is a relocation message board. I don't think any of the regular posters have a problem with anyone one giving advice and telling of their experiences on the island whether good or bad. Theresa is very honest and open with her experiences on STT. She gives good advice based on those experiences. She is not a VI basher. YYour postings give the impression that you are just unhappy living here and will be happy when you leave. Sometimes you have great input such as good places to shop and good resturants. For the most part this message board is fair and balanced. Jane you have become a troll. You have nothing but negative input. Sad but true. Good night everyone.

Tammy

My final word. None of us are the Chamber of Commerce. I get NOTHING from people who move here & neither does Tammy, Lizard or anyone else who does chose to live here & likes it. I'm not a landlord. I don't get a commission from anyone who moves here. I like it here. I love this place more than any other I've lived in. I've been safer here than anywhere else. While we're playing violins for the imprisoned-in-their-homes cowering under the bed residents, play a few notes for those suffering in East St. Louis, the bombed out looking sections of the Bronx, Cabrini in Chicago, barrios in Los Angeles, ghettos in Philadelphia & a whole lot of Washington, DC. Whatever happened to Mayor Berry anyway?

My friends don't sit around & bemoan the sad state of affairs. I've bought a new refrigerator, books, rocking chairs and toys for Dilsa Capdeville's last effort to help abused kids. A friend of mine was instrumental in getting the "Baby Think It Over" program going in the STT schools to help dissuade teenaged girls from getting pregnant. I've rescued tons of abandoned animals & paid the vet bills. My entire estate will be left to the Humane Society & I've donated thousands of dollars to them already. None of us whine & moan on a message board, we DO something to improve it. We all feel it's the least we can do for a place that has tolerated us & provided us with the opportunity to live a great life with wonderful people who have accepted us after they've seen we're not just know-it-all continentals with a superior attitude about the "natives." That may be why we DO have a good life here in this warts & all struggling, little section of the world.

Those who want to can rant away. I won't open this thread again. Peace.

I don't hate St Croix and I never had a bad experience there! Why would you call me a troll - I don't call you a weak minded ninny...that would be rude!
Dear Reptile - we live in the Banana Belt - the narrow coastal strip that has the sunshine - 'fraid you will have to go to Seattle or the interior of the Peninsula to find yr cold damp drizzle.