How bad is the crime?

goto search, type in the word crime hit all dates and read.

I've been here ten years and never witnessed any crime at all. Sure I read about it in the papers, but I haven't been party to any at all. I used to hang out at bars and go out all the time (I never sat at home) and I would hear gossip about differing crimes, but I've never had an issue with it. I lived in my last apartment for 7 1/2 years and never locked the door once.

Marty,

What is your address and where do you keep your valuables.

LOL Ian... fisherman i have weighed in on this topic quite a bit... crime YES! is it worse than anywhere usa NO! 95% of the crime is local on local and is usually drug related. If a tourist is involved he/she was in the wrong part of town at the wrong time of night (you probabaly have a place in your own town like this and know what i mean) that person was looking for something... (that you cant get on the grounds of the ritz lol)

That's true about crime on tourists MOST of the time but not always. It can happen to anyone naturally but chances are greatly reduced if you're not out drunk & disorderly, looking for drugs late at night or getting mouthy with some iffy people who just might have a hair-trigger temper. Having said that, I'm now in my 26th year here & it hasn't happened to me - yet & I've always lived alone. Another thing is to be smart about where you live. I'm hard-pressed to remember any of my friends who were robbed or had their places broken into when they were home or out at the time.

Doesn't mean you have to be in a gated community but you might have a bigger chance of being burgled living very near a road with easy access to a main road. Another reason I bought where I did is because it's a dead-end with close neighbors & I was able to have a dog here. The one bad robbery near me was at a place right on the road with fast get-away access. Nothing's fool-proof but I've always found a dog is the best deterrent. Doesn't have to be vicious, just one that will bark at those who don't belong there. Now I'll probably get more nasty PM's telling me I don't know what I'm talking about. 🙂

I think the crime rate is so far above the national rate. Most crimes are local related. The rapes, killings, domestic abuse are hapening every day. When they hit tourests it becomes a big issue.Some tips to avoid crime.

1. Stay away from areas that are heavy crime locations
2. Don't flash money
3. Don't wear expensive jewlery
4. Go to bed early
5. Lock your doors, everywhere.
6. Have a throw away wallet ready to give to robbers with a hundred bucks in it.

Billd,

I just have to add my two cents. I agree with Trade on this one. I lived on island two years (2004-2006) with husband and three kids. Read my archives, it's all there. Anyway, I was a victim of crime once. We were robbed of our cash in the middle of the night while sleeping. We did not have a dog and we had a sliding door that did not lock properly. Irony is that we had always bought a dead bolt type lock for all our sliders except that one. We had just moved in a couple of months prior and hadn't fixed the door yet. We kind of figured out who did it and why. Karma will get him in time I am sure.

Dogs are the best deterrent, as is just being aware and getting to know your neighbors real well. Know your surroundings and follow the basic common sense rules. I think that many times the crimes are because people think of the Caribbean as an open door, no locks, type place.

Besides the crime, the real problem lies with the police force and I am not bashing them at all. They do their best with little pay, long hours, little tools to work with, and small force. STT Population is 50,000, but the crime is similar to most big cities if your perspective is similar to mine. We came from Kansas City, MO to STT.

We didn't live in fear, but for a multitude of reasons we left island anyway. Like I said, well documented here on this board. I think I am moving story #13 (haven't checked in a while).

What I think is great is that you are getting a lot of different perspectives. Location, location, location. The island is small (30 square miles give or take?) and you can't specifically define which areas are bad or good. Basically it is by perspective and experience. (A good friend of mine lives in what I would normally consider the worst area of island, but she was born and raised there and it is home to her.) So hard to answer your question, but hopefully you get an idea that the island is very diverse even as small as it is and perspectives are even more diverse. Good luck with everything. Starting to follow your story. Hope you keep the board updated.

Teresa

I think Lizard gave the best advice. If you are interested in moving here this board is the best source of information. Read it from start to finish. Just because info is 6 months, a year or 5 years old means very little. Change comes extremely slow here. Anything you read on this board is most likely still relevant. From the questions you have asked I think you need to do a little research. 🙂

That being said my opinion is that it is worse or at the very least different from anything you are used to stateside. You will have to protect yourself and your family. You will not be able to rely on the local police force. They are either corrupt or completely overwhelmed. Either way they do an incredibly bad job.

Get a couple of dogs, don't flash money, don't tell people when you're going out of town, don't talk money in public places (like restaurants or shopping), chances of getting robbed go up dramatically after dark (people get rob in f'sted, c'sted and north shore mostly), rape is the number one violent crime on the islands. Its a small island people will watch you and how you live and possibly target you, its much easier for the criminals to know your business here. This island is full of the haves and have nots. The poverty level is quite large and education is pretty dismal. Its not the best combination.

Best advice is to get dogs(any dog is good but a larger dog is better for scaring people away), be friendly(and genuine, not just polite) to everyone, and get to know your neighborhood and hopefully your neighborhood watch.

Thanks for the advise. Sounds like most places we have lived. Some hate it, some love it.

um it's the north shore bars not the people in the neighborhoods up here and as alexandra said alot of homes out east are being robbed but it's not reported, cane bay area is probally one of the least crime ridden areas on island

Its really not a matter of loving it or hating, at least that is not at all what I was saying. Its a very different culture without stateside resources. People come because its so not metropolitan and they think "they can get away from it all" and "live in paradise", but its not really that, no place is. Its a us territory but its not a state, it be more like moving to Mexico then moving to Florida. The water is not always safe here either. 😉

Please don't get a dog if your sole reason is to have a burglar alarm.

Seems like so many people buy dogs to deter crime and those dogs are marginally cared for. I feel sorry for those poor dogs.

Use some other alarm system if you are not truly a dog lover who will actually enjoy and properly care for the dogs.

I'm tired of all of the dogs that bark and whine all day and half the night. There are a lot of them where I live. One in particular, named Rufus. I know the dog's name because the obnoxious owner can be heard bellowing the dog's name all over the neighborhood. Not sure which is the bigger nuisance-- Rufus or the owner.

Amen, Jules. My dog lives better & easier than I do. I loathe seeing a dog tied up in a yard all day.

Something to consider also is that if you are run off the road and almost raped in the middle of the day in the states and you go to the police department then they will take a report and maybe show you some mugs, etc. Here, they might tell you, "Well that's what you get for running alone." At 9 in the morning, on a main road. And then not take a report. Nice.

Another friend had her car almost stolen and the cop that took the report (at least he took one) said, "Well that's what you get for driving the same kind of car as all those dangerous criminals." Yes, driving *that* kind of car. A Toyota Camry. That's what you get.

Just saying, here you are on your own, and you feel that.

They might tell you? Almost Stolen? Wheres Batman when you need him!

I'm so glad you made that point Jules. I remember seeing a young puppy chained up in a yard, crying pityfully. It probably should have still been with it's mother, but the owner told me he was "training" it to be a guard dog. There seems to be a school of thought that if you are kind to your dogs you make them soft, then they won't make good guard dogs. That is so ridiculous! I am very kind to my dogs, and they are friendly to most people, but they still guard me. Most dogs can tell when somebody is behaving in a suspicious manner.