pickled greek robbery

The racism in "ROAMING THROUGH THE WEST INDIES" is disgusting. No two ways about that at all.
Unfortunately if you read the chapter "IN AND ABOUT OUR VIRGIN ISLANDS" regarding to St. Croix it seems nothing has changed in nearly 100 years for the good. ....."for the policemen are all friendly or related to them."

As he writes in "IN AND ABOUT OUR VIRGIN ISLANDS" St. Croix isn't really part of the Virgin Island chain and in fact has the biggest potential of these islands to be self supporting. Perhaps a massive intervention by an outside force could break the stranglehold of underside and give the good people a chance to live in peace but as previously noted without a massive change in societal mores it would not last. This would include some smarter politicians and a willingness to give up one's own little bit of public largess.....

I honestly don't think calling attention to the crime problem via the media is a good idea. I was here during the Fountain Valley shootings and worldwide media played it up as "a group of fatigued dressed gunmen massacred American tourists!!!" That was even the headlines in my local paper at the college I was attending. Scared me to death wondering what the situation was and if my parents were ok. When I called in a panic my mom said everything on the island was perfectly normal, except for the sadness over the people who had been killed in a robbery gone arwy. The media made it sound like bands of guerrillas were targeting tourists on 'scary St Croix'. All it did was hurt tourism. The police weren't bothered, it finally died down and they went on their merry way. I think the poster who said it needs to start with voting is right on the money. Maybe St Croix needs to get some Tea Parties of it's own started!

I think the people of St. Croix must do something as a group to voice our concern. The option of waiting for elections is not timely and the outcome is uncertain. In my mind a mass boycott would be one thing that could quickly get attention on a targeted level without hurting broad sectors like tourism (which would only hurt ourselves). My question is... what kind of boycott would affect the appropriate parties responsible for this situation?

Tea Party is good. saw one in states over the 4th and was for sure an attention getter for sure. Liked the way that they had different speakers etc.

Boycotting is good idea also but i agree......what do we boycott??? someone mentioned petitions. good idea also. but elections are a waste of time. all they do is talk the talk.

you know my husband and i were talking earlier about going out to dinner saturday and we had to think for awhile on where we can go and be safe. he was like ; lets go there.....then no wait no safe parking......get the idea????

yeah, it's tough. it's so terrible that these thugs are keeping us from going out and supporting local businesses. Honestly, i was going to go to 54 this weekend for the RHCP cover band, but after all of this it got me thinking that i know who hangs outside of that place and security or not, if a bullet flies or a knife fight happens, i might be caught in the middle. probably won't happen, but i can't deal with the possibility. not right now anyways.

i agree that something needs to be done. while the people here don't want "outsiders" coming in and running the show, the people who they have are obviously not making it work. i think we have good cops but they are overworked and underpaid and there are not nearly enough of them. we still don't have police presence on the north shore, which is necessary. basically 3 ways in and out - have a place at Mon Bijou, one by Carambola, and one by Salt River and there's not many other escape routes. Same for out east - there's no police stations out there. I mean, it took the police awhile to get to Pickled Greek, and we have a station at Basin Triangle and a substation in town.

Remember when Spratnet and Bogie's were robbed a couple of years ago. Some honeymooners made their experience known via the Assoc. Press. Absolutely nothing happened.

The corruption is just too deep, expected and accepted. Short of the United States government (the real one) stepping in to implement changes and providing military presence until it is proved the USVI is capable of running itself and ensuring the safety of all who live there or think it is save to vacation there...nothing will change.

This is just ridiculous. It makes me sick. It needs to end, but it won't. This kind of s*** is not okay!!!!

i called peter this morning to see when he's going to reopen and he told me friday night,now peter and i don't agree on alot of things and have butted headsin the past but i feel we as a community need to go over there and support him and his staff,no one needs to say anything just show up and eat or have a drink or get some takeout,he and his staff need the communities help to get through this, because of work i can't get there till tues night

I also do not believe that bringing this to the attention of tourists will help matters as it will only serve to drive that segment away and put even further financial hardships on those on St Croix including the innocent law abiding business owners and tax payers. This incident began as a robbery and the reason for the robbery was probably so that the robbers could buy drugs. It is sad that things turned out as they did and that an innocent man lost his life.

Stxfoodie wrote:
"I don't want to be comletely negative, however, we have more non profit groups, crime watch groups, community activists and advocates here than you can shake a stick at. We have plenty of marches and walks and candlelight vigils which are well attended by a cross section of all members of our community that is inclusive of all ethnic backrounds on the island."

Are you talking about STX????????? I'll give you non profit groups but the rest do not do anything here. The crime watch groups are kinda a joke. I get my mailbox filled up with emails from the island wide one but they don't do anything at all. The neighborhoods ones might met once a year for a picnic. But these groups don't do anything like they do stateside.

I believe media attention is the way to go.

greets

here is a way you can contact anderson cooper...he's the man.
i just sent him an e-mail through this channel...

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?10

if enough people write to him about the crime aspect and government corruption, perhaps he may investigate.

guidance

Now that it is August, most of us who work here have paid in enough tax money that any further money would just come back as a tax refund. (the which I haven't yet received by the way.) Tomorrow I am going to go redo my W-4 so that no more tax money is withheld from my paycheck. I will also send a letter to the Governor stating that until the violent crime problem is properly addressed I will not pay any more taxes until they are due on April 15. Imagine what would happen if every one of us did that? How soon do you think it would be before deJongh got the message? Granted tax laws are such that it would become a problem after next April, but we shall see. Hit 'em in the pocket, I say!

Sent Andeson Cooper a letter, thanks for the link! Also planning on going to the pickled greek when they open.

What needs to happen to get more feds back here to get guns off the street? more people to die? 🙁

my partner and i have been coming down to beautiful stcroix for 7yrs now...and usually a month or more stay each winter on island...we have met wonderful people and enjoy several good friendships with locals...during our visits we don't follow the typical tourist routes...we enjoy the small restaurants most tourists don't know exist...explore the island from end to end...walk the streets of christiansted and frederiksted, etc, etc...like many others posting here we are quite seriously interested in moving to stcroix and look forward to being involved in the community...

what is most troubling to us are the number of violent, random murders and robberies...what is even more frustrating is the way that some people continue to blame today's problems on the past...a direct result of colonialism....fine...point to it as one source...but why continue to use this as the excuse for why the government cannot change...why the criminal justice system does not come down hard against the criminal element (...take the example of judge kendall...he would be exposed in the media and out of work in the states with a record like his)...how can the average crucian citizen feel protected? when their own judicial system will not keep dangerous criminals and repeat offenders off the streets while waiting for trial? why should crucians feel uneasy about a trip to get gas for fear of a drive by shooting? and now i read posts from longtime residents saying they think twice about dining out? the restaurants on the west side have been robbed so many times while patrons dined...and cane bay...wasn't it the owner of cane bay dive shop that got pistol whipped while trying to stop a robbery attempt at full moon bar? someone here in previous postings referred to a "robbery season" for the cane bay area...sad...

citizens must unite...the criminal element is always known by people in their respective communities...where are the prominent community leaders to stand up to criminals and bring them to justice and MAKE THEM SERVE THE TIME FOR THEIR CRIMES!? leaders like AB and KP continue to offer their constituents nothing more than soundbites and complaints about "the man"..."the government"..."being kept down"...why were these two allowed to waste precious money and time as constitutional delegates...only to insist on clauses that endorse discrimination. if they really cared about the island...they would insist on rooting out the criminal elements...but then considering their records who is really surprised?...

if elected officials will do nothing then citizens must expose the bad guys. what is the point of saying nothing and living in fear? How sad.... these citizens must be too scared to come forward with information!

It seems that most "former colonies" have a hard time dealing with criminals for fear that hard justice and sentences will appear too similar to the old harsh colonial days...some might say StKitts and Nevis have figured it out...they now plan to hang murderers. Justice is colorblind...and the people who commit these crimes against the community have to pay for these acts of violence...whether random or premeditated...there is a price to pay.

"...burglary gone awry..." BS!
Life in prison for murder...or the death penalty where applicable.

I apologize to you all for "preaching to the choir"...but like so many here, I just needed to vent my anger and frustration over the senseless deaths of so many on this beautiful island.

Sent a letter as well.

And I agree with TRW on this on... the best thing we can do for the Pickled Greek is to give them some business... I know when I was working at Lobster Reef and the owner was attacked, whenever people asked what they could do, we told them, just come and spend some time and money here... show some support.

-Beth

Truly sad....our condolences to Peter's family.

Here's the article in DN, double click to enlarge.

From what I understand, the Federal agents have been pulled indefinitely due to VIPD on STT prosecuting a federal agent who shot a guy in self defense. They refused to turn the agent over to the Feds to handle the case. If the Feds can't protect their own agents in cases like this, then they won't provide agents to the islands.

It was good to see VIPD working to make good on their promise to find the murderers by devoting man power to a traffic checkpoint at the fort this afternoon. No wonder murders and armed robberies happen, no one has fear of the law.

The VI government needs to deputize feds immediately with police authority. There may have been a fed at the restaurant at the time of the murder thinking, if I try to stop these murderers, I'll be arrested by the VIPD and charged with murder myself .

I used to run a small restaurant in the states not much bigger than the Pickled Greek. We always gave cops 50% off to eat in the restaurant. We never had any trouble and people felt safe eating there. I am not saying that the VIPD would actually do anything, but it may make the armed robbers think twice about robbing one of their own family members.

I sent my email to Anderson Cooper. If everyone sends one, maybe there will be some attention brought to this subject. I know I'm getting ready to relocate to St Thomas. It really makes me think twice.Do I need to carry a gun, and wear a bullet proof vest.But it still not stopping me from moving.Just need to get some kind of a movement going in the Virgin Islands?

"From what I understand, the Federal agents have been pulled indefinitely due to VIPD on STT prosecuting a federal agent who shot a guy in self defense"

Only the ATF has pulled out.

i did receive response from cnn asking that i give my e-mail time to be routed to proper personnel for review.
cmon everybody.....e-mail anderson...he is a good and fair man.
if we flood him with e-mails because of this problem on st croix, he will take notice.
let us not forget phil, who was in hospital for months because of being somewhere at the wrong time.

blessings to all.

If anyone wants to contact Governor De Jongh below is the link. I wrote. Maybe if we all write?

http://www.governordejongh.com/interact/contact/index.html

I also got a an email back from CNN. Said they read each and every email. I think if enough people send emails, this might bring attention.

When I lived on STX back in 1981 ish, I knew plenty of people who carried guns. Especially business owners. My boss used to take hers out in the car on her way home everynight and wrap her purse handles around the emergency brake.

This is horrible. I emailed Anderson Cooper and DeJongh, thanks for the links.

Try these emails too:

novelle.francis@vipd.gov

john.dejongh@go.vi.gov

vfrazer@doj.vi.gov

I don't think our leaders are hearing us, they are only pretending to...maybe a few letters will begin to make a difference...