Police said to leave cookies

Just cause you played together went to school or married your best friends sister doesn't make it right to ignore the problem of right and wrong. I went to school with a guy from my neighborhood who became a police officer in the town and everybody knew everybody but that didn't stop him from taking old school mates to jail for DUI, drug related offense,petty theft or domestic batter. they were wrong and broke the law, but your right fancy equipment won't help in corruption but the community involvement will, If you're willing to turn a blind eye because you don't want change or you don't want your cousin to go to jail then your only adding to the problem and have no right to complain. I was just asking a question from the info that I read, and I haven't even got there yet, here soon tho. it seemed people were complaining but no one said anything about getting involved.I'm not scared from what I've read even in the daily newspaper article about crime. I live in Dayton,Oh where the crime rate at one time had the highest murder(in west dayton) rate per Cap, and a bank robbery happened ever other day but the community and law enforcement got involved and cleaned it up somewhat. so yes when I get there and find that there's some where I can make a difference in helping the kids or adults I'll be there, as far as leaving cookies for the thieves, most likely they'll have ex-lax in them. that should keep them busy enough so somebody else won't get broken in to, then great, but won't it be cheaper to just leave a buck or two and a thank you note? just like paying for parking on the main land.I can't wait to get there and see for myself see ya'll soon

Who says none of us are involved? This isn't Dayton, however.

I'm sure there's alot of you that are but as i read the good and the bad I'm not reading about how they are involved in helping their community, that's all. but I've read more positive then negative and learned how to deal with and how to avoid being a victim and for that I thank you all, Like I said see y'all soon

erkm,
Everyone usually has a similar point of view to yours before they come. Everyone thinks its a simple matter of getting involved. I would think from reading this board people would understand that the local poster DO care (even thought we don't all agree) and most of us are very involved.

But it is not a simple matter and you have to face facts as transplants we make up a very, very small percentage of the pop.. The locals have to get fired up and demand change before anything will happen. And when you've grown up with a corrupt system and are used to it its can be hard to see what all the fuss the transplants make about it. And the amount of beau racy on such small islands is completely astounding. All I can say is I hope your efforts help but I'm not going to hold my breath. What I try to do is make a difference on a personal level or it just gets too frustrating and disheartening.

I did just buy a home on STX and am anxious to at least start my part-time life there. So, I am finding this thread interesting but not necessarily scary.

I currently live in Baltimore, which has a very high crime and murder rate. I live right smack in the city, yet knock on all kinds of wood, I personally have never been a victim of any crime more serious than the constant bumps on my car because we park on the street every night not in a garage. So, I still drive the reasonably attractive 13 yr old car. Who needs a new car to worry about that first ding?

I do not know why I have been so lucky. Awareness? Knowing where not to going in my own city? Who knows?

I do know when I visited STX for the first time late Nov I was concerned about crime. I had heard rumors. Previously, we had been considering a home on Vieques. We love the remoteness of the island and the people are very friendly. Ultimately , I thought Vieques was too undeveloped and there's some things going on there with homesteading that scare me off some.

In STX we stayed at Cottages and the drive there was less than reassuring. (Understand we had just left Vieques.) STX turned out to be more developed than we had expected due to the "expressway" . . . totally unexpected on an island. The areas we drove through worried us as we approached. Rest assured, Cottages was fantastic and probably put us back in the right frame of mind to even consider buying. Once there, once settled, once acclimated, we were fine. We loved STX the first morning and especially the first sunset! No issues. Not one single instance where we felt unsafe. My boyfriend even went to the "fish market" to inquire about buying lobsters, no problem. They even joked with him later when they saw us drive thru, chiding him for being later then when they told him to return. We missed the lobster man. He fished off the pier, no problem,. Scuba dived off the pier, no problem. In fact, local kids helped him struggle with his gear. I am sure all found this middle aged, over weight, very attractive and charming man interesting. He was friendly, they were friendlier.

Actually, now that I think of it, every child we encountered was charming and polite. That's quite a future.

We spent most nights at Cottages, cooking dinner there. The supermarket won my heart as there's nothing close in Vieques. I was sold on STX that very first night.

We did eat pizza one night in Frederiksted (did I spell it right? I am still learning) and again, no problem. Service was better than most islands we have been too. And after a week away from home, the pizza was fabulous.

I'm a normal 29/39 (whatever) year old female (LOL) and travel a LOT in the US for work, maybe 1/2 of last year. I do not go wandering around a strange city alone. I know and respect the safe boundaries of my own city and expect every other city has similar "boundaries". I think when vacationing people tend to let their guard down, I don't.

So, push to shove, is STX any worse than anywhere else?

"...as i read the good and the bad I'm not reading about how they are involved in helping their community..."

"March 11, 2008 -- The V.I. Police Department is training residents from all walks of life as part-time auxiliary police and inaugurating a high-school police cadet program."

http://www.onepaper.com/stthomasvi/?v=d&i=&s=News:Local&p=1203139935

I guess i spoke too soon, It seems the law enforcement is listening.

I drive an island car so it's probably not going to be any ones first choice to break in to and rob but my MO is that I leave nothing of value in the car, the window down and the doors unlocked and about $2 worth of change. No problems.
There is crime every where you just must stay aware and alert and don't put yourself in a compromising position or location and take it easy with the bling.

It's a shame that we have to let criminals dictate our behavior.

I still want to know why: if the police know that people are being robbed at night down town in the parking lots or along the beaches when they park their cars, why aren't we seeing police patroling those areas???? Why do we have to be afraid to park our cars, why do we have to be nervous about walking into the parking lots at night. Where are the police??? How often do you see police anywhere??? I've always heard that they hang around the police station playing domino's, is this a myth??? I've heard from many people that when they have a problem they call the police and they don't come, or when they go into the police station after they have been robbed the police basically say, "there's nothing we can do" I doubt we'll find your stuff. Seems to me the Police need to be seen around town at night or patroling the beaches. When we have a jump up we see lots of police downtown, everyone feels safe, and I have never heard of any problems. Where are those police on weekend nights?

Ok the police stateside almost never find your stuff either, lets be fair about this. However they do show up when you call them stateside. There are not enough police to patrol ALL the beaches on stx, I think thats unrealistic. There are too many beaches too spread out. We do not have a large police force, at least not on stx. But I don't understand why they dont have enough to patrol both downtown areas. Just two policemen working downtown should be able to make some kind of difference.

No one expects them to patrol all the beaches all the time, but to see any on the beaches at all would be an improvement. Yes, I agree that the police usually don't find your things. But at least the police in the states would act concerned and take down information which might lead to an arrest at a future date. Have you seen any police patroling on random nights if there is not a Jump Up or other event going on??

"Why do we have to be nervous about walking into the parking lots at night. Where are the police??? "

Women everywhere worry about their personal safety (rape, car jacking) when out alone after dark. In the VI, men get to share the experience and get all riled up. For half of the population this has been a way of life since childhood, even stateside.

I am careful where ever I travel and where I live. I don't feel safe walking around at night downtown here, if there was more of a police presence I would. I know we all have to be careful and not be stupid, but more police downtown and in the known areas with problems would help. You cannot say this is normal and just the way it is so live with it.

"You cannot say this is normal and just the way it is so live with it."

I didn't. I said it's always been a problem for women, even in the states, but in the VI it's a problem for both genders, which is a new experience for men from the states.

http://www.vipd.gov.vi/aboutUs/coreValues.aspx

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This is all too true for a large majority of women everywhere and for a good number of men who who have the misfortune of living in neighborhoods without adequate security.

Islandlola

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Blam, so true. When I was in AK with a male friend of mine, he said the one thing he didn't like was having a predator that he had to worry about any time he left the house (bears). I welcomed him to the female way of existence. I personally prefer to worry about bears than bad men anyway. They're less cruel.

In regards to the original post, out of the 3 times I have gone to STX to visit my GF, we have had this exact same experience happen twice.

The first time, we went to an out of the way beach near Cheeseburgers in Paradise (near Southgate I think? Not sure the exact location). Parked her truck and left our wallets and her cell phone hidden under the seats and locked the truck. Came back after snorkeling and found the side window jimmied open with a screwdriver. Cell phone was gone, as was the cash out of the wallets. Thankfully, the thief just took the cash and left behind the wallets with our ID's and credit cards. We figured it was an isolated incident.

The next time it happened, we went snorkeling at yet another out of the way beach near Butler Bay. Came back to the truck and this time, the thief just shattered the same window. Once again, her cell phone was stolen, my digital camera was stolen, and all cash taken out of our wallets. As before, the wallets were left behind. We couldn't have kicked ourselves harder for this happening again.

This time we called the cops. They arrived 15 minutes later and were VERY helpful. They explained that it was almost certainly the same guy behind both incidents. Apparently, this guy has been doing this for a few years now. His m.o. is to case the area first, target vehicles at the out of the way beaches and complete the break-in within a 5 minute time frame by smashing a side window and taking whatever he can. I guess the reasoning is, even if you do happen to lift your head out of the water when snorkeling and look back at the vehicle at the time of the break-in, by the time you swim back to shore, he'd already be gone.

They asked if we had seen a white Chevy Cavalier with light blue detailing driving around the area. Incredibly, my GF had seen a car fitting that description pass us as we were heading to the beach. The cops even told us the guys name, where he lived, etc. However, they've never been able to catch him in the act, which is what's needed for an arrest.

A very frustrating lesson to learn. So, next time we will leave the windows rolled down with nothing in the truck. Except cookies......with GPS tracking devices baked into them. 😉

you can also mix some diazinon into your chocolate fudge cookies,but you have to use alot of chocolate to cover the taste,lol i've done that twice and the cookies have been taken both times,i used to leave my car unlocked and the window all the time and nothing was ever stolen except the cookies and a bottle of rum with rubbing alcohol and just a touch of brown food color works really good as well, or just dump out the regular rum and refill with 151 and rubbing alcohol,lol

They might like the buzz from the Valium. 🙂

yes Trade, you can actually put about 20 valium in a bottle without affecting the taste that much

My vote still goes to the chocolate Ex-Lax.

I hate to ruin the fun, but I don't think it's legal to poison burglars (where "burglar" is somebody breaking and entering, and stealing, but not threatening you with bodily harm, because you're not there at the time). Besides, the burglar could share the goods with others who are innocent. Or the burglar could tell police where he got the goods, and you might get charged.

Here's a related discussion I found:

"If someone dies from stealing and eating YOUR poisoned food, is that murder in the court of law?"
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071004113635AAHw1BK

I never heard of anyone dying from Ex-Lax.