Crime in the Caribbean

Old Apr 9th 2018, 11:12 pm
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Default Crime in the Caribbean

uk_grenada: do you think there might be enough interest in this topic (crime in the Caribbean) among prospective visitors to the region? Several of the Islands have changed since you and I first came here, and increased crime is one of those changes. What do you reckon?
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Old Apr 15th 2018, 12:26 pm
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

I think so, it should always be a factor in deciding where you might go and live.

Its also not something thats easy to divine from the statistics, as in some places high murder rates may be purely within gangs or the drug using/selling fraternity, and thefts may be from predominantly tourists or people targetting the wealthy or [hesitate to say it] ex pat communities.

So how much crime you actually see or might logically impact your socio economic group needs local current knowledge to define.

There was a series on the caribbean on uk tv [with simon reeve] which was rather sensationalist but ‘uncovered the dark belly of crime in ...’. It was a bit bad in that it featured gang/drug related stuff i feel a lot of ex pats woukd never see or be impacted by.
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Old Apr 15th 2018, 7:20 pm
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

As we know, even tropical paradises have their dangers that visitors and new residents need to be aware of. At the moment, we in Grand Cayman have serious traffic problems - some of which amount to crimes, others not. Drunk-driving and arrogant speeding are both rampant, sometimes together, and our policing is ineffectual. Many of our streets are narrow, and ill-lit at night, and have no separate paths for pedestrians or bicycles. Cyclists ride against the traffic as often as not, usually without lights and reflectors, and joggers in dark clothing run in both directions.

Not all those things are criminal, of course, but they're more dangerous than muggers to the average person. Our vehicles are split 50-50 between left-hand-drive and right-hand-drive, and that doesn't help!
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Old Apr 15th 2018, 7:31 pm
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

Same here, the death / injury rate from road accidents is very high if you compare it objectively. Its a combination of non existant vehicle testing, high [very high, 100% ish] import duties on newish cars, poor roads, lots of drunk/drug driving, and very inconsiderate practices from a lot of bus drivers and private drivers.

I get conflicting stories but practically theres no legal issue with drunk driving, speed is only an issue if you slow down, people do get mowed down while walking/jogging often in the dark wearing dark clothing with no side walks.

People fit the most ridiculous ly bright headlamps, then most always have high beams on.

This is why i never venture far at night without a very good reason.
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Old Apr 15th 2018, 7:34 pm
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

On the bright side, we dont have muggings, theft from people or property is rare and the police are actually very sensible when it comes to managing major criminality.

IMHO A proportion of the problems come from not enough money for resources like vehicle testing, but then priorities like the hospitals are i guess higher.

Dont you live in a relatively rich island? Here poverty = lower tax take = less resources is a reasonable limitation.

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Old Apr 15th 2018, 8:27 pm
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

Yes, this is an extremely rich island in terms of government revenue, which is way more than our reckless politicians can spend sensibly - but not more than they can waste, of course. Most of the revenue derives either directly or indirectly from the non-resident clients of our offshore tax-haven "industry"; we residents don't pay Income Tax, although the import duties are quite high - 22% on food and most other things, and 27% on cars.

There are a lot of poor migrants here - indentured servants, living in what I have always called "near slavery". Our traffic woes come from a democratic mixture of rich kids racing their high-powered posh cars and poor kids in souped-up Hondas and on stolen motorbikes.

I'm with you on the high-beam nuisance. I read somewhere the other day that new cars come with much brighter head-lamps than formerly. Could be.
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Old Apr 19th 2018, 5:20 am
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

On the general topic of cars + crime... two Police cars were burned up the other night, outside the garage where they were waiting for a service. The assumption here is that some gang member(s) wanted to punish the Police for something. There has been quite a bit of private-car-related arson in recent months, too, unusually.

Stealing cars, scooters and motor bikes, is common now. You wouldn't think it would make sense to steal vehicles on such a small island as ours, but within half an hour of the theft they're in a chop-shop getting stripped for parts, some of which are sent to Jamaica. And old cars are more vulnerable than new ones, which is a bummer for us because ours are twenty years old. Hondas are especially popular with the bad guys.

This is a Caribbean thread, and it seems to be visited quite often, so it would be interesting to see some posts on places besides Cayman and Grenada. Prospective immigrants need to know what they're getting into, and if we can help them, I believe we should.
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Old Apr 19th 2018, 9:34 am
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

Yes, you wouldnt think it would you. We get cars stolen during house robberies to take away the loot, but invariably found later usually keys in undamaged. Modern cars are unstealable without keys, and the engines dont work without the permissions of the keys but i can see the older cars being useful. Dont need chopped cars, plenty of bent ones available, plenty of road accidents.

Criminals often dont prosper here / can be caught because of poverty. They think they are safe in their remote village with their mates, but invariably if the aggrieved person offers a few hundred us reward, they get shopped, thats a lot of money to many.

Strange theft here was a 150 inch tv. Some [people has to be] walked into an empty millionaires villa during construction and stole his tv, which a few years later remains awol. Just cant imagine some crims board house with it as a wall of the structure, but either thats whats happened or it might have been floated on a pontoon over to st vincent?

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Old Apr 21st 2018, 3:00 am
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

It's certainly disappointing to know that one's vehicle is being driven around the same small island, whether whole or in parts! Interesting that yours go on to St Vincent. I once got a good chuckle giving a speech to Rotary on the topic of recycling, when I said that for us in Cayman, it's when somebody steals your bike and ships it to his brother in Jamaica.

Last year my son and his girlfriend had his motorbike and her brand-new (that very day!) scooter were stolen outside their house - in the middle of the night, taken away on the back of a truck. We wonder whether she might have been followed home from the shop. Neither machine was ever seen again, which does not necessarily mean that the Police didn't find it...
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Old May 8th 2018, 5:24 pm
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

And then there's the corruption issue...! I don't mean to single Cayman out as the worst of the Caribbean territories in this regard; most or even all of the others probably suffer from the same problem to a greater or lesser degree. Cayman has a "Commission for Standards in Public Life", which sounds impressive enough but has actually been dormant for the whole of its existence. Here's a link to the latest of our scandals. What's happening elsewhere?
https://caymannewsservice.com/2018/0...s-accusations/
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Old May 9th 2018, 11:30 am
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

I really do believe that corruption ultimately makes countries poor.

The issues are around selecting the wrong people [tribalism, not on merit] for important jobs [which mens worse work/prctices and perpetutes the problem]

Education makes countries rich but reduces tribalism and equips people to ask why / deal with corrupt people who stay in roles, so education is not a priority for corrupt regimes.

Plus of course the simple fact - dumb people make dumb decisions. I once asked a senior political person why loads of infrastructure projects floundered - corruption - back handers i was told. So, why - as a project manager - dont people allow for this corruption in budgets and complete the projects at higher costs admittedly - in advanced countries this is called ‘consultancy’ and it exists but is properly managed. I was told one cant just allow corruption to happen in public, people might notice. I polightly suggested people notice the 2 miles of unfinished road at the end of the job more, and everyone knows why...
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Old May 9th 2018, 11:35 am
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

Also - independance of the judiciary is vital. Until i see a local judge tell the police to arrest a senior politician for corruption and they do and the person goes to court properly i wont believe it exists in the caribbean. I hear the supreme court is not exactly straight, but grenada is seeking to move its ultimate jurisdiction there rather than with the uk privy council - where it exists now. I get the colonial issue, but i know which i would currently trust more...
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Old May 15th 2018, 6:17 pm
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

Here's a general report on crime in Cayman, from a recent Tourism Association Meeting addressed by the Chief of Police. Cayman is not nearly as safe as it once was. Maybe the same could be said of all the Caribbean islands, but somehow I doubt it. Grenada doesn't seem to be as dangerous as Cayman - or is that a false impression?
https://www.caymancompass.com/2018/0...#comment-37615
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Old May 15th 2018, 6:51 pm
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

Gordon, the article doesnt really say much about crime per se, it says that the police would like some shiny noisy new toys they can use in the beach, which might be justified, but i doubt it, far too easy to spot.

Here police patrol the tourist beaches a lot, always on foot and looking very smart, chatting to tourists and vendors a lot, high profile is how they do it. Im sure it gives confidence, but its the under cover cops who actually do the business, often disguised as tourists and from the other islands so they arent known. Their grapevine of informers seems pretty good, and low incomes makes it easy for businesses and people to offer rewards for capturing bad guys, 500ec will get you almost anyone. How often do you hear of tourists being robbed or assaulted? Its pretty rare here, there have been murders by deranged people, a few muggings and some goods stolen from parked boats, but the perps tend to get caught pretty quickly. The only real mystery is the story of the 100? Inch tv that vapourised into air one night from a villa.

I’ll see what i can find statistically.
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Old May 15th 2018, 6:59 pm
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Default Re: Crime in the Caribbean

This says you shouldnt worry, i think i agree with the most dangerous places, grenada doesnt get mentioned.

https://www.tripsavvy.com/safest-and...slands-1488165

I do keep hearing st lucia isnt very safe

Top 10 Most Dangerous Cruise Destinations in the World : Cruise Law News

Finally grenada gets a mention, not bad.

https://sailingwithkids.net/how-safe-is-the-caribbean/

this is more like it, ive always advised people against going to remote dark beaches;places as there are some muggings etc, in Gda.

https://www.tripsavvy.com/caribbean-...rnings-1488166



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