Yikes... dont drink in this bar...

[cvchief]

Yeah, plus the diving sucks in St Louis. Which is one of the many reasons I have never vacationed there. The common refrain, "It's safer than ____", is a useful way to put things into context, but it's not without its pitfalls. For example, I live in Hong Kong because I get paid to do so, because the tax rates are low, because it has the infrastructure I need, etc. There are probably good reasons that you live in St Louis (though, I confess, it's hard for me to imagine what they might be :joke. But I wouldn't vacation in Hong Kong, and you probably wouldn't vacation in St Louis if you had no ties to the city. Where you vacation is a choice, and whether you vacation is also a choice. So Cozumel doesn't just have to be better than St Louis, it also has to be better than Bonaire, Saba, Key Largo, etc., and it has to better than staying home (and saving the cost of vacation).

Oh, and Monroe County where the Keys are is like .0251 murders per 1,000 in 2009, .066 in 2010. So CURRENTLY more deadly, murder-wise than Coz.

Oh dear, I just checked it for the rural county I live in and it rounds to .04. Coz is EVEN safer than out in the country around me....

 

[Mike]

I don't think the comparisons being bantered around are fair comparisons.

Comparing violence on Cozumel to violence in Detroit, St Louis, Edmonton, etc... is kind of like apples to oranges.

The comparison should be to murders in Disney Land. You're talking about a tourist destination here.

 

[vladimir]

Vlad,
Actually, I supplied the denominator on earlier in the thread

Which is why I didn't quote any of your posts as an example of a trivial statement.

Now you tell me I gotta take Hong Kong off the bucket list as no fun. The Commies ruin it?

You'd have to go a long way from here to find a real communist--maybe all the way to Europe. Actually, it depends on what you want from a vacation. The food here is fabulous. A few days at the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon getting massaged and fattened up might be nice. And yes, Hong Kong is a very safe place--I consider that a minimum quality for a place to live.

Oh, and Monroe County where the Keys are is like .0251 murders per 1,000 in 2009, .066 in 2010. So CURRENTLY more deadly, murder-wise than Coz.

Oh dear, I just checked it for the rural county I live in and it rounds to .04. Coz is EVEN safer than out in the country around me....

Yeah, I agree--for the fourth or fifth time in this thread--that Cozumel is relatively safe, and safer than most places in the United States.

 

[Aigtbootbp]

Yeah, plus the diving sucks in St Louis. Which is one of the many reasons I have never vacationed there. The common refrain, "It's safer than ____", is a useful way to put things into context, but it's not without its pitfalls. For example, I live in Hong Kong because I get paid to do so, because the tax rates are low, because it has the infrastructure I need, etc. There are probably good reasons that you live in St Louis (though, I confess, it's hard for me to imagine what they might be :joke. But I wouldn't vacation in Hong Kong, and you probably wouldn't vacation in St Louis if you had no ties to the city. Where you vacation is a choice, and whether you vacation is also a choice. So Cozumel doesn't just have to be better than St Louis, it also has to be better than Bonaire, Saba, Key Largo, etc., and it has to better than staying home (and saving the cost of vacation).

Pretty much everything sucks in St Louis and I would'nt even consider this little subdivision of hell if it wasn't for this wife thing that is sleeping in the other room. Something about her not wanting to leave her kids and grandbaby behind, I dunno, I guess I just don't understand.
I do love to visit Cozumel and I feel completely safe walking down the street at night even in the outer sections of San Miguel. I don't think I would want to live there, too many restrictions on some of my other hobbies but if diving was my life I could be perfectly happy there. I personally feel these murders (gangland assassinations IMHO) are isolated incidents. These things could happen anywhere. Overall Cozumel is a beautiful place that is damn hard to beat. Since it is a growing place it will not only attract more tourism but also some of the more unsavory characters too. Heck, even Tony Soprano likes to take a vacation occasionally.
Considering all that is going on down there now I think they are doing a very good job of keeping it under control. I still go there when I can and enjoy bringing friends along. I also enthusiastically recommend it to others with no reservations.

 

[Mossman]

I don't think the comparisons being bantered around are fair comparisons.

Comparing violence on Cozumel to violence in Detroit, St Louis, Edmonton, etc... is kind of like apples to oranges.

The comparison should be to murders in Disney Land. You're talking about a tourist destination here.

Not really. No one lives in Disneyland, unless you count Mickey. On the other hand, cvchief did cite the murder rate in Anaheim, home to Disneyland as well as 336,000 people, as lower than Cozumel. You can't dive in Anaheim, but Laguna Beach isn't too far and I bet their murder rate is even lower.

 

[cvchief]

I don't think the comparisons being bantered around are fair comparisons.

Comparing violence on Cozumel to violence in Detroit, St Louis, Edmonton, etc... is kind of like apples to oranges.

The comparison should be to murders in Disney Land. You're talking about a tourist destination here.

Fin, I started with VA Beach. Haven't you seen the commercials for VA is for lovers? I might be dating myself with that reference... I also added the Monroe County stat which contains the keys and some of the everglades. I don't know that murders in the swamp get reported, so it might just be the keys. D) That is like dive island vaca spots. That is pretty close huh? On the other hand I added the others just for those who live in Crimetowns around the county for comparison as they mentioned them.

 

[cvchief]

I thought this might be topical from the Mayor of Coz. He was speaking about them just firing 6 cops who tested positive for controlled substances. From Por Esto:
Joaquin Gonzalez acknowledged that the issue of security in the town leaves much to be desired, as it said that "the bean in rice is the question of security, so the police will have a corporate restructuring, because I will not allow increases in crime in the island because I have a major commitment to the community of my island. "

I am going to start using that in press releases. Well, the bean in the rice is...... I love local colloquialisms.

 

[Darol]

Christi :

One thing that IS different in Mexico and the drug related murders here - is that most of them are contained within the cartel and the people that cross them, not random people - unlike the thug gangs in the US who commit random acts of violence to score their next high and/or to get initiated into their gang of choice. My point again is that these are not random killings and Sundays shooting was a direct SHOOTING, not a shoot out as some have inaccurately reported.

Stateside....
Not much, in fact very little, gang related violence is random. In my hood, six
shootings in one week. This is know as gang on gang violence. Gang related violence usually involves a motive, revenge, for disrespect, theft, or turf wars.
Getting initiated involves a shooting, or violent act against a rival gang. Acts
of violence against random civilians carry no street cred, aka credibility. The
bottom line is murder is murder.

For the record, I feel safer in Cozumel than any place I have ever been,
including.... Catholic Church.
In fact I'm booking a flight tonight.

Kev and Christi are very passionate people, and very cool.... Let's go diving....

 

[Mossman]

Stateside....
Not much, in fact very little, gang related violence is random. In my hood, six
shootings in one week. This is know as gang on gang violence. Gang related violence usually involves a motive, revenge, for disrespect, theft, or turf wars.

That said, drive-by shootings are still popular among gangs. While it's technically gang-on-gang violence, the innocent bystanders killed in the process might not fully agree.

When Cozumeleños start doing drive-by shootings outside Wet Wendy's, then it will be time to find a new island paradise.

 

[Darol]

In our area, not a lot of "innocent" bystanders. Just people up to no good,
who know the dangers of the lifestyle.