Is there a theft risk at Buddy Dive???

[pilot fish]

That has been my point all along - if all divers stopped going there till the feckless, corrupt police did someting, you'd see this problem cleared up real fast. Chuck, you are so right, the Bonaire fans treat it like a pesty nuisance, not the crime that it is. Divers deserve better.

Read the 1/19/10 dive trip report. I guess this guy is a liar.
Now it looks like we must:
Leave everything of value at home or at least in your room or dive with it.
Leave your truck unlocked.
Leave the windows down.
Get as old and junkie truck with bad tires as you can so no one bothers it.
Don't ever put a lot of gas in it. Just stop at the gas station every day.
This is just plain stupid. If you Bonaire fanatics keep passing this stuff off as just a nuisance, it will never get fixed. Think about it. If it's not a big deal, the authorities and theives will ingore it. If you would all channel your resources into an effort to report and correct this problem rather than telling everyone how great the diving is, maybe, just maybe, things would improve. Pretending it doesn't exist or just ingoring it, will solve nothing. Maybe we should just start a campaign to boycott the island for a short time. I'm positive that would correct the problem in a very short time. I like Bonaire but there are other great dive locations all over the caribbean with fewer "diver" reported incidents.

 

[pilot fish]

On an island that size it would be simple to set up stings with bait trucks to catch the crooks, if they were serious. I just feel, divers that work hard all year long for a vacation should be treated better by the Gov that makes a lot of money off them.

I've only been to Bonaire once, back in 96 i think it was. Stayed at Sand dollar. Didn't have any issues, and i left most of gear in the lockers IIRC.

However...its not wrong to say that something like a boycott would make the PTBs take notice. I'm also fairly sure that at least 98% of the islands money come from diving related tourism. I have visions of a tremendous black market for all kinds of diving related items. Since they don't publish, (or maybe even keep track to begin with? )....perhaps a sting operation or somesuch might be in order

 

[pilot fish]

You can't stop the thieves on our own government! How are you going to ever stop the few on the island? There a few things that can be done though: More patrols, Lock Boxes in the beds, out of sight out of mind, and stronger punishment! I think the locals use the gear to poach! There is no one offering used gear on the island! So who will you hurt? The honest operators and DMs! The people with investments in the island! The type of diving in this area is not the norm in the Caribbean! I wouldn't leave a SCUBA tank in the back of a Pickup Truck in any Caribbean nation or California, it wouldn't last long! So we need to make sure the owners of the resorts know and if a place has a problem go to one that takes security seriously!

But I will return and take my chances!

Now you see why nothing changes

 

[pilot fish]

This argument about crime in our own country doesn't seem to make sense to me. Yes there are thefts in and around Charlotte for instance. The chances of that happening to me or any individual however are minuscule. In Bonaire, just based on the reports on this forum, the chances of petty theft seem to be pretty high when compared to the actually number of visitors to the island. In most tourist areas and developed countries, someone keeps track of crime and then make efforts to lesson the impact in problem areas. Charlotte for instance has a pretty good record on doing this very thing.
It would seem to be that if Bonaire wanted to get on top of this situation, the government would just come out and say it is not a problem and divers are just liars or they would admit the problem and attempt to do something about it.
I was considering my 4th trip to Bonaire this year but I've changed my mind. I'll go somewhere where I don't have to take any more precautions than I would at home. I've visited at least 15 different countries and even lived in two but I've never seen so many reports of crime as I see in Bonaire. When there are so many choices, why would anyone "take the chance" and worry about this stuff for an entire week or more. I'd almost guarantee that some of you that have never had a problem would not be so forgiving of this petty crime if it ruined your vacation and not some elses.

It's a roll of the dice in Bonaire. It's your vacation, it's your money, it's your gear, you deserve better treatment.

 

[pilot fish]

SO DON'T GO! We are all well informed, grown up, and able to decide for ourselves! Cops take good reports 99% of the time, but do very little to stop a crime in progress!

hmmmmmmmm, not so sure about that

 

[pilot fish]

We should compare this to a Bonaire police blotter - oh wait, that's not possible

Yeah. Wonder why?

 

[pilot fish]

Oh yeah, if you fall victim of crime on Bonaire it's YOUR fault because you lacked common sense. The break in was somehow YOUR FAULT.

I have been a way for a while and it is nice to return to the same old "Bonaire Crime" debate. I am not convinced it is much worse there than anywhere else particularly if common sense is observed. Back to the original question from a few days back. I stayed at Buddy this fall and had no problem whatsoever with security in the common locker. Your primary concern there is not falling on your butt due to the VERY slippery floor.

Have fun!

 

[pilot fish]

The whole problem with petty theft on Bonaire is the attitude. 'Petty theft is just going to happen without anyone doing a thing about it, don't lock your car or you will only increase the amount of damage the thieves do".

To me this is asinine. It is blaming the victim for the damage done by the criminal.

My approach would be for all of us to go to Bonaire, leave nothing in our cars and lock them tight. Be sure to buy full insurance coverage. If Bonaire would simply make it a misdemeanor to leave a vehicle unlocked, the entire culture would change. Trust me when it starts costing the locals money, things will change. Now we just roll down our windows and take it.

The island only has 30,000 residents. My best guess is that less than 200 of them cause the majority of the problems. Just a few well run sting operations at sites like Karpata and Thousand Steps will put the word out.

no, ONLY 12,000 RESIDENTS

 

[Adaveke]

On an island that size it would be simple to set up stings with bait trucks to catch the crooks, if they were serious. I just feel, divers that work hard all year long for a vacation should be treated better by the Gov that makes a lot of money off them.

The Dutch legal system is based on sound criminilogocal studies.
Therefore the police can't legally use bait as this could tempt people.
Since everybody is a potentian offender, it is a common belief that putting up (easy) bait can push anybody over the line and is therefore provocative.

simple example: when you find money on the street (under the Dutch law, don't know if America is the same) you are legally obliged to turn it in at the nearest police office in case the person who lost it reports it as lost. In reallity nobody does this (I wonder why ). So the person taking the money is breaking the law. Now how would you feel if a police officer placed a $50 note on the street and you got arrested for putting it in your wallet in stead of turning it in to the police. You would feel tricked, no?
Now, I do understand that picking up something from the street is something completely different that taking something out of a car, but where do you draw the line at tempting people? Therefor the law states that tempting people to do something they would have otherwise (maybe) done not is illegal.

I'm not going to debate if this is a good way of approaching things, I just wanted to give you some background on the legal system.

 

[pilot fish]

Aeveke, would you be tempted to take a person's reg out of a parked car? I doubt it. Nor would I. Here's a better example: woman routinely wear provocative attire that accentuates thier figures, low cut dresses, short skirts ,etc. Are you tempted to grope any of them and violate them? Are you moved to rape? Of course not.