Q about Vehicle break-in on Bonaire

[paulw]

Bonaire doesn't care about the petty crime against divers, they never have and likely never will, it's unfortunately the noise you have to tolerate to dive there, not likely to change. But let's keep sensible and not blame victims for crime and keep the blame squarely where it belongs with the criminals.

I agree but Bonaire isn't the only place this crap happens, its everywhere. It is a shame that many people make excuses for criminals, they are poor, had a bad upbringing, whatever, what a crock! They choose to do what they do so I say call them what they are "CRIMINALS" plain and simple thief's thats all and I owe them nothing! Rant over....
I believe there are three things in life,
1-What you believe is right
2-what is truly right
3-What is..
Since we live in the world of what is when I go to Bonaire I will continue to follow the rule of not taking anything in the truck I can't take on a dive and have a great time.

 

[herbdb]

Most of us just don't see the problem.

 

[Lorenzoid]

In allocating police resources, the authorities must weigh the potential harm against the cost. Having patrol cars cruise up and down the coast from one dive site parking area to the next is not worth the benefit of deterring a few smash-and-grabs of sunglasses from divers' trucks. (I wouldn't leave my WALLET locked in what is clearly a rental car in most places anywhere in the world, including in the US, as rental cars are well known targets for smash-and-grab thieves.)

Now, if there were an increase in violent crime in Bonaire, like robbery or rape, then I could absolutely see Bonaire having a serious Tourist Police force (do they not already?) like a number of other tourist destinations. It would probably be paid for out of a tourist tax by you and me.

I am thankful that the crime is so relatively tame on Bonaire.

 

[SeaFlea]

My 2 Cents....

Greetings all, I've read alot about this issue over the last 5 years or so. Yes there is a problem but, you have to keep it in context. Its a small island without much law enforcement power. they do enough to satisfy the local population and try to offer the tourists a small sense of safety. the vast majority of the issues are petty theft. Young kids doing what kids are sometimes prone to do, lifting a little from a empty truck on a deserted location. I've had a few small things removed from our truck one trip or another but nothing I couldn't live without. I followed the suggestions of everyone and things are fine. Remember, we as divers love remote, less visited areas of reef. Our nature as divers puts us in these types of locations and they have inherient risks. I accept that and dive on. I do realize that more serious crime does occur but its isolated and infrequent. Those incidents deserve attention for sure. I dive Bonaire for what it is, a beautiful, lightly populated, shore diving mecca. I'll take a few inconviences and enjoy the day.

Follow everyones advice and enjoy yourself. It's a great place to spend a few weeks. I'll be there in late January of 13. Can't wait. Who knows I might feel gracious enough to leave those little buggers some cookies!

Good Dives, Seaflea.

 

[DiveMaven]

Crime is everywhere, especially car prowls at every tourist attraction in the world. Unfortunately it's a fact of life, and something not so easily solved. Personally, I appreciate that the rental car companies take the steps they do to inform you of the risk and how to avoid getting your stuff stolen and the car damaged. Easy to avoid.

 

[drrich2]

I keep thinking of 2 issues.

1.) In an old thread regarding a break-in, I believe it was pointed out the Dutch criminal justice system is such that it's hard to convict via circumstantial evidence; you need to catch people red-handed. So police 'knowing who the trouble-makers are' is wouldn't cut it. It'd be like an inner city jewelry store being broken into, and cops arresting local gang members because it might've been them.

2.) Economics. Let's say Bonaire sets up a sting operations, and arrests 10 thieves (5 young adult, 5 teenagers) over a couple of weeks. This will, over a year, perhaps prevent 5 broken windows (which people locked despite warnings not to do so) and preserve several pair of sunglasses & flip flops & a couple of digital cameras people left in their trucks despite warnings not to do so.

I assume these people are poor and hard to fine. How much does it cost Bonaire to hold them in jail or prison? Does a criminal record limit their opportunities for honest work & make a future as a criminal more likely?

All to prevent petty theft that the victims could've prevented.

Yes, the petty theft is wrong. No, the victims' leaving themselves open to it does not justify it.

But does the crackdown make sense for Bonaire? Won't some locals resent it & take it as a challenge, or get malicious (e.g.: throw rocks though truck windows)? As soon as your crackdown lets up, the problem will quickly come back. There's an endless supply of replacement criminals in that situation.

Richard.

 

[rhwestfall]

Heck, I live here in the US on an island of 18,000 residents that is inundated by tourists visiting one of the 7 wonders of the world. Even in our "advanced" society, petty crime happens. No, you aren't going to eliminate it. Regrettably, you have to be dilligent, and make the choices that will reduce your exposure. Violent crime is a whole different story.....


I have not been to Bonaire in a significant time, but not overly detracted based on what is being said....

 

[Mike]

Let just set some facts to the issue

My 2 Cents....

Young kids doing what kids are sometimes prone to do, lifting a little from a empty truck on a deserted location.

It's not young kids, that's a hopeful generalization. Bonaire has a big drug problem, it's simple to do the math if you understand how drug problems initiate crime. Blaming it on young kids might make divers feel better, but it's not the reality of the situation.

Dutch Justice Minister of Safety and Justice Ivo Opstelten who is in charge of Bonaire's crime and justice recognizes that Bonaire has a big drug and crime problem -- but he recognizes this is a problem with the population centers, and could careless about the petty theft of divers. He has recognized that

The minister admitted that the number of thefts, house break-ins and armed robberies have increased on the islands.. Opstelten confirmed that there was organised international crime, which is being tackled on Kingdom level. He said drug and human trafficking were “top priorities” of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

They are also breaking ground for a larger prison on Bonaire, planned to be completed in 2015. Compound the problem that the Dutch have smaller islands with crime and have even less infustructure on those islands the criminals are being shipped to Bonaire to be housed.

Add all of that up and it suggests they have bigger problems on their hands right now. That does not mean that the petty theft crimes are not important in the overall picture and doesn't reduce their severity to divers it just means that Bonaire is overwelmed with a lot more serious crime issues than most of us realize. For some reason some divers think that since Bonaire ignores the problem it really must not be much of a problem. Nothing is further from the truth, they are forced to ignore the problem due to all of the issues I've written about, the ovewelmed police force dealing with serious crimes on the rise due to drugs and influx of criminals to the island, the internal police problems with everyone being related, the us vs them mentality that exists on a island, and the main issue that Bonaire and the Dutch who run it from thousands of miles away don't care about a few divers being inconvenienced by petty theft when they are struggling with what they see as the main problems on the island they need to focus on.

But the tragedy is that every time a diver doesn't report the theft, every time a dive remains silent and every time a diver adopts the attitude of minimizing the crime as just kids being kids, or crime exists everywhere, or even worse that it's your own fault for leaving something in your vehicle... you're empowering the thieves and propagating the problem, and reinforcing the authorities current method of dealing with the problem which is ignoring it since tourists seem to keep coming, and if there is a petty theft problem they don't report it much.

 

[SandyRobinson]

We were just talking about that. My GF and I both wear glasses and could not see without them to drive back to the resort. When I was there the last time did only boat dives at Divi so never needed a truck. But was thinking about going again with the DNY crowd. And trucks would be the norm. Do not want to take my glasses under water or haul a couple pairs of old ones. What do you do as far as that goes. ID I could take in a small waterproof box. But glasses are another matter unless i found an old light body they would fit in to take down with me. Would you hide em on the truck somewhere?

Or you could wear your mask while driving

 

[drrich2]

Practical question, since I don't know how filing charges & court hearings in Bonaire work. Let's say for sake of argument, a small group of divers set up their own sting operation at Karpata, where they could hide in the bushes and watch their truck. Let's say they catch someone making off with a camera from the back seat of their truck, jump out and catch him red-handed, and detain him and call police.

Figure they're all there for a week, and have 5 days left before they fly home.

Would they have to be on-hand to testify at the trial, and would that trial be fast enough for them to attend?

Is it practical to prosecute these people if they ARE caught?

Richard.


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