Rental Truck Vandalized

[Lorenzoid]

. . .
Let's face it if Bonaire cared or felt it was impacting THEM negatively they'd solve the problem in 2 months. They don't care about it.

You mean "They don't care about it enough." I'm sure they care about it, and I'm sure that it's occurred to them that they might come up with some way to increase tourism-related taxes/fees and use it to beef up policing. But it obviously hasn't reached the point where it is impacting their wallets negatively enough that they are motivated to really do something. Tourism is the life blood of Bonaire (not salt, right?). When it begins to hurt them, they will do something. I'm not sure what our whining here is going to accomplish. I only know what I do NOT intend my comments to do, and that is to sway SB readers one way or the other. I can only state that the crime hasn't kept ME away.

 

[Mike]

That would explain how we have so effectively have eliminated crime here at home, eh?

Please don't lower yourself to such a silly level. Elimination of crime is not the benchmark, you know that, I know that.

 

[T.C.]

Below is a recent summary of just 4 days of very recent Bonaire police crime reports, copied as translated and posted on Forum Bonaire's FaceBook page. You can view the steady stream of reports there, or the original reports written in Dutch, on the police website. I've shared similar information and links in previous posts here, including threads that you've participated in. How bad does the crime need to be on Bonaire before you recognize it as a legitimate issue?..I can't help but wonder if your interpretation of danger, risk, and your ability to respond are a little different than that of the average tourist scuba diver?

Maybe. I don't think of losing a pair of sunglasses or a towel as crime. An annoyance, yes, but that's it. How often do you lose sunglasses or a towel at home? If you take something expensive, and leave it, you're tempting fate. The day I was robbed, I saw a truck with raised windows and full gear bags at Karpata. That's just silly to do, anywhere in the world.

But there is no danger here. They're not mugging people outside It Rains Fishes or from the weeds by Old Blue (where I was robbed). They're not hot-wiring trucks and parting them out (which would be an easy crime). They're not shaking down divers at checkpoints going up to Karpata. If there were real threats to a person, this would be different. There isn't. Just petty crime, the same that happens all around the world; and is worse in many dive destinations.

Look at the crime reports. Eight reports for the entire island? Over four days? All but two were against the residents. The armed robbery was not targeting tourists, but the business. There were only two crimes against tourists. I don't consider two regulators stolen from communal storage as crime against the island, most likely it was another tourist, and they should have secured their several hundred dollar regulators.

Crime is never a non-issue because you never know when it's your lucky day and they up their game. Whether the crime rate is better or worse than back home is irrelevant because back home I'm not sitting in your bathing suit on a beach with a couple of grand in equipment with me.

And when has a diver ever been robbed in person? It'd take alot of moxie to rob someone who is most likely armed and has a buddy, who is probably armed too.

This crime is mostly on the residents, as wwguy's post shows.

70,000 tourists visit Bonaire each year. $1 tax/fee whatever per person and the problem disappears. There that's done. Wasn't so hard after all.?

That might get you two officers. No vehicle though. So, what about all the other requirements of outfitting, training and equipping these officers? The additional personnel to supervise them? You really think two officers can stop this crime? All the criminal has to do is wait until they drive past. Or station their buddy with their phone down the road. Sitting on the beach isn't a crime, and that cop can't be everywhere.

This isn't something that can be solved by policing. You don't want to be a victim? Use your common sense. Don't take anything with you that you won't use diving. Leave the window down. Don't leave valuables in common areas or where others can see/grab them. Simple.

 

[gypsyjim]

Please don't lower yourself to such a silly level. Elimination of crime is not the benchmark, you know that, I know that.

Sorry. But you started the silly stuff.

The issue doesn't require oversimplification, reducing crime isn't a magic trick or like curing cancer. \


Let's face it if Bonaire cared or felt it was impacting THEM negatively they'd solve the problem in 2 months. They don't care about it.

 

[Mike]

Maybe. I don't think of losing a pair of sunglasses or a towel as crime. An annoyance, yes, but that's it. How often do you lose sunglasses or a towel at home? If you take something expensive, and leave it, you're tempting fate. The day I was robbed, I saw a truck with raised windows and full gear bags at Karpata. That's just silly to do, anywhere in the world..

Unbelievable the compromises people will pretend to be accepting of to argue on the internet.

I'd love to see how accepting you are if someone stole your stereo out of your car in your driveway by breaking the window and ripping it out of the dash. Or stole your air bags, or put your car up on blocks and took the tires. I'm sure you'd just report back here "Oh well, that's the way it is, it's that way all over the world."

Sure you would

I'm sure you'd also be super accepting when the police dept refused to even come to your home to file a report, telling you "that's the way it is all over the world, next time don't leave your stereo in your car, and take your air bags with you, oh and remove your tires if you're going to park your car for more than 20 minutes"

Only on scubaboard is crime acceptable and the norm

The absurdity of repeatedly posting statements about crime being normal is obviously lost to only a few here

 

[wwguy]

Let's face it if Bonaire cared or felt it was impacting THEM negatively they'd solve the problem in 2 months. They don't care about it.

This crime is mostly on the residents, as wwguy's post shows.

I'm so confused. I can't tell who the crime victims are anymore.

But there is no danger here. They're not mugging people outside It Rains Fishes or from the weeds by Old Blue (where I was robbed). They're not hot-wiring trucks and parting them out (which would be an easy crime). They're not shaking down divers at checkpoints going up to Karpata. If there were real threats to a person, this would be different. There isn't. Just petty crime, the same that happens all around the world; and is worse in many dive destinations.

Look at the crime reports. Eight reports for the entire island? Over four days? All but two were against the residents. The armed robbery was not targeting tourists, but the business. There were only two crimes against tourists. I don't consider two regulators stolen from communal storage as crime against the island, most likely it was another tourist, and they should have secured their several hundred dollar regulators.

Yes, look at the crime reports. PLEASE. There are RECENT POLICE REPORTS of tourists being mugged while walking the streets in town, a resort manager being accosted in the resort parking lot, armed robbery of a resort office, men attempting to steal a vehicle from tourists at Boca Onima, thieves stealing trucks at night from tourists, and MULTIPLE incidents of thieves burglarizing several OCCUPIED tourist accommodations.

All of this stuff really is going on. I don't understand the myopic apathy expressed here by you and others. Odds are that you'll never be a victim, which is probably why you're not a believer now, but there's no shortage of converts. I'm not trying to espouse any particular line of thinking other than awareness of what's really going on on the island. Good luck with that head-in-the-sand stuff.

Ah jeez... Now I've gone and done it. How do I turn this DAMNED CAPS LOCK KEY OFF?

Gypsyjim, you were right. This topic has been hashed and rehashed here without any progress.

 

[boat sju]

Unbelievable the compromises people will pretend to be accepting of to argue on the internet.

I'd love to see how accepting you are if someone stole your stereo out of your car in your driveway by breaking the window and ripping it out of the dash. Or stole your air bags, or put your car up on blocks and took the tires. I'm sure you'd just report back here "Oh well, that's the way it is, it's that way all over the world."

Sure you would

I'm sure you'd also be super accepting when the police dept refused to even come to your home to file a report, telling you "that's the way it is all over the world, next time don't leave your stereo in your car, and take your air bags with you, oh and remove your tires if you're going to park your car for more than 20 minutes"

Only on scubaboard is crime acceptable and the norm

The absurdity of repeatedly posting statements about crime being normal is obviously lost to only a few here

Now you're just describing the neighborhood I grew up in in Detroit. It's hard for me to get too worked up over having a pair of cheap sunglasses stolen from a rental truck.

The twin brothers who lived down the street always bought the same cars. Had to laugh at the irony when one morning both new Camaros were up on blocks with no wheels. Sorry, your post got me reminiscing. Had to share.

 

[T.C.]

I'd love to see how accepting you are if someone stole your stereo out of your car in your driveway by breaking the window and ripping it out of the dash. Or stole your air bags, or put your car up on blocks and took the tires. I'm sure you'd just report back here "Oh well, that's the way it is, it's that way all over the world."

And when does this happen to divers? Hint: Very, very rarely.

The radios in these vehicles are so common, so low tech that not even the poorest thief would steal them. I doubt these vehicles have airbags, as this isn't the US, and they're not required. And while stealing the tires may happen once in a (very) blue moon, that criminals are going to show up with blocks, jacks, wrenches, and tire irons to start stealing your tires, knowing the clear criminality of how this would appear to passerbys...it's not happening on any sort of measurable basis.

What happens is petty crime. A pair of sunglasses. A towel. Some post-dive snacks. Or a gear bag that I know I should have told them to take back to their room, but didn't.

I'm sure you'd also be super accepting when the police dept refused to even come to your home to file a report, telling you "that's the way it is all over the world, next time don't leave your stereo in your car, and take your air bags with you, oh and remove your tires if you're going to park your car for more than 20 minutes"

Unbelievable the compromises people will pretend to be accepting of to argue on the internet, huh? This is simply not happening on Bonaire. You're really reaching here. As gypsyjim said, you're starting the silly stuff.

Only on scubaboard is crime acceptable and the norm The absurdity of repeatedly posting statements about crime being normal is obviously lost to only a few here

So do they not have any crime in Denver? Do you go on these silly rants for every crime that happens in your city? The crime rate in Denver is far, far higher, yet I'm willing to bet that it doesn't even raise an eyebrow from you. You are willing to accept it because you know that it is normal for Denver.

Stop being silly. Bonaire is not some crime-ridden hellhole like you make it sound. Crime is extremely rare on Bonaire. And that is a fact.

---------- Post added April 21st, 2014 at 06:44 PM ----------

Yes, look at the crime reports. PLEASE. There are RECENT POLICE REPORTS of tourists being mugged while walking the streets in town, a resort manager being accosted in the resort parking lot, armed robbery of a resort office, men attempting to steal a vehicle from tourists at Boca Onima, thieves stealing trucks at night from tourists, and MULTIPLE incidents of thieves burglarizing several OCCUPIED tourist accommodations.

All of this stuff really is going on.

Suuurrrreee it is. It's rampant! It's a warzone out there, man! In fact, I'm bring my M4, plate carrier and night vision in June. We're going to travel in 4 vehicle convoys, and only half of us will dive at a time, while the rest of us pull security around the tactical coil of dive trucks. We're coming up with a guard roster at night for the vehicles.

I'm emailing the Navy, see if they can put an Arleigh Burke class destroyer in the Klein Bonaire channel so I can call for Naval Gunfire Support if those petty criminals are about to overwhelm our perimeter.

You should stay away, for your own safety. :shocked2:


Seriously; unless you can demonstrate that this is common, repeated, unpunished and dangerous....I really don't care. These incidents are extremely rare, that's why they catch people's attention. More common is the petty crime; and that is rare as well. You make it sound like downtown Detroit or something.

 

[wwguy]

It is what it is. What irks me is that you don't know and don't care. But I give you credit for at least admitting it.

 

[T.C.]

It is what it is. What irks me is that you don't know and don't care. But I give you credit for at least admitting it.

Nope. Because it's not true. You're just an alarmist. Nothing more. Sorry, but people like you don't get me concerned. Show me that it's dangerous or prevalent, then I'll care. Until then; alarmist stories don't get me worked up.

Fact: Crime, even petty crime is rare. Your alarmist stories aren't going to hide this fact. As I said, if you're worried about crime, then stay away. I like having the reefs to me and my buddies. We'll take simple precautions, use common sense, and I won't be so concerned with being on time so as to make us a target.

And we will be fine.