Tourist Alert! Corrupt cops watching you

If you rent a car to tour the Dominican Republic, keep a an eye and be very wary of travelling along secondary roads, some major highway spots and major Santo Domingo and other towns' intersections.

There are corrupt cops on the loose all around trying to extort money from unsuspected tourists who do not know the traffic laws too well and are unfamiliar with the confusing traffic signs and road regulations. These cops can easily identify rental cars and tourists and are on the prowl for an easy buck.

Recently, Aco Berkemeyer,a Netherlands citizen and top businessman and racecar driver from Curazao was stopped for a minor "infraction" which he says he did not commit and was threatened by a cop on an old dilapidated motorcycle in the area of Centro de Los Heroes on a Churchill Avenue Rotonda. The cop asked him for $1000 or he would take him to jail.

Mr.Berkemeyer, who was on a visit to see his wife, who is receiving chemotherapy in a hospital in Santo Domingo had no choice but to give him $700 he had in his pocket so he could continue taking his wife for a relaxing drive on the Malecon.

This is happening everyday in this city. Duarte Avenue is another hot spot for police corruption. Policemen on the prowl hide their badges and name tags so you cannot report them and when asked give fake names and badges. To put pressure on tourist they first escort you slowly along the streets, supposedly taking you to Police Headquarters to jail you,and then stop along the way on a safe spot to extort you. Watch out tourists!

Absolutely Right: We’re 3 out of 4 trips but only a problem for us in Santo Domingo and we have driven everywhere in DR.
What really surprised us was once on Abraham Lincoln down in the exclusive financial district.

Luck saved us on first event (my hailing a passing vw patrol car). That bandido got into our back seat. The second time WE RAN. Third time we RAN but did keep waving-signaling for the two to FOLLOW US to airport rental agency. (they eventually disappeared)

Two Santo Domingo lawyers say we’re fortunate. One of them had marijuana put in his back seat.

Budget & Payless Rentals know the problem WELL but are doing nothing. Incidentally there’s no markings, tags or special plates on their rental cars.

If Mr. Berkemeyer paid $700 US, Then this problem is definitely going to get worse.

Best Advice: Don’t drive in DR. There’s even bigger worries then rogue cops.

>>> "There’s even bigger worries then rogue cops." <<<

Alan could you please elaborate?

Regards,

. . . CES

Try not to stop for cops, and if you can't run, don't pay ! Just tell them to take you to the police station, most of petty corrupt cops will leave it there... Then if it's a bigger deal, and you have done something wrong, that's another story I can't advise you on...

I thought the new president was going to make "getting rid of bad cops" a priority??

With Chandelier, the biggest PRD member in Uniform???

U' gotta be kiddn!

Henry

First consideration is naturally, injury. We've seen so many horrific, senseless acidents that appear not to have a chance
cause they weren’t in reach of SD or PTO. Have you seen the emergency vehicles/paramedics?

Second, insurance OTHER then FULL Premium Tourist Rental. As we understand one needs fluent Spanish, DR residency and DR License for basics. Plus cellphone & readily available lawyers. (see message board archives)

Have you ever dealt with police reports. Our parked unoccupied rental was hit by a truck. That took a day & half !!!

Third, liability justice. A more uphill battle for non Dominicans.

PS: when we finish our house, we're packing in driving other then the odd scooter in our very small town. Actually, doing the annual numbers of ownership & cost compared to LOCAL hired (non-taxi) transport, FOR US, it's cheaper and a whole lot less
stressful.

What puzzles us is it is such a cheap simple remedy (sting) that would get great press? Have real police in an unmarked car follow a gringo COUPLE for no more then few hours. I’ll volunteer and told rental agencies such.

Twice we were hit just pass Pontoon bridge heading to airport around noon to 1 PM

Come down hard on just two of these rogues, play it big to the media and save a lot of potential tourist & investment loss.

It’s a mystery.