Crime in Dominican Tourist Zones

[Olly]

Attempted break in at our house on North Coast. Glass smashed but ladrones frightened off. Property damage only.

Olly

[whirleybird]

I appreciate that 'tourist zones' are very important and lack of crime will encourage more tourists which in turn is good for the country. However, most 'one-off' tourists who were victims of crime will probably not respond or even read this thread and the reports are basically from residents or frequent visitors to the DR so, therefore, will there be any sort of an accurate picture drawn from the responses?

Perhaps there could also be another poll which includes those that choose to reside outside the 'tourist zones' to see if they have similar experiences.

[BushBaby]

I think this thread/Poll was started WB as a direct result of the comment last week by Head of Politur, that there was zero crime in the 'Tourist Areas'. The results of this poll is to be sent to said gentleman to show the level of crime noted or reported to us by residents & the tourists so that we may advise the head of Politur what is REALLY happening ............ once he takes his rose coloured glasses off.

Sorry if I have misinterpreted your intentions OP! ~ Grahame.

[whirleybird]

Originally Posted by BushBaby

I think this thread/Poll was started WB as a direct result of the comment last week by Head of Politur, that there was zero crime in the 'Tourist Areas'. The results of this poll is to be sent to said gentleman to show the level of crime noted or reported to us by residents & the tourists so that we may advise the head of Politur what is REALLY happening ............ once he takes his rose coloured glasses off.

Sorry if I have misinterpreted your intentions OP! ~ Grahame.

Ah, for a brief senile moment there I had overlooked the report of that statement, Grahame. Now I appreciate the thinking behind the Poll more fully so I will just add that my credit card was cloned on a Sunday lunchtime in Cabarete some time ago by a gentleman sporting a full cast on his arm but, despite alleged camera evidence of the crime, nothing was done by the bank or the Politur but, fortunately, I was able to recover the £1200 stolen from my UK bank.

[minerva_feliz]

Originally Posted by BushBaby

I think this thread/Poll was started WB as a direct result of the comment last week by Head of Politur, that there was zero crime in the 'Tourist Areas'. The results of this poll is to be sent to said gentleman to show the level of crime noted or reported to us by residents & the tourists so that we may advise the head of Politur what is REALLY happening ............ once he takes his rose coloured glasses off.

Sorry if I have misinterpreted your intentions OP! ~ Grahame.

That is exactly what the intention was. I tried to make the poll fit that claim as much as possible. Of course it has some issues, like no way to track when the crimes happened, whether they happened to residents/frequent visitors/one-time visitors, and doesn't include non-tourist areas. If someone else wants to make a poll for residents/non-tourist areas, go for it...

Hopefully the results don't scare people off from coming here because as of right now MOST people have been victims of a crime, though luckily most are non-violent.

[margaret]

I've never been a victim of crime anywhere in the Dominican Republic. Knock on wood.

[Lambada]

Originally Posted by minerva_feliz

That is exactly what the intention was. I tried to make the poll fit that claim as much as possible. Of course it has some issues, like no way to track when the crimes happened, whether they happened to residents/frequent visitors/one-time visitors, and doesn't include non-tourist areas. If someone else wants to make a poll for residents/non-tourist areas, go for it...

Hopefully the results don't scare people off from coming here because as of right now MOST people have been victims of a crime, though luckily most are non-violent.

I applaud the intention of feeding back to Politur, minerva_feliz. Whether it'll change their pronouncements of zero crime in tourist areas, is debateable, but the effort is worth a try. The only problem I find is the date of crime & for that reason I haven't responded to the poll, but I'll comment here. In nearly 17 years of living here, only 2 incidents: one was borrowing the Dominican flag outside our house in centre of Puerto Plata the night before an election (& forgetting to return it) & I really don't define that as a crime & the second was theft of the soft top from my jeep, parked in street outside our home, in the days when I had a jeep with a soft top. Both incidents were 13+ years ago, & I really feel that would skew your results if included, so I haven't voted.

I was also the second person present in the foiled attempt to purloin goods by Aduana at PP airport which BushBaby posted - again a long time ago (but we know it has gone on more recently to others) & they were unsuccessful, so an attempted crime, not a crime per se.

More recently, a gringo friend was murdered in 2006, but in a non-tourist part of PP. This crime is still on the list of unsolved murders in the province of PP.

[Papa Benito]

1.Attempted home invasion 2.Police bribes 3x. 3.Hit and run car damage. 4.Police terrorism. 5.Real estate broker fraud. 6.Attempted pickpocketing. 7.Several ladrones pistol attack on a condo complex. It was all my fault! Yeah right!

[Black Dog]

This thread alone, although done with very good intent, could be very harmful to the tourism industry and paints a very black picture of the DR! Just an observation!

[LindseyKaufman]

I would bet that those who have NOT experienced crime are the silent majority. Perhaps those who have no crime story to tell are simply not posting on this poll....just a supposition......

Lindsey