Check this out! You can compare Santiago to any other major city and crime seems to be off the charts! Is this really that bad?
https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Dominican+Republic&country2=Dominican+Republic&city1=Puerto+Plata&city2=Santiago&tracking=getDispatchComparison
https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Dominican+Republic&country2=Dominican+Republic&city1=Puerto+Plata&city2=Santiago&tracking=getDispatchComparison