Assualt and Robbery in Sosua

[Markf128]

Crime in Washington DC

Crime Scene Stretches Into Home's Back Yard

Crime Scene Stretches Into Home's Back Yard - washingtonpost.com

 

[Lambada]

I have just read through the thread and, sadly, have concluded that it has underscored why, after almost a decade of frequent visits to the North Coast in particular, I decided that the DR was not a place I could retire to. Ultimately I decided that the Wild West was better experienced in old cowboy movies.

While there is a lot to love in the DR, this thread sums up for me why I have to love it from a distance.

How very refreshing to see someone prepared to acknowledge their own limitations. I don't happen to share your view because I've been living here quite some time & have no intention of leaving but I'd be the first to agree that we are all different & not everyone would be happy to live here. I'm sure you're mature enough to ignore those telling you to be 'mature' . Gracious me, whatever next.

And to those who will most probably tell you other places are more crime ridden, yes of course they are, but it's totally irrelevant. What you said refers to your decision about you & living here.

Best of luck to you wherever you decide to retire.

 

[abe]

Hello, Nals. That's a predictable response.

You may or may not have noticed that I have been coming down to the North Coast for a long time and reading DR1 for just as long. I have spent as long as three consecutive months there multiple times. I personally knew several victims of violent crime--one of whom was literally chopped up by machete wielding attackers and died.

The amount of effort one must go through to protect possessions, to avoid shake downs by police, to align oneself with the proper people, etc. is simply more than I care to go through.

I lived in Manhattan for many years--in tough neighborhoods and in nice neighborhoods. Your argument that crime can happen anywhere is obviously true--and also irrelevant.

I am well traveled throughout several continents--I have lived for long periods of time in places significantly poorer than the DR. I am not a naive, A-I loving tourist.

The aggregate amount of specific information I have about crime--whether it is real estate scams, hooker pick pocketing, flim-flam of all sorts, or the worst kind of violent crime--has simply convinced me that the DR is still too wild for me.

Add to that the unsavory human trafficking evident in the streets of Sosua in particular--I mean "putas" and their clients on so many corners--and the balance has tipped for me.

Tough it out, if you care to. I am not coming back--and I do regret it. Because I also met plenty of wonderful people and have enormous respect for the vast majority of the Dominican population.

And I will miss the Presidente and the baseball.

 

[Lambada]

I don't think Nals lives here, abe. He's in Connecticut.

 

[La Mariposa]

Hello, Nals. That's a predictable response.

You may or may not have noticed that I have been coming down to the North Coast for a long time and reading DR1 for just as long. I have spent as long as three consecutive months there multiple times. I personally knew several victims of violent crime--one of whom was literally chopped up by machete wielding attackers and died.

The amount of effort one must go through to protect possessions, to avoid shake downs by police, to align oneself with the proper people, etc. is simply more than I care to go through.

I lived in Manhattan for many years--in tough neighborhoods and in nice neighborhoods. Your argument that crime can happen anywhere is obviously true--and also irrelevant.

I am well traveled throughout several continents--I have lived for long periods of time in places significantly poorer than the DR. I am not a naive, A-I loving tourist.

The aggregate amount of specific information I have about crime--whether it is real estate scams, hooker pick pocketing, flim-flam of all sorts, or the worst kind of violent crime--has simply convinced me that the DR is still too wild for me.

Add to that the unsavory human trafficking evident in the streets of Sosua in particular--I mean "putas" and their clients on so many corners--and the balance has tipped for me.

Tough it out, if you care to. I am not coming back--and I do regret it. Because I also met plenty of wonderful people and have enormous respect for the vast majority of the Dominican population.

And I will miss the Presidente and the baseball.

Very good post. As for me I miss the Presidente, the Macorix 8 a?os and my dominican good friends.

 

[NALs]

I don't think Nals lives here, abe. He's in Connecticut.

Yes, correct.

A prominent American doctor witnessed the murders of his wife and children during a brutal armed robbery at their home in a small affluent suburban town yesterday.

Its lawless I tell you, lawless!!

-NALs :cheeky:

 

[heliace]

Well Written

I agree with you Abe. I think crime and scams are very high here, especially in the tourist areas, considering the population.
They make it hard to relax here.You have to be on alert constantly, day or night.

 

[woofsback]

wherever there is money there will be crime
it has been around since man-kind
when times are hard it will increase
the bigger the amount of money the greater the chances
regardless of what country
and it's not always the poor
...doctors, laywers, priests, bankers, police, politicians,....ect.
in big cities and small towns

smart people are just more aware of thier suttoundings and void situations
BEFORE they happen

 

[El Rey de Mangu]

From the DA's chair...

wherever there is money there will be crime
it has been around since man-kind
when times are hard it will increase
the bigger the amount of money the greater the chances
regardless of what country
and it's not always the poor
...doctors, laywers, priests, bankers, police, politicians,....ect.
in big cities and small towns

smart people are just more aware of thier suttoundings and void situations
BEFORE they happen

This is a best another gross generalization. Not completely untrue, but not representative of the min/max on the Gauss.

The truth is, the case literature and criminology research point overwhelmingly to the hypothesis that crime generally does not seek out the innocent. N.B. I am NOT saying that this doesn't happen everyday, BUT on the overall math, we find, over and over and over, that victims of crimes are associated in one way or another with the outcome. Here, we are not counting the "bystander" muggings, violations, etc. that "appear" to be random, because these types of crimes are not in the majority (simply generate more "press").

Intelligence (or lack thereof) has very little to do with avoiding "getting caught" or becoming a victim of a crime. In fact, the more intelligent the individual, the more confident he feels to take bigger risks which can result in more severe consequences.

From violent to white-collar, crime tends to be sought out.

Check out "The Smartest in the Room".

Rey out.

 

[mountainannie]

I know that lots of people who come here have a dream of living ... well... how do I put this.... "above their means"--- which is to say that they could perhaps have a gorgeous villa on the beach and play golf everyday... when in Florida, they could perhaps just get a condo........

There are many other islands where life is safer. I just spoke with a couple of NYers who had retired to St Thomas, where they regularly pay $200 for dinner for two. Another friend who lives in the BVI, but has to rent out her dream house and live in the apartment.

What I do not understand is why there are not more URBAN people who lived in NYC or DC or whatever, who consider retiring in Santo Domingo. Where I live, I can walk to everything I need, BUT I have an outdoor pool at a nearby pool where I can swim every day, get to the beach in under an hour, get to the other beaches in a few, etc etc etc.... I have never had any worries about security here since i live among Dominicans.

 

[El Rey de Mangu]

I know that lots of people who come here have a dream of living ... well... how do I put this.... "above their means"--- which is to say that they could perhaps have a gorgeous villa on the beach and play golf everyday... when in Florida, they could perhaps just get a condo........

There are many other islands where life is safer. I just spoke with a couple of NYers who had retired to St Thomas, where they regularly pay $200 for dinner for two. Another friend who lives in the BVI, but has to rent out her dream house and live in the apartment.

What I do not understand is why there are not more URBAN people who lived in NYC or DC or whatever, who consider retiring in Santo Domingo. Where I live, I can walk to everything I need, BUT I have an outdoor pool at a nearby pool where I can swim every day, get to the beach in under an hour, get to the other beaches in a few, etc etc etc.... I have never had any worries about security here since i live among Dominicans.

Annie,

Although I have lived in SD for years now (Las Praderas, Los Prados and Zona Oriental), it simply is a very difficult place to live. One need have a passion for this place like folks like us. The key infrastructures (civil, social, legal and tech) are far from smooth processes which help contribute to overall quality of life.

I must add that since 2004, I have seen LEAPS AND BOUNDS which I why I have stayed. However, selling folks on SD is not trivial, just as selling folks on NYC is no simple task. When I was living in Zurich, my colleagues used to dread commuting to NYC, and they referred to it as "The beast". I tend to liken this to SD more or less in the same tone of voice.

For me, there is no other place to live, but what you are suggesting requires a darned good sell.

 

[Ogre of the Caribbean]

Certainly gives a clearer idea of who runs and dominates this site - the Dominican equivalent of the "Daily Mail" reader.
I certainly know the Dominican Republic but would never advocate killing muggers as been an appropriate response.

Made me laugh outloud :laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

[cobraboy]

What I do not understand is why there are not more URBAN people who lived in NYC or DC or whatever, who consider retiring in Santo Domingo. Where I live, I can walk to everything I need, BUT I have an outdoor pool at a nearby pool where I can swim every day, get to the beach in under an hour, get to the other beaches in a few, etc etc etc.... I have never had any worries about security here since i live among Dominicans.

I dunno.

I'm an urban guy....niot NYC urban, but a city boy nonetheless...and I find Santo Domingo to be brutal. Congested, noisy and expensive. But with palm trees.

It does not seem to be an easy place to live.

 

[Celt202]

I've been a cliff dweller most of my life. (city boy)

I love Santo Trafficjam, even though I had to give a clown a face full of pepper spray while walking on M?ximo G?mez in broad daylight about a year ago. aranoid:

I ruined his day.

 

[AlterEgo]

You know, the posters may have hit on something..... I'm one of those people who feels simply ALIVE when I'm walking in Manhattan, it gives me energy and makes me feel part of the whole. My husband, on the other hand, absolutely hates it. Stick him in the mountains and he's in heaven. [his father was born in Navarrette, maybe it's his Cibao genes] I love a sense of neighborhood, and I'm one of those people who feels safer there than in a remote country setting where I tend to feel more vulnerable. Nuts, I know, but that's the way it is. I know Mountainannie also heralds from Manhattan, and maybe that's what makes us love Santo Domingo. A sense of familiarity? The way that every neighborhood has their own cluster of stores, bakeries, doctors, etc. The traffic :ermm:

I've lived in a very small beach town [NJ] for 30 years, it's about 2 miles across and, where I live, 4 blocks from ocean to bay. We don't even have a high school. But I can walk to the corner to 2 blocks of stores where I can literally find everything I might ever need [for a price of course], and can drive to every store imaginable within 15 miles. I can sit on my front porch and smell the ocean - and hear it on some days. Santo Domingo is like that, and I think that's why I love it.

AE

 

[greydread]

Sure...

That's sad to hear Let's hope they find them and kill them.

.....Because their lives are not worth nearly as much as our convenience and certainly not as much as our property.

If the victim had been sliced open, badly beaten, kidnapped, killed or otherwise mutilated I'd be right there with you. I just don't think that this crime reached lynch mob level.

However, throw in a couple of "isms" and it becomes clear:

Colonialism - put these guys on the "have-not" side of the equation initially.

Feudalism - permits the assumption that the poor must remain poor to maintain the balance of "orderly society".

Cronyism and Nepotism (with a dash of Despotism) - ensure the endurance of the formerly mentioned "isms" and protects the status of their practitioners.

Vigilantism - Reinforces "isms" previously mentioned to keep the honest poor and honest through the precise application of fear (see Jim Crow).


One Man's Heaven is another Man's Hell.

 

[BettyDiamond]

lets do the time warp again !

 

[mountainannie]

Annie,

Although I have lived in SD for years now (Las Praderas, Los Prados and Zona Oriental), it simply is a very difficult place to live. One need have a passion for this place like folks like us. The key infrastructures (civil, social, legal and tech) are far from smooth processes which help contribute to overall quality of life.

I must add that since 2004, I have seen LEAPS AND BOUNDS which I why I have stayed. However, selling folks on SD is not trivial, just as selling folks on NYC is no simple task. When I was living in Zurich, my colleagues used to dread commuting to NYC, and they referred to it as "The beast". I tend to liken this to SD more or less in the same tone of voice.

For me, there is no other place to live, but what you are suggesting requires a darned good sell.

well I have a very small sector of SD, like the Village where I grew up ....

I have everything I need in Gazcue... my neighborhood with my little supermarket, and pharmacy, and English Library, PLUS the pool

I live like a NYer,, which is without a car!!!

Gracias a dios. I have a fantastic driver who takes me into the "City" when I need to go for some reason.. shop, say at a big store,,,, get an xray for my teeth...

But those who live in the "burbs" like Los Rios, Arroyo Hondo, Casicagasques, yeah... well, for them ... they have the gorgeous home and a hellacious commute.. like the people who live in Scarsdale or Great Neck..

But I love where I am.. think it is better than almost anywhere in NYC.. I can walk to the ocean every day... and to the Zona if I want excitement..

Plus I get to nod to locals every day--- the bag ladies,the flower seller, the shoe shine boy..

Most of the west of Gomez... well.. those streets are not made for walking..

 

[Hlywud]

original post

original post 2008 and for some reason resurrected today,

?

perhaps it should be curtailed

 

[calverde]

there are thugs and robbers here. LADRONNES ! do as they say and you wont get hurt. i know from experience. fight back and they may hurt you bad.