What in the world is going on?

D

Duarte

Guest
I'm reading the newspapers today, and it's just incredible the amount of really violent crimes that are happenning back home lately. I for one don't understand as to why this seems to be hapenning more and more lately.

Here's a sample:
-Tragedi! 3 people dead in fight between two families, in Jarabacoa.
-2 cousins killed in Mao, during a fight, that started over a dispute as to the kind of music they should listen to. The cousins were drinking.
-3 wounded during a gunfight, that originated when a man who was drinking urinated on the side of the house of a police officer. In Santo Domingo.
-Canadian tourist caught in the act of trying to strangle a 14 year old boy. - Puerto Plata
-Toddler found drowned and raped in a pool in Puerto Plata.
-DNI official shot dead over dispute in Pimentel, San Francisco De Macoris

I really can't explain it. The one thing that I can think of is the proliferation of hand guns, over the last few years. Let me know what you guys think. Is it just perception?
 
K

Kathy

Guest
Oh my goodness I can't believe it either. I can't stand the violence either. It makes people talk about our country and not want to visit again.
 
K

Kathy

Guest
Re: Why so bitter, John?

Yeah John Why so bitter? did you have a bad experience?
 
R

Reyna

Guest
Re: Why so bitter, John?

Go through the newspaper of any major US city and you'll find more than that. No place is paradise, but crime isn't just bad in the DR.
 
D

DR-VETERAN

Guest
Re: Why so bitter, John?

well complain about it but it is also the everyday fact and happening.
if you come here with the rosared paradise vision the reality grey will get you sooner or later and may hit you real hard.some "survive others get really "destroyed".
be happy if you come here to live and nothing negative happens to you.i believe many ex-pats or relocaters are at the beginning easy prey to the local predators(locals and foreigners) until they have learned the game which in many respects is played quite different than from where they come from.

about bitterness:if you have been betrayed,ripped off,robbed, assaulted,raped or been violated in any other way you have all the right to be bitter.if this happens in your own country it is one thing.it happens to you in paradise it's a complete different story.

we all live in the year 2001 but mentally many dominicans seem to live in the 15th century.
 
D

DR-VETERAN

Guest
Re:You forgot....

the 11 or so people which got shot during the last week in santo domingo.under the victims has been an retired coronel and the driver of an minister.if i remember correctly in these 2 cases nothing was stolen.if the killing was not an act of venegance could it be politically motivated?

handguns are not the problem.the lack of true sanctions is!!
 
A

A. Nony Mouse

Guest
Nothing new about violence in the DR. Any regular reader of Sucesos knows that it has been going on for a long time. These events often arise from family disputes in the barrios.
 
W

Walker

Guest
Bitter Jhon

Do no read the newspaper from USA: sometimes boys bring a machine gun into school and open fire without speaking to not one before pulling the trigger. It happen in the world liddder country. Not one like that, but it still can be in any latitude...
 
P

Phyllis

Guest
My Opinion

The DR is perfect and has next to no crime level compaired to Jamaica and Jamaica is visited by tourists all the time! Most DR terible crimes are domestic and if you mind your own business.. then for the most part, all will be well. I've been there 8 times in the last 3 years and feel more safe than I do at home in Canada!
 
J

Jesus

Guest
Durante

TELL ME WHERE AND WHAT NEWSPAPER OR THE WEB SITE YOU READ IT ON I CANT FIND ANY INFO ON IT
 
S

Sarah

Guest
Re: My Opinion

I'm on the same page with you Phyllis. 15 trips in almost 8 years and I feel so much more safe (for myself and my young daughter) in the DR than I ever have in the US. Rock-throwing/tire-burning huelgas and machete wielding frighten me the most. But, as in all things, MYOB and all's well. In my opinion, the DR is as near to paradise as anything I've ever experienced. However, I guess that's all in the eye of the beholder. And in all actuality, the more that DON'T think that the better...that means there's more of it for you and me, huh Phyllis?!
 
B

Bobs

Guest
Re: My Opinion

I'm with the ladies. As a frequent visitor to the DR, I've allways felt real safe. Safer in fact, then in some of the places I've patrolled in Europe. I've had quite some insight in the more nasty bits of human behaviour in very different parts of this globe, including the DR. As both a visitor and in a professional capacity, I've seen the stuff the brochures don't want you to know about, up close. I'll be the first to admit my compadres in the Policia Nacional could use some real help, in human skills and professional training, pay, equipment, etc. Most crime, unfortunately, is in the domestic area, some absolute tragedies there. With crime, it's the same everywhere : be alert and don't go looking for it. For sure it will then find you. If you flash money or wear heavy gold chains in the middle of the desert, some bedouin will come along and rob you.
 
C

CES

Guest
Re: My Opinion

The appearance of a new message thread with the topic line . . . "Is it Safe in the DR" most always has me asking "and what part of the planet do you come from?" "Oh . . . the USofA, one of the most violent societies in these modern times that we ALL live in." Come on folks, if you live in any large metropolitan area of the US, then you should be asking yourself "why do I put up with all the day to day crime that lurks just around most every corner?"

I've lived in a very nice suburban neighborhood (N. California) for the past 16 years, let's see now . . . burglarized once, had two cars stolen (one recovered next day, so much for the mentality of a teenage criminal), and at least six homicides, in the general area, that I know of. The police authorities in our community would probably be rated above average if compared the national norm for the USA. . .

Regards,

. . . CES
 
C

Clara

Guest
No different from the rest of the world :eek:)

A 17-year-old boy was charged with beating his father to death with a baseball bat because he was tired of Dad's admonishing him to turn down the music (Syracuse, N.Y., March).

And a sheriff's deputy and a police officer were shot to death, allegedly by the 41-year-old man to whose home the officers were called on a complaint about a loud stereo (Centreville, Md., February).

And a 48-year-old man was sentenced to 99 years in prison for killing a street musician, allegedly because the victim did not know the killer's favorite songs ("El Guajolote" and "The Turkey") (Corpus Christi, Texas, March).

And a 48-year-old man was asphyxiated in Zebulon, N.C., as a 36-year-old man held him down in a fight over which of the two men "was the baddest."

Israeli authorities announced that Miss Israel would wear a Galit Levi-designed, diamond-and-pearl, bulletproof evening gown at the Miss Universe pageant this month in Puerto Rico. [San Francisco Chronicle, 4-21-01]

[Associated Press, 3-5-01] [Reuters, 2-14-01] [Reuters, 3-10-01]
 
A

Andy

Guest
Re: No different from the rest of the world :eek:)

There's this much crime and more in the DR,...it's just not reported regularly in the news. And most visitors are not exposed to the "real" DR. No matter how many times they visit, they still see this place through rose-colored glasses. To truly understand the depth of crime and brutality among both Dominican and foreign residents in this country you have to live here.

Granted most of the world's developed countries have a serious criminal problem (including my home country-the US), but to say that the DR is above normal (or abnormal) human behavior is absurd.
 
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Sarah

Guest
Re: No different from the rest of the world :eek:)

Five years ago I did live in a small village near Barahona for a year. I purchased land there last summer and am now building a house where I plan to live once I "retire"...in as few years as possible. As I said before, and perhaps it's selfish of me, but PLEASE, keep thinking this way. It just means more for me!! ;)
 
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Andy

Guest
Re: No different from the rest of the world :eek:)

Go for it, you'll stumble upon the truth sooner or later.
 
G

Grahame Bush

Guest
Re: No different from the rest of the world :eek:)

Andy, ..... What IS your problem?
I have lived in many a pleasant land & seen far worse than takes place in the DR. I have lived in the DR for 9 years so know quite a bit of what goes on down here. IF you treat people right (i.e. as equals & not as lesser mortals) show them the respect they deserve, open up to them as they would to you, you will have no problems here.

I might be guessing here but maybe your people skills need working on a bit - certainly the tone of your communications give the impression that you are an angry young man!!

In answer to the original question 'why is there more crime in the DR these days', I suspect IF this is the case, it might be because of the increased intollerant 'Gringo' population. There are some 'Rough Uns' living in this country now & they can & do show a poor example to the Dominican population. Perhaps the main reason is that there is much better (& freer) press communication than there ever used to be & therefore more coverage on subjects that previously have been hushed up. I.e. there may not be more crime - just more coverage of the crimes that take place. Just a thought to stimulate others!!!!