crime issues in POP

I've been asking myself lately, and have raised the same question several times on dr1, whether dr1 does more to help or hurt tourism in the DR. waytogo's post in a previous thread was not a positive answer.

It is one thing for those of us who live in the DR or who spend frequent vacations here to read these reports. We can put them in perspective and not leap to conclusions about criminals running rampant. Quite another for those who have spent little time here, or who have stayed on the resort property because they were told it was unsafe to leave to read all these reports, and the pages of follow up as everyone with little else to do at the time makes a meal of the report, to read them.

If they decide to go where it must be safer because they are not reading all these reports, I think it is perfectly understandable.

I am sure that I will be reading a lot of posts that disagree with me, but that will change nothing in my mind. I think you and dr1 are painting a false picture of what it is like to vacation in the DR when so much time is spent on violent crime and prostitution.

dv8 said:

i think you put too much weight on this page. i am sure that vast majority of tourists who come to DR has no interest in dr1 and does zero research on DR in general. posting stories like that has no effect whatsoever on vacationers. and besides, i write how it is to live in DR, not holiday in a nice hotel.

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I don't agree you write how it is to live in the Dominican Republic. I have been living here since 1986 and you are not describing how I see life in the Dominican Republic, any more than the crime reporters writing about the almost constant shootings in Chicago are describing the life there as seen by my brother and sister in law who have lived there for many, many years.

If what you report was representative of life as I see it, i would have left a long time ago. As would most expats who have lived here any length of time.

Derfish said:

Violent crime bad, prostitution good
Der Fish

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Actually I think you'd find the research indicates the two go together.

bob saunders said:

Actually I think you'd find the research indicates the two go together.

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Has there been an increase in crime due to declining tourism on the North Coast? Someone said in a similar post, the DR is about money -- if the local economy suffers, does crime become an easier option?

For those that are suggesting the situation is being blown out of proportion, why was that meeting held in POP recently to address this specific issue?

dv8 said:

ken, and you are telling me that i focus on the negative? you are doing just the same now. if you did not you would know that i present a fair picture of what DR is like. i write about people i know, illusive dominican middle class. i write about food, where to go to get your car fixed, how much to pay for certain items. i write about a normal life, which is rather boring. about safety measures, animal care, family events. yet you only comment on me writing about crime.

i will not say to you not to read my post, au contraire, i would like to read and comment more. i will not challenge you to read newspapers every day and post chicken soup for the soul articles because you already report things that interest you from sosua news (although i wish you'd offer to edit those articles, it's incredible that with such language skills this man decided to be a journalist and not a lumberjack in syberia). the fact i report crime does not mean i live among criminals or commit atrocious acts myself. i simply report.

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After nearly 10 years as lurker/observer to finally joining I would agree that you dv8 are a fantastic asset to DR1. Blunt at times, but always classy. This response to Ken is indicative of that.

Well Ken is right about the negative PR.
But then it is hardly dv8 fault.
Bottom line is the dr is not ready for tourists. People ( dominicans) hardly put themseves out for tourists, here, especially I find in "touristy paces". It is all buisness ( which is not a bad thing, just saying ).
So u have a country ( ok a region, the north coast ) which WANTS tourists to come out of the AI system ( and rightly so ) but the poulation not so much so. As soon as a whole bunch of tourists start getting scammed ( not crime but just stuff like gringo prices, wrong change.....) do u think they will be comkng back??

Then crime, ok its not bagdad. But u still need to make sure tourists are safe because they are vunerable ( vacation, language, cultre....).
In the dr, sadly tourist/gringo equals money. So here u stand out as rich, whereas back home, or even in northamerica/europe as a whole, u sort of blend in. So even if some american cities are perhaps more dangerous ( which I wouldnt know), u still have more chances of being targeted here i the dr, because u stand out.
Selfishly I am intrested in dv8 posts on crimes against tourist/expats, solely because it concerns me. It doesnt intrest me to read about dominican cri e in general, committed towards dominicans ( excempt curiosity ) because I will never be mistaken for a dominican!!

Gotta agree with Ken on this one dv8. The last 8 threads you have started 6 were about crimes against foreigners, one about a haitian giving birth and the other was about Cestur, or the former polytour.....

dv8, I'm not for, nor am I against you posting crime stories. I personally don't like reading about it, but others do. I hardly post myself, so I don't have much room to talk about anyone posting. But, what about this. You like reporting crime obviously, so take it a step further and do some investigative reporting. I'm not talking about interviewing victims, following leads, etc. I'm talking about providing some perspective with your stories. It's not a big secret that high profile crimes in any country, ie; murders, kidnappings, crimes against tourists etc. make up a small percentage of actual crime committed, but make up a very large percentage of news coverage. Simple really, would news sell if they gave each crime it's allotted percentage? No, because nobody wants to wade through the thousands of petty crimes to get to the high profile stuff. What about painting he complete picture. For instance, when you post news about a horrible crime against a foreigner, put it into perspective with facts and figures that let people know how many foreigners are living in that particular area or another way of putting it, what percentage of foreigners living in the DR were victims of crime within a certain time frame or a certain geographical area. Extra work I know, but really the only way to get the "big picture". Again, I could care less myself, but this might decrease the criticism you receive, and I can see both sides of this argument. People wanting to know about this stuff, and others wanting it put into proper perspective.

So, I guess the best thing to do, is hide all the negative stories about the DR. Paint it as Disneyland, where we all wander around without a care in the world. It is best people come here and feel all warm and fuzzy about the safety of the DR. Incredible.

I guess there is a fair amount of self interest being displayed here. Fine, paint a rosy picture. Let the first person who stumbles into a violent situation be damned....its his fault he did not know...

dv8 said:

hmm. i never thought about it. i don't even translate the stories i am posting, i just sum them up in few lines. clearly they are not meant for turistas, i assume the readers know enough spanish to understand the article linked and they live here, so they have some knowledge of dominican reality. i don't think big picture will work here, there is no need to root the events in some unrelated historical/geographical background.

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Forget it dv8. Too many people here with too much on the line to want to accept there is crime here in the DR. Self interest overrides the need for people to understand the realities they could face here. According to most, bad thing only happen to people who are involved in bad things themselves.

dv8 said:

hmm. i never thought about it. i don't even translate the stories i am posting, i just sum them up in few lines. clearly they are not meant for turistas, i assume the readers know enough spanish to understand the article linked and they live here, so they have some knowledge of dominican reality. i don't think big picture will work here, there is no need to root the events in some unrelated historical/geographical background.

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I guess your critics will wonder why you even bother posting this stuff for everyone then. The readers know Spanish, live here, and have knowledge of Dominican reality, so they should already know this or have the means and ability to find it. Again, I could care less, just offering a suggestion.

Maybe a new forum..the good, the bad and the ugly. Some like to know what is going on around them. While some of what is being posted is not the pretty side of things, it also is a eye opener for many. I live in the Capital, been here for quite awhile. So I know pretty much where to go and not go, what to do and not do and the most important who to befriend and who not to. Those who are new here or those who are planning to come here may learn a valuable lesson in these not so nice news updates. To me if someone takes away just one thing learned from these events then it is a post well worth it.

I for one appreciate the posts DV8 takes time to seek out and post, as I do not read the local rags..... nor do I want to bury my head in the sand. The DR is not Disneyland (although some here would like to portray it as such).

Derfish said:

Of course it is where prostitution is criminalized.
In a free society it would not be.

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Prostitution is legal in the DR. Since you live in the area where the increased crime and mayhem is perhaps you can enlighten us to the reason for the increase. Are these criminals deportees fro the US, local fellows, Haitians, pimps, drug addicts?

Continue your good work DV8... For the ones who go crazy about a few murders.... let them talk... Keep your head up DV8, we need people like you on DR1.

you just reported basically handbag snatches, these sort of things dont even make a newspaper in other countries