DR1 Paranoia?

[RHM]

Crime and Paranoia

I have about a week left in the DR before I get on a one-way plane ride back to Boston. Looking back, I can honestly say that there are many precautions I take these days that I never would have worried about 6 years ago.

Crime is one thing, violent crime is another. There's simply no reason to shoot someone for the cell-phone and/or wallet but it's happening more and more. The chief of police said that 68% of all DR crimes are committed with a gun. Life has become very cheap.

People don't have to be paranoid but you do have to be vigilant. Pay attention to everything and everyone and never, ever fully trust anyone. Sounds pessimistic but it's true. Be wary - especially if they wear a suit and fancy themselves a "professional." I was given the same advice when I moved here and I've let my guard down for very few people. Good choice.

* Personally, I was robbed once....2:30PM in Gazcue...one guy on a motorcycle ripped the chain right off my neck...very fast...I was lucky that was it.

RHM

 

[Bellamona]

That's the way I have learned the real game too. My house has been sold fast and at my price,thanks god. Almost 5 years later I still fill the psycological pain though

Just a comment based on my personal experience: I lived in Colombia for 2 years in the late 90's and never had a problem. I took public transportation from 5AM to 9PM 7 days a week. Here in the DR I was robbed on one occasion and attempted a second time (tiguere punched me in the face and knocked me down when he couldn't pull my bag off my shoulder). BUT I also lived in LA for 30 years and was carjacked at gun point among other things-very scary.

But the order in which I feel safe walking down the street would be:

LA
Bogota/Medellin
Santo Domingo

Not sure why, that's just how I feel, and again, simply based on my experiences.

 

[Bellamona]

oooppps

looks like i picked up the wrong quote-sorry La Mariposa!

 

[laurajane]

If you are paranoid-delusional, we know who you are and what you want. Just stay online so we can trace your IP address.

 

[Bayx-**]

For a country where almost everyone owns an illegal Weapon, there isn't a bit of Paranoia. Isn't it ironic that most people who get rob or rip-off here are taken by the business people, the ones with a suit and a tie or just the average Dominicans? For a country where there isn’t any Law and Order, I find it pretty safe more like Heaven Safe!

 

[Bayx-**]

Just a comment based on my personal experience: I lived in Colombia for 2 years in the late 90's and never had a problem. I took public transportation from 5AM to 9PM 7 days a week. Here in the DR I was robbed on one occasion and attempted a second time (tiguere punched me in the face and knocked me down when he couldn't pull my bag off my shoulder). BUT I also lived in LA for 30 years and was carjacked at gun point among other things-very scary.

But the order in which I feel safe walking down the street would be:

LA
Bogota/Medellin
Santo Domingo

Not sure why, that's just how I feel, and again, simply based on my experiences.

Sorry to hear
I on the other hand I have a very different experience.
I taken the public transportation for years and never had a problem.
I driven my vehicle numbers of times along, day and night, even got stop many time by police officer and never had a problem. I even used to give strangers a lift of course I don’t that anymore.

I guess I been lucky.

 

[jrhartley]

I didnt feel that safe in LA I suppose its what you get used to - not knowing the area I accidently went into a down and outs cafe for tea and refreshments- I did remark that the clientel were rather scruffy lol I only noticed what it was when I passed it again in daylight

 

[TeamIssy]

If I hadn't come to the DR before, researching on this site would have quickly talked my me out of going. I mean talking about having armed guards 24/7, carrying guns to leave the house, getting ripped off constantly because you are a gringo, being harassed by prostitutes constantly, and police corruption, either nonchalantly or exaggerating to the point that it seems like getting burglarized, having your boyfriend run off with a hooker/having your girlfreind seduced by a sankie, being short changed every time you make a transaction, having your credit card "duplicated" , bribing the police, and ensuring your hotel is fortified with heavy machine guns are just part of vacationing in the DR.
Now by no means am I trying to say that these things aren't real problems, the average person going on a vacation for a week in a touristy area only needs to be aware and alert. They don't need to be flamed or so scared that the opt to stay in a walled off AI compound or to just go to Hawaii.

 

[cobraboy]

If I hadn't come to the DR before, researching on this site would have quickly talked my me out of going. I mean talking about having armed guards 24/7, carrying guns to leave the house, getting ripped off constantly because you are a gringo, being harassed by prostitutes constantly, and police corruption, either nonchalantly or exaggerating to the point that it seems like getting burglarized, having your boyfriend run off with a hooker/having your girlfreind seduced by a sankie, being short changed every time you make a transaction, having your credit card "duplicated" , bribing the police, and ensuring your hotel is fortified with heavy machine guns are just part of vacationing in the DR.
Now by no means am I trying to say that these things aren't real problems, the average person going on a vacation for a week in a touristy area only needs to be aware and alert. They don't need to be flamed or so scared that the opt to stay in a walled off AI compound or to just go to Hawaii.

There is a huge difference between being a tourist sequestered within the walls of a gated, guarded All-Inclusive and living here 24/7/365.

That being said, if I read about how to live in, say, the Bronx or Brooklyn, I'd prolly not visit the US either.

 

[jaguarbob]

live in SD and Samana...have no car and walk the city all the time,as well as publicos.Have only been ripped off once in city by street money exchange,when I FIRST LIVED HERE AND NEW NO BETTER.Now I am street smart,and Dominicans are great people as a whole...I actually have to be more observant in Las Terenas,as there are more tigres per capita than in city.I actually have a house in El Limon which is a quiet town,with not much trouble and go to LT only if necessary.
bob

 

[malikp]

I feel like the dominicans who live there are paranoid more than foreigners. My cousins pretty much ran the streets of moca and still had search parties for me if it was was past 11pm lmao.

 

[NALs]

I feel like the dominicans who live there are paranoid more than foreigners. My cousins pretty much ran the streets of moca and still had search parties for me if it was was past 11pm lmao.

A good number of Dominicans love morbidity and the sensationalist Dominican newspaper industry supplies much of that.

Have you ever asked yourself why so many newspapers in the DR put pictures of dead bodies with little regard for public discretion, even when the body is badly mutilated?

They sensationalize to the nth degree and its psychological effects is reflected in the attitude of many.

The so-called moral decay I blame it on the newspapers and television news. People have been killed for centuries for all sorts of reason, but only after sensationalism and morbidity took a precedence in the delivery of news; only then did this sense of demoralization has been most evident.

BTW, this is not exclusive of the DR, but of Latin America as a whole. The psychological imprints this morbidity and sensationalism has on people is something that should be taken into account by these so called "journalists."

-NALs

 

[NALs]

The way newspapers and the media works...

I posted this as a response to another thread, but that thread was deleted, so...

In a 1987 article in Media, Culture and Society, Jack Katz of UCLA suggested that reading crime news is a "ritual moral exercise." In other words, readers know the material will depress them and frighten them, but not reading it will in some way be more distressing. According to Katz, we read crime because it allows us to work through our own moral issues. It allows us to experience emotions vicariously and to feel superior without requiring us to actually do anything.*

In her 1980 book, Crime News and the Public, Doris A. Graber noted: "The mass media supply a large amount of data about specific crimes. These data convey the impression that criminals threaten a legitimate social system and its institutions."*

Nevertheless, the public perception is that we are under assault. All media, including newspapers, tend to write about violent crime more than any other kind of crime.*

The news media’s overemphasis on crime news hurts both society and the news media. The Freedom Forum report pointed out that this disproportionate and superficial coverage fuels public fear and anxiety...*

In the journal Crime and Delinquency, Steven M. Gorelick wrote that objectivity for journalists is actually "a series of practices that journalists use to defend themselves against mistakes and criticism."*

We [journalists] are very good at covering arrests, and we are good at covering convictions. But we do both as isolated activities. We are less good at covering a criminal act as it goes through the judicial process.*

Consequently, readers see crimes being committed, but they have no sense of the criminal being processed, convicted and jailed. Our criminal justice system does not always work perfectly, but it often works better than we let our readers see. The result is the impression that violent crimes are increasing and the courts are letting criminals go free.*

How a domestic crime involving an ordinary middle-class couple became a long-running soap opera is a tale of circumstances elevating the mundane.

It's about the news media's pack mentality when they smell a titillating story. It's about a formula for success that news organizations, particularly cable TV, have come to depend on.

The media's ample coverage raised questions about its news judgment — why an arguably inconsequential case hit such heights when countless others, particularly involving minorities and the poor, are ignored. Readers and viewers are by now familiar with the Polly Klaas, JonBenet Ramsey and Elizabeth Smart stories, but how many can name a black or Latino victim of similar crimes?**

Cable executives say higher ratings prove stories such as the Peterson case are what viewers want. In the last half of August, when Frey was on the stand, Fox's viewership was up 17% over the same period in 2003, according to Nielsen media research. Greta Van Susteren's prime-time show, which focused on Peterson night after night, drew 43% more viewers.**

What the Peterson case hasn't done is bring balance to crime coverage. When Polly Klaas was kidnapped in Petaluma, Calif., when JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in Boulder, Colo., and when Elizabeth Smart was abducted in Salt Lake City, media blanketed those stories.

But rare is the victim of color who gets such treatment.

"It absolutely is a pattern that's been repeated endless times," Berkeley's Retzinger says. "But there's no excuse or explanation for the kind of complete bias and racial inequality representation in the news."**

Sources:

*Crime coverage is tailor-made for newspapers

**California crime becomes a nationwide fixation

Extra Reading:

Violent Crime Captures the Headlines

Fallacies

Food for thought!

-NALs

 

[DR Mpe]

I posted this as a response to another thread, but that thread was deleted, so...





















Sources:

*Crime coverage is tailor-made for newspapers

**California crime becomes a nationwide fixation

Extra Reading:

Violent Crime Captures the Headlines

Fallacies

Food for thought!

-NALs

Yeah, very interesting. Indeed, a lot of food for thought. Why did you delete my earlier post? Was it not a poll about paranoia? At least my post was about the subject.

 

[Mack]

Forgive me for this late reply I just read this post today.
NALS I didn't follow this paragraph.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Some DR1ers seem obssessed with kidnappings despite these being relatively rare since less than 50 kidnappings a year occur in this country of barely 10 million people. Expatriates being scared to death of being kidnapped, when on a yearly basis if 2 foreigners are kidnapped in the DR, that is a record for any year!

What country are you refering to when you say

since less than 50 kidnappings a year occur in this country of barely 10 million people

Thanks,
Mack.

 

[Malibook]

It seems like one can't even mention a crime or negative economic comment regarding the Dominican Republic without a couple of paranoid freaks calling them doom and gloomers who are predicting the collapse of the Dominican Republic. aranoid::ermm::tired:

 

[jrhartley]

unfortunately people forget to comment when everything is going well ....so you get a skewed view with mostly negative comments

 

[NALs]

Yeah, very interesting. Indeed, a lot of food for thought. Why did you delete my earlier post? Was it not a poll about paranoia? At least my post was about the subject.

Your last post was a personal attack. It had more to do with me and not much to do with the subject.

-NALs

 

[NALs]

Forgive me for this late reply I just read this post today.
NALS I didn't follow this paragraph.

What country are you refering to when you say

Thanks,
Mack.

The one this website is based from...

-NALs :surprised

 

[Mack]

Okay NALS although I don't think you understood my question I believe I have figured out what you were saying in the OP. Was it this? Although there is 50 kidnappings a year in the DR there is less than 2 a year that are foreigners. Am I correct?
When you quoted me I think you would have made more sense if you had done it like this:

What country are you refering to when you say

Quote:
since less than 50 kidnappings a year occur in this country of barely 10 million people

Thanks,
Mack.

Than like this:

What country are you refering to when you say

Thanks,
Mack.

Just my opinion.
Mack.