how do you guys deal with it?

[lisagauss]

Let me see: They look at yoU? So you look like a Dominican York, maybe got a do? the hair, the clothes? If you do, that is why they look worried. I have lived here for over 50 years and never felt threatened at any time any where. Nobody looks at me except to smile.

I would like to meet you and see what that paranoia is all about? Long Island? Nassau? Suffock ??? Hempstead? where?

And where do you live in Santo Domingo? I thought you lived in Santiago????


I just do not understand...


HB

HB, I lived in Brentwood, exit 55 off of LIE (Suffolk County). Ive left my door open many times and would get home 2-3am 2x-3x a week; never an issue. Asked my neigbors (well, not neighbors anymore as I now live in DR) about anything happening in that area, and they said no. I live in Santiago not Santo Domingo.

Just got home from my wifes Aunt house in Las Americas. Talked to her husband; he is scared straight though he has never been robbed/mugged. He tells me he never gets home past 9pm and that he is planning on moving to Miami cause he can't take it here. His friend was robbed at gun point just 2 weeks ago. And not too long ago he says a friend of his family, a women, went to withdraw some money from her bank account; as she stepped out the bank some guy went up to her and snathced her purse; a watchy was standing across the street and did nothing. As we were talking about this another person joined the conversation and commented how his friend, last week, was heading home and as he stopped to get out of his car another car pulled up and they robbed him of $5K. These are the stories that have me paranoid.

 

[dv8]

listen, listen, can we talk? i say i do not care and i do not care. does not mean i am a dumb halfwit running around puerto plata in the middle of the night selling my wedding band for the next heroine fix. no.
i do not care because i do not obsess over safety. do i go out at night? sometimes i do. i take a car thou. i have an electric gate. i wait until it opens a bit, i get in, i close the gate. i do not turn off the car and unlock the door until the gate is locked and the dogs begin their happy jumps. if i walk in the evenings i take the rotties with me. when i stay home alone i let the neighbours know so they can keep an eye on me too.
do i wear jewelery? i do. but then i get around in a car almost all the time. and hell yes, car doors are always locked. and trust me, my car does not scream "rich gringa". sure, if someone wants to grab my bag from the floor they still may. they can break the window, yes. but why make it easy for them? so i am locked and i have eyes around my head, which is a must here when you drive anyways.
could someone poison my goggies, break iron on the doors, crack the locks and steal the old toshiba TV? hell, yes. but i am sure thieves are lazy motherf**kers and they prefer houses with no dogs, no security, and no ex-mafioso neighbour with a gun obsession.

they key to live here is to be watchful but relaxed at the same time. those stories about constant danger, robberies and murders are just as exaggerated and bogus as chip's praise of DR. the truth is somewhere in the middle...

 

[Chip]

..and bogus as chip's praise of DR. the truth is somewhere in the middle...

??????

I've just said that here isn't much worse off than other places.

BTW, I have noticed the violent attacks have increased recently and I expect the police to respond in kind since the Eng. Francina incident. People are upset and there is a lot of clamor.

 

[karlheinz]

I guess i'm just plain lucky then - lived here for almost 5 years now and have never had a problem - of course I live in the colonial zone of Santo Domingo where there is more police presence and I walk with my dog the majority of the time (who is going to attack someone who has a dog with them? - most people cross the street just to avoid being near Shadow)... I follow the rules of my many years of traveling - never flash money, never wear jewelery and be aware of my surroundings.

 

[Lothario666]

I've never felt more threatened than the day I stupidly decided to leave early from a night game at Yankee Stadium (the old one, that is). I was alone at the subway station and when I boarded the train there was a gang of 7 or 8 already inside, and nobody else. They pointed guns at my head and took my camera and money. So...

Year?

161st is my old neighborhood!!!!

Why? Do you have Castle's camera and money?

LOL :smoke:

 

[mbgmike]

i always go in large groups of dominican woman! mainly my wife and family. we are never alone in town. i feel sorry for anyone tried to rob these woman. A person with a dog would be easier:laugh:

 

[oldschool]

1991 was 21 years ago. Things are not the same!!!

I guess the movie "Fort Apache" really did the BX in, huh?

Paul Newman, Pam Grier how could ya not love it.....

 

[Castle]

Why? Do you have Castle's camera and money?

You can keep it, BB. See if you can find some film for it...but please, send me the picture I took of Don Mattingly rounding the bases...hahahaha. Yeah, I was 19 at the time, but still a big boy of 6 feet and 200 pounds....
But seriously, I know things have changed. Still, I feel safer here than in any US city. I grew up in DC and things were tough back then, but that's not the worst in my opinion. The worst thing is that here in DR there are a couple of things you can do to keep it safe. No guarantees, of course, but you have some control of the situation, you know how not to be a "sitting duck" as OP said. But how can you protect yourself from a guy who was just fired from some lame job and then decided to ram his van into a McDonald's and shoot 18 innocents just because he was mad?...

 

[Chip]

I just got back from doing some errands near my house in Gurabo and noticed a couple swat teams on two bikes with M-16's and M-14. I asked a local shopkeeper if he had seen them and he says they started doing this recently especially since the Police Chief gave the command to "take out" the criminals on sight.

 

[lisagauss]

You can keep it, BB. See if you can find some film for it...but please, send me the picture I took of Don Mattingly rounding the bases...hahahaha. Yeah, I was 19 at the time, but still a big boy of 6 feet and 200 pounds....
But seriously, I know things have changed. Still, I feel safer here than in any US city. I grew up in DC and things were tough back then, but that's not the worst in my opinion. The worst thing is that here in DR there are a couple of things you can do to keep it safe. No guarantees, of course, but you have some control of the situation, you know how not to be a "sitting duck" as OP said. But how can you protect yourself from a guy who was just fired from some lame job and then decided to ram his van into a McDonald's and shoot 18 innocents just because he was mad?...

Is it just me that walks into a store and ask the owner/worker if they have been victims of a robbery? Maybe I should stop asking and just live it up to chance? Sad part is how brazen these thieves have gotten robbing in mid-day time without caring about police. Has anyone seen the rookie cop(in groups of 2) standing in front of the financial buildings? But if you notice they have no weapons (other than a baton) and no radios. How in the hell are they suppose to intimidate or even warn other officers? Also, why is it that when in the US a cop is killed all fellow officers "feel" it and they go on a man hunt to catch the thieves; but here when a cop is killed its almost as if nothing happened.

 

[JMB773]

Is it just me that walks into a store and ask the owner/worker if they have been victims of a robbery? Maybe I should stop asking and just live it up to chance? Sad part is how brazen these thieves have gotten robbing in mid-day time without caring about police. Has anyone seen the rookie cop(in groups of 2) standing in front of the financial buildings? But if you notice they have no weapons (other than a baton) and no radios. How in the hell are they suppose to intimidate or even warn other officers? Also, why is it that when in the US a cop is killed all fellow officers "feel" it and they go on a man hunt to catch the thieves; but here when a cop is killed its almost as if nothing happened.

Lisagauss I know what you are saying, and I get it. Now you see when you move from the USA you LOSE a lot of freedom instead of gaining so much freedom that many people claim the DR has. I will show you what I mean:

I have trouble sleeping some nights so when I used to own my Escalade I would get out of bed around 1:30 A.M. or 2:30 A.M. and go for a drive all over the city of Chicago and sometimes into the suburbs. I would drive around for hours listening to XM radio, salsa, old school rap, jazz etc. my truck was also "pearl white" so it stuck out like a thumb in the night. I made over a 100 drives in the few years I owned my truck, and NEVER EVER felt unsafe or in danger. My biggest concern was being harrassed by Chicago finest the infamous Chicago Police Dept. but I never felt like something would happen to me. I would even sometimes stop at a hotdog place and buy a polish and fries at 3:00 in the morning. What I never did was go out on a Friday or Saturday because then you put yourself in danger because of all of the "drunk drivers" on the streets leaving the clubs.

Now what would happen to JMB773 if he drove a 2010 Escalade at 2:30 A.M. in the streets of Santo Domingo or Santiago multiple times, because he can't sleep? Will it wise for a person to drive around Santiago or SD at 3:00 A.M. in a truck like a Escalade? When I lived in Santo Domingo and I couldn't sleep I would just sit on the balcony and wait for the sun to come up because I knew how dangerous the streets are at night in DR.

Another cool thing is how people are not treated like criminals in DR( yeah right) If I go to La Sirena and buy a cart full of food why do some "rent a cop" need to see proof that I bought this food? I wish a person would stop me in any of the 50 states and ask me to show proof that I bought eggs, juice, bread, rice etc, but in DR it is considered normal.

Every store I go into with a bag 9 out of 10 times I have to "check the bag" and these are some "bootleg a$$ stores and they want me to check my bag. I shopped on Michigan Ave going into store after store with many bags and NOBODY said "we need to check your bag" and these are very HIGH END stores.

Also sometimes you go to businesses in DR during normal business hours and their doors are LOCKED and you have to knock on the door so someone will let you in.

Everytime a thread like this appears many people read off a list of what to do so they are not a victim in their home or city REALLY??? If not being a victim of a crime is a GOAL in DR, something is wrong with this picture.

BTW What is going with the " not flashing money or wearing flashy jewerly" this has been said, written, drawn, and conveyed a ZILLION times. Who walks down the street counting 1500USD anywhere in the world?

 

[Castle]

BTW What is going with the " not flashing money or wearing flashy jewerly" this has been said, written, drawn, and conveyed a ZILLION times. Who walks down the street counting 1500USD anywhere in the world?

JMB777, you should go to any club in Av. Venezuela. You'll see guys paying checks of well over that amount IN CASH. Or you can go to the cafes where some old gringos hang out and see the wads of cash they carry. Or you can walk on any street and see people walking with gold chains, expensive cell phones, etc. Those are the easiest targets.
At least 2 or 3 nights a week, I drive a BMW X5 well past midnight around the streets of Santo Domingo. I've never felt threatened either. However, I don't drive that SUV when I know I'll be around dangerous areas. Now, the fact that I don't feel threatened doesn't mean I'm not in danger. And that's where the difference is, concerning quality of life. The day I'm afraid to drive at night, that's the day I know I'm in the wrong place.

 

[Bronxboy]

how do you guys deal with it?

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UDmCSvqhhoI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>............................

 

[dv8]

Is it just me that walks into a store and ask the owner/worker if they have been victims of a robbery? Maybe I should stop asking and just live it up to chance?

no no no. you are not taking into the account how dominicans think when i tell my european friends i have been attacked they say: really? OMG!!!! when i say the same story to dominicans they say: really? wait until you hear what happened to my primo!

robberies, deaths and other unfortunate evens are big here, people talk about it, revive old tales. and besides. look who you're talking to: small store owners? poor dominicans? they have no dogs, no alarms, no guns, no security, no bars on their windows. they often fall victims of a crime because they are easy targets. sad but true. about a year or two ago an old guy was killed close to the pharmacy. he had 70 pesos. 70 bloody pesos, literally. but he was an easy target: alone, weak, open door. and hell, there are people who kill for free, let alone for one large beer!

i don't know if you are cut to live here. you are not asking the right questions. don't inquire: how do you do it? you go to therapy, guys? you want to talk about it? taking your psych meds, eh?
ask: where do i buy a good lock? how do i make sure bars are well welded and secured in my house? what dog to get?

do not obsess. prevent. work on those things. work on making your life safer. with omg, omg, omg!!!!!! you will not get far. heck, with that frame of mind you could sit in heaven and still worry: can satan reach me here? should i get up the ladder or something?

 

[flyinroom]

LOL................Old MacDonald had a farm, talk about a toe tapper.
Ia..Ia....oh.

 

[lisagauss]

no no no. you are not taking into the account how dominicans think when i tell my european friends i have been attacked they say: really? OMG!!!! when i say the same story to dominicans they say: really? wait until you hear what happened to my primo!

robberies, deaths and other unfortunate evens are big here, people talk about it, revive old tales. and besides. look who you're talking to: small store owners? poor dominicans? they have no dogs, no alarms, no guns, no security, no bars on their windows. they often fall victims of a crime because they are easy targets. sad but true. about a year or two ago an old guy was killed close to the pharmacy. he had 70 pesos. 70 bloody pesos, literally. but he was an easy target: alone, weak, open door. and hell, there are people who kill for free, let alone for one large beer!

i don't know if you are cut to live here. you are not asking the right questions. don't inquire: how do you do it? you go to therapy, guys? you want to talk about it? taking your psych meds, eh?
ask: where do i buy a good lock? how do i make sure bars are well welded and secured in my house? what dog to get?

do not obsess. prevent. work on those things. work on making your life safer. with omg, omg, omg!!!!!! you will not get far. heck, with that frame of mind you could sit in heaven and still worry: can satan reach me here? should i get up the ladder or something?

Wise words. It's amazing how you drive down casilda and see many million pesos home without bars on the windows and no watchies. Me, I opted for bars, security cameras, alarm system with range motion detectors, and dogs.

 

[JMB773]

JMB777, you should go to any club in Av. Venezuela. You'll see guys paying checks of well over that amount IN CASH. Or you can go to the cafes where some old gringos hang out and see the wads of cash they carry. Or you can walk on any street and see people walking with gold chains, expensive cell phones, etc. Those are the easiest targets.
At least 2 or 3 nights a week, I drive a BMW X5 well past midnight around the streets of Santo Domingo. I've never felt threatened either. However, I don't drive that SUV when I know I'll be around dangerous areas. Now, the fact that I don't feel threatened doesn't mean I'm not in danger. And that's where the difference is, concerning quality of life. The day I'm afraid to drive at night, that's the day I know I'm in the wrong place.

You see Castle that is the thing that is very grey when talkiing about the DR. You live in Santo Domingo right? I used to have a place down the street from Blue Mall on Gustavo Mejia Ricart and I am the type of person that uses only one bank branch no matter what. The bank I used in that area was right across from the mall, if you walk pass the Taco Bell and another restaurants( with some really nice cars in the parking lot) you will see the bank it was either BHD or Banca Reserva.

One night I was going out with some friends and we stopped at the bank for some money, and it was around 11 at night so I was very cautious when getting out. I always look around before I take my ATM card no matter what country I am in. When I finish getting the money two guys walked up to me from PN. I don't even no where they came from because I thought I made sure nobody was around. One of the guys put his hand up and ask me what was I doing, once he touch me that is when I see RED!!!, I shouted at the guy" DON'T PUT YOUR F**KIN HANDS ON ME" one of my biggest pet peeves is people touching me for no reason. My friend witness what was going on, and he come running up to us saying"el americano, el americano el americano!!!!" After a couple of minutes of going back and forth and showing my Illinios DL the guys walked off. Now I was in a NICE part of Santo Domingo and almost came a victim of being robbed by two men that worked for PN.

Another misconception about Dominicans and DR is the so called "upper class" does not do dirt. I knew an Italian guy that lived in Evaristo Morales and I rented a place in Quisqueya and let me tell you Evaristo Morales is a very misleading barrio. He was a very nice guy I met in La Sirena on Churchhill. Everybody was taking advantage of him from his landlord to his so called friends. To make a long story short he went out one night with his friends and they were robbed, but here is the kick they took almost 45000RD of my friend and the other guys had only around 2000RD combined and these were the so called upper Dominicans. When he called me the next morning while I was in Chicago, he already new they set him up and half way through the story I knew they set him up. Now here is the KICK around 3 days after this happen two of the guys called and said they found the guys, but the lawyers 2000USD to keep the men in jail and to get back the money he lost. After 2 weeks of being pressured to pay the 2000 grand he decided to go back home to Italy, and all he wanted to do was to live in DR and make new friends. He now live in a place in Brazil called Salvador a place I never heard of until he mentioned it.

Crime is a big problem in DR, but it takes a back seat to the "DECEPTION" in Dominican Republic. The LOVE OF MONEY and the obbsession with money in DR is very devlish. The people who have made it in DR have chosen "not to get involved or look the other way" because if you are a person of intergrity some of the **** that goes on with the inside crime jobs,deception, and total disregard for people should make you sick to the stomach everyday.

BTW Castle this entire post was not directed at you, but the planet EARTH. Also NICE!!! a BMW X5 in Santo Domingo among all of the Civics and Rav 4's I bet you do Okay in the ladies dept down their LOL. I see a few of them on the road are the costly to run in DR or is it the same as it is in the US?

 

[Castle]

I know it was not directed at me. Specially because I agree with most things you wrote. I was trying to tell OP that even though there is crime, it's not that bad and you can always do things to be safe. For example, that ATM is not very safe, as you have to park, walk in the open like 20ft to the ATM. I try to always use ATMs inside gas stations, or malls, or supermarkets, if everything else fails, I use the drive through ATM. I know sometimes you MUST get that late night cash, but safety comes first.
My point is that even though DR is experiencing crime issues, it's nowhere near some other cities, like say Mexico DF, or Caracas, or Rio. I was robbed in Caracas by a child no older than 10 or 11, pointing at me with a 9mm Glock, plain daylight. In DR you don't see that stuff...yet, anyways.

As for the X5 and the ladies...you'd be surprised how many times I get the lines : "papi no me guta eta guagua, me guta la jomel (hummer)", or "el novio de mi amiga tiene una infinity, esa eh mah bacana que eta"...(of course, nice ladies say nothing)
Ah, and I don't find it that more costly to run than a Toyota 4Runner....and come on, you've lived here, you know that with the amount of Cayennes, Range Rovers, and Mercedes GLK's on these roads, nobody looks twice at a poor man's X5...

 

[Bronxboy]

For example, that ATM is not very safe, as you have to park, walk in the open like 20ft to the ATM. I try to always use ATMs inside gas stations, or malls, or supermarkets, if everything else fails, I use the drive through ATM. I know sometimes you MUST get that late night cash, but safety comes first.

Can you pay items in the supermarket with a debit card? If so, can you get cash back?

 

[DRob]

no no no. you are not taking into the account how dominicans think when i tell my european friends i have been attacked they say: really? OMG!!!! when i say the same story to dominicans they say: really? wait until you hear what happened to my primo!

robberies, deaths and other unfortunate evens are big here, people talk about it, revive old tales. and besides. look who you're talking to: small store owners? poor dominicans? they have no dogs, no alarms, no guns, no security, no bars on their windows. they often fall victims of a crime because they are easy targets. sad but true. about a year or two ago an old guy was killed close to the pharmacy. he had 70 pesos. 70 bloody pesos, literally. but he was an easy target: alone, weak, open door. and hell, there are people who kill for free, let alone for one large beer!

i don't know if you are cut to live here. you are not asking the right questions. don't inquire: how do you do it? you go to therapy, guys? you want to talk about it? taking your psych meds, eh?
ask: where do i buy a good lock? how do i make sure bars are well welded and secured in my house? what dog to get?

do not obsess. prevent. work on those things. work on making your life safer. with omg, omg, omg!!!!!! you will not get far. heck, with that frame of mind you could sit in heaven and still worry: can satan reach me here? should i get up the ladder or something?

Best advice in the thread.