Exactly. I hear expats saying things like "This place is getting dangerous, I'm moving to...Colombia or Panama!". When you live in a country you get all the inner details such as crime rates, hearsay, etc. But when you just visit a country a few times you don't get the real picture. DR is much safer than most latin american countries. Don't get fooled.
- Thread starter jackichan
- Start date
Moving Out of D.R
Exactly. I hear expats saying things like "This place is getting dangerous, I'm moving to...Colombia or Panama!". When you live in a country you get all the inner details such as crime rates, hearsay, etc. But when you just visit a country a few times you don't get the real picture. DR is much safer than most latin american countries. Don't get fooled.
ken took the heat from me for a reason. it is one thing to minimize your chances of being attacked by installing alarms, having dogs, iron bars in windows, not going out after dark and so on. i'd even include not taking/selling drugs and not familiarizing yourself with criminals. but all that will not keep you immune from harm.
the thing i notice about crime in DR is not that there is more of it but that it is more random. saying the chopped up german got the axe treatment because he did not pay someone is a low blow. maybe he had a reason not to pay. maybe the worker did not do the job or did it incorrectly? we do not even know know whether it was the case at all, all the police says is a note from alleged killer. dismembering the body suggests stronger feelings towards the victim than bitterness at unpaid bill, wouldn't you say?
Random petty crimes - I feel as you do, but I feel that the killings , etc have a background - substantive reasons for them happening.
Just my feelings........
Just my feelings........
Survival of the fittest, I guess.
I agree there should not be a risk of getting killed over a petty argument, but the smart person knows better and keeps away from such arguments. The dumb one argues and gets killed. Anyone who kills another over a domino table argument definitively deserves to die the same way and in due time they will, because they are not fit to live.
In more organized societies there are laws to defend the idiots from themselves. In DR idiots don't get to live very long. Some smart fall in the process (civilian casualties or collateral damages, NATO officials would say), but most are able to find a way around.
I agree there should not be a risk of getting killed over a petty argument, but the smart person knows better and keeps away from such arguments. The dumb one argues and gets killed. Anyone who kills another over a domino table argument definitively deserves to die the same way and in due time they will, because they are not fit to live.
In more organized societies there are laws to defend the idiots from themselves. In DR idiots don't get to live very long. Some smart fall in the process (civilian casualties or collateral damages, NATO officials would say), but most are able to find a way around.
To me, taking the time to build a wall, dismember a body, etc., reeks of a crime of passion/rage, not a random act. This home had neighbors, a couple of them posted here, it's not like it's in the middle of nowhere like a mountain campo. He did something to royally **** someone off, probably more than being a grouchy old man. To someone desperate, not being paid what they feel is owed may be all it takes to "snap". If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck.....[yup, it's a duck!]
In most home invasions, it's robbery and get the hell out of there as fast as possible, fast kills if there is murder. The average murderer doesn't stick around for hours afterwards. He's probably gone from the area forever by now.
Thing is, you don't get killed because of being 5 pesos short. You get killed because you start an argument, or because you try to lie, or because you behave like the one trying to collect from you is and idiot. This kind of things set people off and then violence occurs. Nobody kills another one for 5 pesos, you know that. A bullet is more expensive than that. Sharpening a macheteafter the butchering is more expensive than that.
Have you ever complained to a low class dominican about something they are doing wrong? they usually get all defensive and start to put the blame on you. That's when all hell breaks loose, and people end up killed.
Some more than others.
It seems to me that Dominicans are not good at making cities. All the ones I visit are just a jumbled mess without charm or proper administration.
Green hills and beaches are fine but, believe me, there's lots of them around the world but without wild animals (other than two-legged) roaming around or dramatic peaks etc., that's all they'll ever be.
Not quite Kilimanjaro or not quite The Seychelles. Not quite the Alps and not quite Rome and so forth.
May of us have painted ourselves into a corner here so removal would be quite an upheaval.
Crime here is minimal in my equation but corrupt police and lop-sided laws are more worrying.
But where to go on a limited budget??
Hum! Interesting! You make a lot sense! If you want to leave there, there are risks involved!
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i take back all i said before. right now i do not feel very generous and sympathetic towards victims of random crimes. our neighbour - another pesky german - is back from his vacation and his car is out again. instead of parking it behind the gate, in his driveway, like everyone else with an ounce of common sense, the dude stubbornly parks it on the street outside. right in front of our gate. which makes it very difficult for us to enter or exit. and it's not due to my crappy driving skills, occasionally miesposo also has to go back and forth in order to take the car out. and yes, i did talk to the dude, stressing not our difficulty but rather a worry that one of us may accidentally hit his car. our pleas fall on deaf ears. do i need to order a blue plastic barrel or what?
"Jacki", Say It Isn't SO!!!!!!!
I had the pleasure of meeting young "Jaki" at the DR1 lunch at "IKEA" here in SD.
I hope my two sons here "Grow Up" just like him!
The DR's loss, will be some other,hopefully better, places gain.
The DR desperately needs men like "Jacki".
When I met him I actually though, "This guy is to "GOOD" to be living here.
Jacki, "God Speed".
Find a place where you can put down roots and grow stronger!
Tom
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I had the pleasure of meeting young "Jaki" at the DR1 lunch at "IKEA" here in SD.
I hope my two sons here "Grow Up" just like him!
The DR's loss, will be some other,hopefully better, places gain.
The DR desperately needs men like "Jacki".
When I met him I actually though, "This guy is to "GOOD" to be living here.
Jacki, "God Speed".
Find a place where you can put down roots and grow stronger!
Tom
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irate: Might make him rethink parking outside.
The reason for the rise in crime (most) is because of the economy. I said it at the beginning
of the year when food prices increased that desperation will lead many to steal like never
before and it's going to get worse.