Policing Tourists

[william webster]

We pointed out earlier LT that both poor & rich go to the local constabulary with cash in hand when looking to resolve a case.

Just like a medical operation in the poor areas... they pass the hat.
whether it be pay the doctor or pay the police - as the need calls for.

That's how it works here....

 

[chico bill]

CESTUR does exist... its function is dubious.... as is its effectiveness.

I thought Cestur was just the hooker & Haitian round up possee...as that's all I ever see them doing in Sosua.

As for the rare but occasional rowdy drunk tourists it is usually the police that give them an unceremonious ride in the back of a Isuzu pickup with lights flashing and a vacant eyed kid with a shotgun or AR15 (pointed who-knows-where ?) just like the locals get.

I am by no means an expert on firearms but in my day I could shoot with the best of them. Literally put a .308 bullet through the same hole at 100 yards (Before I became a bit shaky and older).

I would venture to bet most of the PN here are poor marksman just by the was they handle their weapons, I have even seen them leaning on them with the barrel in the pavement

 

[franco1111]

Isn't CESTUR just for matters that happen within designated tourist areas?

Very likely. I went to PN once in Punta Cana and they told me exactly that. But PN is everywhere here too, so they must have responsibility for something. And, actually I did report an incident to PN once a few years ago and they wrote me a report. So, as usual it is not clear.

 

[NanSanPedro]

lol, I've been here about 4 months now and had my first shakedown today. $50DOP. I may have to unretire.

 

[bob saunders]

As we always seem to follow various tourist tragedies...
it begs the question of the role of the country’s police.

Some of us have been talking off the record about this.... not on DR1

Whether lost, hurt, falling off balconies , robbed...
There is a variety of tourist related incidents.... some casual, some severe

Recently, there was some carping about the police not doing enough...being incapable... etc
in a search for missing persons.

My question is... what priority should these tourist accidents be given?

Is it the country’s police job to help drunks, wanderers, and such find their way?
Much of the problem is self inflicted by the tourists themselves.
Balcony drunks, driving drunks....whose responsibility is it to police them?

Personally, as a former resident and now citizen, I would prefer to see them serve and protect the country rather than the visitors.
Maybe the advice we all scorn.... DON’T LEAVE THE COMPOUND.... is actually good advice.

Rep Dom has enough internal issues without caring for the casual visitor who seemingly breaks all the rules consistently.....
The costs much be huge for a force that hasn’t enough money to begin with.

When these visitors are harmed by locals.... OK... have at it.
Catch the perpetrators and punish them.

But the self inflicted stupidity seems to be the more common problem.

With a professional police service tourists and citizens should be treated the same, with respect and equal treatment and concern.

 

[william webster]

Bob
How do you structure a national agency like a police force to accommodate a 60% increase in the population?

That increase being the tourist community
They contribute zero to the cost base

But you claim they should get equal treatment... doesn’t sit with me

 

[malko]

With a professional police service tourists and citizens should be treated the same, with respect and equal treatment and concern.

Agreed.

I would add that in modern countries, dare I say, one does not call the same "security service " to get somebody to deal with a badly parked car/ neighbours dog crapping on the lawn, than to report a murder or a disapearance.

We ( as in me included ) just lump everything into PN, here in the dr, whereas I am sure, they have all kind of diffrent police forces with diffrent jobs.

The "proximity" police force in a touristy area will, of course, have to deal with crazy/drunk tourists on a daily basis, it goes in hand with being stationed in a tourist area. That kind of police officer will not be the sharpest blade in the tool box.
It is NOT that officer that will be called upon to solve a multi-million bank heist, or a murder, or a kidnaping, etc......
So no effective ressources are being spoiled by " baby sitting" crazy tourists.

 

[Ecoman1949]

I’ve witnessed the tourist policing effort in Playa Dorada for many years. It’s a microcosm and perhaps not indicative of the overall tourist policing effort countrywide. They just completed construction of a joint tourism/ tourism police headquarters at the main gate entrance to Playa Dorada to raise their profile. They are high profile on the road areas and the beach. They are mostly courteous to all tourists, fairly tolerant of drunken idiots, and make the effort to warn people if they are heading into unsafe areas. Given their level of training, and equipment, they do the best they can with what they have. Realistically, they are a bit of a paper tiger but their presence lends a degree of comfort to tourists. The main reason I suspect, the government keeps funding a level of policing they don’t really need. I can only speak for my experiences on the North Coast and it has to be one of the most over policed, under enforced areas in the DR based on what I’ve seen in the cities, towns, and highways. It is what it is because of the low level of pay, training, and equipment. Funding another layer for tourists doesn’t change anything.

 

[wrecksum]

As we always seem to follow various tourist tragedies...
it begs the question of the role of the country’s police.

Some of us have been talking off the record about this.... not on DR1

Whether lost, hurt, falling off balconies , robbed...
There is a variety of tourist related incidents.... some casual, some severe

Recently, there was some carping about the police not doing enough...being incapable... etc
in a search for missing persons.

My question is... what priority should these tourist accidents be given?

Is it the country’s police job to help drunks, wanderers, and such find their way?
Much of the problem is self inflicted by the tourists themselves.
Balcony drunks, driving drunks....whose responsibility is it to police them?

Personally, as a former resident and now citizen, I would prefer to see them serve and protect the country rather than the visitors.
Maybe the advice we all scorn.... DON’T LEAVE THE COMPOUND.... is actually good advice.

Rep Dom has enough internal issues without caring for the casual visitor who seemingly breaks all the rules consistently.....
The costs much be huge for a force that hasn’t enough money to begin with.

When these visitors are harmed by locals.... OK... have at it.
Catch the perpetrators and punish them.

But the self inflicted stupidity seems to be the more common problem.

Ya can't fix stupid...

 

[CristoRey]

Ya can't fix stupid...

100% Agreed. For the idiots around the world who travel to
other countries and leave their common sense at the airport,
let them reap what they sow.

 

[cruzan1]

Is it the country’s police job to help drunks, wanderers, and such find their way?
Much of the problem is self inflicted by the tourists themselves.

Unfortunately yes, it is the responsibility of the police to help stupid tourists. I'll be one of the few here who to say that they actually do a pretty damn good job considering the resources, training and pay they receive.

The better question is, why isn't the crime rate higher here? It is shocking that more tourists aren't getting robbed, murdered or going missing. We are in a poverty stricken country with a low funded police force. Yet it is filled with cash touting tourists walking around at night looking for the next beer, prostitute or narcotics purchase. It's literally a muggers paradise yet in comparison with Puerto Rico, Chicago, or Toronto the DR is as safe as Disney World on a Tuesday morning.

 

[william webster]

I like the attitude ---- and tend to agree w/ you.

I don't know if we can accurately identify the nat'l crime rate since so many crimes are unreported.
It can be brutal in some areas not well policed....local neighborhoods.

But your comments about aimless tourists is good.
There too.... is all crime reported?.... maybe not.
But that doesn't invalidate your position.

 

[GuillermoRamon]

Exactly the point of this thread gringo. I honestly believe more was done simply because it was a tourist involved.

A few things to that, as Africaida stated, there is the simple part regarding money from tourism, should they get special treatment, no, but here's the deal. Considering, if you have read the news in La R.D. or just read some of the posts here on DR1, how many "Gringos" have died there over the last few months??

As I am sure you know, these things hit places like CNN and other National media based on the Country of Origin of the deceased, how many bodies before the government makes a stance and posts that they advise AGAINST going to a country?

I am fairly confident the DR Gov. doesn't want that sort of publicity and would much prefer the soft sand, palm trees and Piña Colada's that is outlined in the brochures, in peoples minds, and not whether its safe to go there.

Take Mexico for example, all the murders by Drug Cartels throughout the Country has been in the news FOR YEARS, and I know MANY Canadians who wont go there, myself included, the last thing DR wants is one of these posted:

https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/mexico

It's not just drunkenness that gets a Gringo killed, and tying into what Seamonkey wrote, yes, people should exercise some common sense and logic, but not everyone possesses a high level of logic, "Common sense" is a misnomer.

 

[jeb321]

A few things to that, as Africaida stated, there is the simple part regarding money from tourism, should they get special treatment, no, but here's the deal. Considering, if you have read the news in La R.D. or just read some of the posts here on DR1, how many "Gringos" have died there over the last few months??

As I am sure you know, these things hit places like CNN and other National media based on the Country of Origin of the deceased, how many bodies before the government makes a stance and posts that they advise AGAINST going to a country?

I am fairly confident the DR Gov. doesn't want that sort of publicity and would much prefer the soft sand, palm trees and Piña Colada's that is outlined in the brochures, in peoples minds, and not whether its safe to go there.

Take Mexico for example, all the murders by Drug Cartels throughout the Country has been in the news FOR YEARS, and I know MANY Canadians who wont go there, myself included, the last thing DR wants is one of these posted:

https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/mexico

It's not just drunkenness that gets a Gringo killed, and tying into what Seamonkey wrote, yes, people should exercise some common sense and logic, but not everyone possesses a high level of logic, "Common sense" is a misnomer.

Just received Step2 Official Notification to beware of Crime in DR. But we all know to proceed cautiously with every turn/step we take.
Mexico? Have you Ever looked at the map of Mexico and noted what a huge country it is? So sorry you are afraid tp step into and possibky gain a little culture in Mexico. But of course we know to proceed with logic and caution anywhere one goes these days. But please do not put Mexico and DR in same breadth, except for the language.

 

[Ecoman1949]

Policing levels in the Playa Dorada area will need significant beefing up based on the levels of projected growth in that area. Check out Green One Puerta Plata on YouTube to see the changes to POP Village. It’s massive and that’s just one resort. Building a new police headquarters at the main gate area is just the first step.

 

[alexw]

When you have an economy that is based off of tourism then of course the police should treat tourists differently than its citizens. 8% of the GDP is tourism-that's a huge freaking number. Regardless of how idiotic these tourists may be when you're dependent upon them for the countries financial well being their safety and needs should be prioritized. If they cannot provide such basic services (such as identifying a Jane Doe that's sitting in their hospital) well these other foreign nations need to destroy their tourist economy until they get it right. Its inexcusable what happened to that woman. It only took a few phone calls to figure out there was a Jane Doe in a hospital. They can do better and it must be demanded that they do better.

 

[GuillermoRamon]

Moderator comments:

Thread is about DR.

Let's keep it DR related.................

 

[Big]

it is not uncommon at all in the U.S for a car and person(s) to go missing on busy roads only to be found weeks later by road maintenance crews in the bushes and trees 40 feet from a major road.
Not a lot of sympathy for drunks risking innocent lives in this day of Taxis and Uber. Driving intox is extremely selfish and deadly.

 

[CristoRey]

PN in this country are NOTORIOUS for extorting money out of people
at every given opportunity. They are not interested in "helping" or showing
some sort of sympathy to tourist in a jammed up situation simply because
they are the police, nor will they be at any point in the near future.

If you live here, you know this. Anyone who disagrees with this fact is out of
touch with reality. They are not here to help you or assist you for free.

 

[LTSteve]

PN in this country are NOTORIOUS for extorting money out of people
at every given opportunity. They are not interested in "helping" or showing
some sort of sympathy to tourist in a jammed up situation simply because
they are the police, nor will they be at any point in the near future.

If you live here, you know this. Anyone who disagrees with this fact is out of
touch with reality. They are not here to help you or assist you for free.

That's the reality of living in a developing country where the wage paid to police is pathetically low. Many of these people figure if the DR Gov. won't pay them a living wage than they will use their position to enhance it. When you live in a country with a lot of "haves" and "have nots" then what do you expect will happen?