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First, I am sure that the USVI is not the most violent territory in the Caribbean. It may have problems, but they are not as bad as Jamaica. So why does the USVI website have extensive crime statistic data like the rest of the US? I have even sent many letters in the past requesting homicide statistics; unlike many countries and most parts of the US, I never got a response. Why?
Are you saying that the USVI does NOT report crime statistics and you have a problem with that? I'm having a hard time making sense of your question but if that's what you mean, such statistics are readily available and regularly printed in the local newspapers. I believe the VIPD website also has that information to hand. I don't know what "USVI website" you're looking at but maybe it's an informational tourism site directed towards helping visitors find their way around, Hope that helps.
STT Resident - You are correct, I searched the internet on Bing (a better search engine) and found a recent article from the VIDN. Basically, it provided the homicide statistics for 2009 in the territory. According to the article in the Virgin Islands Daily News published on Allbuissness.com the territory had 56 murders in 2009. That's 51 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. The rate for the mainland US in recent years has been between 5 and 6 per 100,000 inhabitants. Anyway, what I really liked was the breakdown by island. Here is the breakdown by island...
St. Thomas 35 murders 68.4 per 100,000
St. Croix 20 murders 33.3 per 100,000
St. John 1 murder (too small of a population for a realistic per capita rate).
Hence, St. Thomas is the worst. It is right up there with Jamaica, one of the highest figures in the world. St. Croix is bad but not too bad. St. John seems to be the safest.
But why do the local papers publish the crime statistics but there are no statistics or good statistics on the VIPD website. My guess is that it would not be good publicity due to the very high levels of violence on the islands.
Most of the government agencies don't keep their websites up to date and some aren't even functional so I wouldn't waste time trying to find anything sinister in the fact that the VIPD doesn't maintain statistics on theirs!
What's sinister about the USVI is that the 2011 budget is $1.2 BILLION dollars. That's over $11,000 for every man, woman and child, and yet the police dept. budget is being cut by $5 million. Not a single cut in staffing (read, voter) in the central government. And believe me, I have the Chief on speeddial, all of the murders are not reported. They're up in the 30's already this year. I believe we exceed Jamaica on a per capita basis. But I've never had a single problem. It's all little gang bangers, domestic disputes and revenge killings. Virtually no concept of the value of human life playing against an entitlement attitude fostered by a Government staffed with tens of thousands of people who do nothing for their paycheck, benefits and retirement, and who always want more.
St. Thomas has a higher population density than St. Croix and that's why there's more murders here. St. Croix has taken the top spot several times in the past. St. John only has about 4,000 residents and the average house costs over $1,000,000.00, but there have been some brutal, brutal murders over there. Same reason as set forth above.
Iam suppposed to move to STT. Are the murders committed in areas I wouldn't dare go anyway? You get the impression that it's all over because the reports are so vague. I'm starting to question the move. Is there anything I should know besides using common sense. One would also get the impression that you'd better be in before dark.
Iam suppposed to move to STT. Are the murders committed in areas I wouldn't dare go anyway? You get the impression that it's all over because the reports are so vague. I'm starting to question the move. Is there anything I should know besides using common sense. One would also get the impression that you'd better be in before dark.
99% murders are gang and drug or domestic violence-related. As far as being "in before dark" then we wouldn't have the active nightlife here if that were the case and there wouldn't be any restaurants in business. Dark falls very early here! Common sense of course is in order. You might want to go to USVI Moving Center - The Ultimate Resource for Relocating to and Living in the Virgin Islands which is a site specifically designed to provide an abundance of information related to moving and living here. Cheers!
Are you trying to state that we should be I'n bed by 6pm and close our blinds and lock our doors. Maybe get that 12 gauge ready to go just In case. I feel mostly safe after 10 years here but I understand that the big problem lies within the drug/project area. The other problem is law enforcement or the "lack of". Too many cops have been busted for murder, kidnapping, extorsion, smuggling, misconduct, larceny and multiple other crimes. Busted is a loose term, convicted is even looser. We can't trust the police or judges down here. I don't know how they do it but they are great at letting all criminals go free. Long live criminal. I'm thinking of changing professions.
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