USVI-On-Line

unfortunately another visitor has experienced a villa breakin. this time in virgin grande est. see post by visitot victims at http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1 ... lands.html

paradise's warts are fast becoming more than construction blight. glad the bride doesn't read posts on vi boards re crime for i'd never get her back.

yes we have crime in our area (35 miles from atl) and it has increased radically in recent yrs. as residents, we can take measures to minimize our risks (yet to install an alarm system but we now look our doors at night and when away) and can count on local police to do all they can to help. as a visitor in a foreign place your options are more limited but the easiest is avoiding places with crime and unresponsive police.

papabou

I read the TA post prior to jumping over here. Once again, the slooooww police reaction says a lot about local government's attitude towards crime.

My heart goes out to those travellers, I am sure it was very upsetting.

This makes me very nervous. I don't like air conditioning when there are tradewinds, so last year, I opened all the windows and used the screen door to avoid using the AC at night. I never thought twice about it and felt very safe, although I know most of the others in our group kept their rooms locked at all times. Now I'm sitting here knowing that I had a false sense of security on St. John, and that bothers me.

I go to St. John, because unlike every other place I've ever gone on vacation, I don't feel leery of strangers or feel the need to look over my shoulder constantly. But I keep hearing that there's an increase in stealing belongings off the beach and villa break-ins... I don't want this little island to start feeling like everywhere else.

Realizing it could & does happen no matter where one goes, it's still very disturbing & unsettling to me as a tourist/visitor on vacation. I think the most frightening part was lights were on (interior/exterior) & they were there. We as guests of someone's villa are in a most vulnerable position: I can't install security alarms, can't put in a safe, have to rely on existing precautions already in place unlike steps I could take as if it were my own home. With that said, it won't prevent me from going to STJ but I'll be continually deligent in being aware of my surroundings & few possessions at all times. It's just so sad but it's the world we live in...even in paradise on earth.

Wow, talk about brazen

It is so sad that there is an ugly side to
such a beautiful place. Unfortunately there
are too few places exempt from this type of
behavior any more. Perhaps more so now that
the economy is on a downslide.

My husband has always taught me to be vigilant
when it comes to safety and security. Since
we moved to FL we sleep with our security system
on every night and doors locked even during day.

It is an eye opener when you shouldn't consider
even a window open while sleeping for the fresh
air and tropical sounds to lull you to sleep.
The reality is those days/nights are over and
one must consider the consequences of a disaster
first. There are way too many opportunities
for criminals out there and especially when
there is NOT a strong lawful presence
Which is very disturbing in itself.

Bottom line: be safe everyone and aware of the
people around you. I used to think that one
had to keep the jewelery to a minimum, not flash
cash, etc. I believe that doesn't much matter
anymore...if you're on vacay, you've got the $$$,
the cameras, laptops, ipods, etc.

Take care,
Kathy

I wonder if there is a certain area that these
break-ins are happening?

Kathy

Isn't Virgin Grand Estates off of Gifft Hill road, way up at the top? I've not stayed there but I think I remember driving by the entrance gates.

I don't think it seems to be isolated to one area. Off the top of my head, I know I've read about break ins in Great Cruz Bay, Chocolate Hole, Fish Bay, etc. I am glad that this couple was unharmed. What a terrible thing, that someone would attempt to rob a house when people are home. IIRC, there was another robbery this spring when a couple was approached by robbers while they were relaxing on the deck of their villa. I can't remember what neighborhood that happened in though.

Bert,

Virgin Grand Estates are located off of Giftt Hill Road but you can see them up above the Westin. The villa that we stayed in in May (Tesori) was burglarized around the same time as this TA post - that is also off of Giftt Hill Road. We weren't there at the time but our property manager told us it had occurred a couple of weeks prior to our arrival.
Nancy

I have posted this before but here goes:

We were on St. John last August. We were staying at Paloma Blanca villa which is secluded in the Gift Hill area. We awoke at 2:00 am to find a man in our bedroom going though our stuff. I yelled at him to get out and jumped up. He fled out through the sliding glass patio door. This door had one of those "J" shaped lock inserts that no one should be able to defeat. However, he did because I had double checked all the doors before going to bed. All the outside lights were on as well. We called the police and they actually responded fairly quickly (although I had to give directions). They were very professonal and thorough. However, the guy was long one. They told us that they had had a lot of trouble with break-ins in the area. Needless to say we did not sleep at all that night! Our villa company relocated us the next day to a more secure area (I thought anyway, ironically it was in the Virgin Grande Estates). We were uneasy the rest of the week. While the beaches and the island are unbelievably beautiful and we did manage to enjoy ourselves, we would certainly be reluctant to rent a villa there again. And yes, we live near Dallas, one of the crime capitals of the US. We have never had anything like this happen there. I understand it can happen anywhere, but it happened to us on St. John.

With more laptops going on vacation its worth reminding folks to bring cable locks. As a consultant who works in different offices every week I lock my laptop routinely to a sturdy piece of furniture. Bolt cutters can work through a cable lock, but making the theft inconvenient is usually enough.

Cheers, RickG

Virgin Island crime statistics are pretty scary when you think about it.

2004 was the last year they were published: http://www.vipd.gov.vi/crime/Part_1_crimes.pdf

When you consider the population, the per capita crime rates are astronomical.

Per the link above, in 2004 there were 10 homicides, 37 rapes, 130 robberies, 383 felony assaults, and 881 burglaries, and that is in a population of around 55,000 people on STJ and STT.

When you throw STX into the mix, there were 23 homicides, 53 rapes, 253 robberies, 609 felony assaults, and 1697 burglaries in a population of around 115,000 people on all three islands.

Contrast that with my home county with a bigger population of 150,000 people…in 2004 there was 1 homicide (there are usually zero), 3 robberies, and 74 burglaries.

I love St. John dearly and will continue to vacation there, but I do not think of it as a safe place. I am much more careful there than I am at home, and if something bad ever did happen to me there I’d probably stop going to STJ…I pray that never happens.

A few years ago we had a villa greeter tell us not to lock our car doors because "nobody ever steals on STJ and it would be more likely to be burglarized if it was locked." Needless to say, we didn't take her advice.

Honestly, I hate thinking about this stuff and try to ignore it but it is really scary when you hear story after story...

At one time you could get crime reports for STJ in the Tradewinds. I don't know whether they still publish those or not.

After checking the Police Log is still published in the Tradewinds. In order to view the current issue you have to download it in PDF.

Here is the link to Tradewinds:

http://www.stjohntradewindsnews.com//in ... e&Itemid=1

The Police Log is on page 21 in the current issue.