I came here after Irma on Oct 11 the day after the airport opened and even though the Island was in terrible shape ; the population was warm and very friendly with huge spirit and happy to be alive. I traveled the whole Island and never was afraid nor did I see any people being harassed nor held up nor any gangs of youths. I was here for 8 days then and came back to Island on Dec 4 and will be here until April. The Island is very safe and the Dutch side of Island has cleaned up almost 100% of the debris left by IRMA. Restaurants are open and every week more and more improvements can be seen. We travel freely and have not had nor seen any problems at all with the local youths nor police etc. The feeling here is optimism and rebuilding.
Whomever your friend is that told you the BS should not be listened to.
To be perfectly frank ; this is one of the nicest times we have had in many years as it seems more like it was in the early 80's here with less traffic and congestion. I think anyone coming here now would be very happy and it would go a long way in helping the Islands economy. Please come and see for yourself and you will be pleasantly surprised at how the Island and it's people are doing.