TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Tourists Robbed at Pic Paradis

I guess this a good time to remind everyone not to go up on their own but okay in a group setting. Great views from the top but very remote, France Telecom tower and not much else.

Honestly, how hard can it be to catch these people? There is no will on behalf of the government to catch them..

A few undercover police could well do it. Like you said, there is no will on behalf of the govt. to pursue it. Too bad.

With the regular turnover of Gendarmes, it should be easy to do a sting with "fresh faces". As noted, the will has to be there.

Article says two male tourists but doesn't address if they were together or if it were 2 separate robberies. Seems like there must be more than 1 or 2 bad guys if they are willing to take on 2 males at the same time. What would the odds of a husband and wife be against those types of thugs? As with anything else when it comes to government, they won't do anything about until it involves one of their family or high political contributor +/or it causes negative press that affects tourism.

I have heard sh/t like this happening up there for almost thirty years. Truthfully, even though we have often thought of going up there, we never have. If somehow, someway we will be in a larger group, we will go....but usually it's just the two of us...or maybe another couple with us. It's really a shame, that the Gendarmes don't keep someone on patrol there, since this is NOT an isolated incident.

Ed,

We've gone more times than I like to think about but not once in the past ten years or so and honestly, as beautiful as the view is, and it truly is gorgeous, it's just not worth taking a chance anymore. Too many crazies out there these days.

I agree, it would seem like a fairly east crime to bring to an end if they seriously wanted to, and why they haven't done something about it is beyond me.

There was a time, many years ago when, at my request, John and the girls left me in the parked car with a good book while they went off exploring up there one more time. I'd probably been there 8 to 10 times at the very least by then. We never worried about bad guys or bad things happening to us. Not sure if we were naive or just dumb but I like to think it was a kinder and gentler island back in those days so no need for worries.

That would definitely NOT happen today and I wouldn't even go up there unless there were at least three or four big strong guys in the group. Just not worth the risk. That's my story and I'm stickin' with it! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

I see people posting that this is a great place to visit, while in SXM.
They do say not to go alone, but I think they should say without a large group.
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We have done it with 5-6 people and I would not do it with any less if I ever decided to do it again.

My wife and I have met many Gendarme dining in restaurants over the many years we have vacationed to Saint Martin and found them all to be very engaging and totally concerned about the safety of the residents and tourists alike. To suggest that they can't/won't solve crimes or apprehend subjects who are victimizing residents and tourists is doing a great disservice to these fine young men who leave France for months at a time and are separated from their families to work under very difficult conditions.

It's not UP to the individual officers to run stings. Those in charge have to make those decisions, for which there is apparently no political will.