Thanks for the article. Motorcycles have always been an issue here. Seems like every time we visited in the past some young man did something stupid on a motorcycle and paid the price. The good news is the armed robbery statistics. I've always maintained that SXM is a very safe place to visit if people use common sense. A reduction in robberies and burglaries helps verify that. Car thefts and thefts from rental autos needs to be addressed, however.

As for the thefts from rental vehicles, do the license plates identify them as rental cars? The reason I ask is because in September I rented a car and the tag started with the letter "R". If that means it's a rental car then that makes it easier for the criminal element to figure out which vehicles may have cash and/or items worth stealing. Here in Florida about 15-20 years ago we had a similar problem of tourists being robbed at gunpoint and/or their cars broken into. Once it was realized that the rental fleets had tags that started with the letter "Z" they changed it to a random assignment of tag numbers.

Imagine the tourist that just landed at the Miami airport and has just picked up the rental car. You are headed to your accommodations and as you are leaving you realize the roads out of the airport aren't in the best of neighborhoods. You stop at a red light behind a car and suddenly there's a person with a gun robbing you of your cash and credit cards. Another scenario is you leave the airport and head to a restaurant with your luggage in the car. You pull in to a spot and take your family in for a meal. When you come out the windows are broken out and your stuff is gone.

This was a common scenario 15-20 years ago until the state changed the issuing of tags to rental cars.

If SXM still identifies the rental fleet on their plates, an easy way to cut down on that statistic, with really no additional cost. is to issue rental car tags the same way as any other tag.

Dutch side licensed rentals do have the "R" on the plate, French side licensed cars do not.

Dutch side:
R stands for rental
P or M stands for Local passenger cars
There is a different one for trucks and Taxis

This link will give info on different Dutch licenses.
https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/84451-govt-looking-at-stickers-for-persons-against-2019-plates