I do see your point(s) above, but my personal history with St. Martin has been to not put oneself into situations that could become precarious. Using good judgment after dark and avoiding areas that are known to be problematic (the french quarter, the dutch quarter, etc.). Those areas have ALWAYS been a concern in the past. Even if you rent a car, taking a taxi at night to-and-from your destination (restaurant) was always a safe way to go. Whether staying in Orient Village, or in Philipsburg, or in Maho we would take our evening walk while there was still daylight. And, I've never felt unsafe when on Orient Beach, Mullet Bay Beach, Friar's Bay or even walking the trail to Happy Bay. I am hardly an expert on fear and how this impacts many people, but if we let fear control us then life's adventures will be very limited. The alternative, I suppose, would be the all-inclusive resorts in Punta Cana, Mexico and Jamaica but those get old after a while and in reality it's not much fun feeling that your are 'confined' to only the resort property. There are may areas within the cities where we live that are deemed unsafe, and our approach is to not frequent them at night. I have used the same approach for many years on SXM and have never had an incident in the past.