TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Crime on SXM is escalating

This is an angry post and will probably be deleted but crime has escalated on SXM. I can tell you from neighbors who have been robbed and cars that have been stolen it is not safe to be in isolated areas and where there is no security. I think the Prime Minister should address the crime problem instead of climate change!

Definitely should be addressed but I really don't think it's an either or situation.

Do you have actual crime statistics from 2018 available to share with us? Cars being broken into is really nothing new on St. Martin, so has there been a marked increased in robberies? It's really not safe in most U.S. cities to be in isolated areas without any type of security around, so it's wise not to be in those situations in the first place if possible. Many Caribbean Islands have had much higher crime rates than St. Martin, yet continue to thrive when it comes to tourism. And, when we have travelled to Mexico I always here "be safe, a lot of crime down there." Actually, I've never felt safer than when were on a resort in Cancun walking the beach.

The website Ordinarytraveler ranks St. Martin as the fourth safest island to visit in the Caribbean (out of 23). They warn of petty crime, such as your rental car being broken into to, but serious crimes against tourists remain low. However, other islands such as the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago are much worse when it comes to violent crime. Of course, increased efforts to help reduce all crimes is a smart move by island governments so let's hope SXM focuses on this both now and in the the future.

Wherever you are in the world just be smart, eat early if possible and don’t get drunk and wonder the streets late at night. Don’t take jewelry with you or flash it about. Don’t leave anything in your rental and just lock your doors at night, just like you do when back home. For those that are worried about incidents that happen here you tend to forget what happens back home that you read about every single day in your neighborhood. For those concerned with this recent killing, don’t be. You can get in your car from your home and be run over by a hit and run lunatic.
Karma happens, when you least expect it but be assured it’s as safe here as many more places that I know about.
Just had lunch again at Tropicana. I’m stuffed but the weather has been great for several days now. Dinner at Lals Indian. Afternoon sunning, swimming and a few drinks. Just seen a Mega Mega yacht pass by us, at least 100-150 feet and they checked out the long stretch of Beach at Terres Basses and La Sammana, turned round and back from where they came from.

Was this crime spike on the Dutch or French side?

Sadly. Politicians rarely fix anything.

Lee,

This particular incident occurred on the Dutch side of the island in a very popular and well-peopled location but the ‘where’ is really a non-issue on this particular island. If you know the island, people are free to run back and forth, country to country with no limitations or restrictions.

This most likely was a crime of opportunity where the creep with the gun saw a couple that looked approachable and took advantage of the opportunity to do bad acts and it went bad for everyone. He could have been hopped up on drugs or just a bad guy in general. And the personal irony to us is my 70+ year old husband was approached and offered drugs in the same general area in April. Trust me, he no way looks like he’d be the type who might be interested but it was offered nonetheless by someone wanting to score some fast cash.

My heart goes out to the daughter and the rest of the family and friends of the victim but I hurt for the people of the island, too. If there’s any one thing this island doesn’t need right now it is a spike in notoriety due to a vacationer being murdered and the police unable to apprehend the perpetrator. Hopefully they will catch him and catch him quickly.

The driftwood shooting is certainly not a good one, but how are we gauging a rise? Figures or anecdotal/gut feel?

Three other vehicles sped off?

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5168049?fb...uFYR4B4VB02pXTV3L-8B9unNhuONDdY-EFNX7Kvw

While this is a horrible situation, especially now that we are informed the victim has passed away, sometimes these crimes seem more pronounced because of social media. They were never good, nor still aren't, but more people are aware of them because of social media. I'm not trying to minimize this incident at all, but 10-15 years ago, how many would have heard of this happening. I'm also not saying that social media in this case is a bad thing, I'm just stating my thoughts that many more people are aware of what occurred. Like so many people have stated, this could have happened ANYWHERE.

I'd speed off too if I hear gunshots around me.