Just read that two hold ups were today. One in Cole Bay resulting in the attendant shot and killed and the other in Simpson Bay where the police responded and apprehended the suspects on the causeway with the money from both stations.

Scubaman-we spend a month on the island mid-January to mid-February and stop at the Sol gas in Cole Bay twice a week-I am shocked at the violence that is happening to often on the island. It needs to end or we won't be back after our next visit. I had 25 years years in law enforcement and keep a sharp eye when on the island-we usually go out with a group every nite and not certain if that will happen this January. I posted the link to the Daily Herald article
https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands

Wow... This crap has to stop.

That's for sure. My heart goes out to the attendant. Always best to not fight back and give them what they want. Your life isn't worth the dollars your trying to protect.

Absolutely!! To both Carol and Scubaman's posts!! <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 am at a loss for words. A small island, two countries, seemingly a lack of coordination from law enforcement between the two. So sad.

What do you mean by that? It happened on the Dutch side and the Dutch police caught them on the Dutch side. There was no lack of coordination in this matter as it wasn't needed.

Express your opinion and everyone wants to argue. I'm done

lobstaroll--I agree, this particular incident seemed to be isolated to the Dutch side, not sure it's a matter of opinion? Not sure what this has to do with policing on both sides of the island?

Horrible news, especially the killing of someone. They need to be prosecuted fully.

Not only are they murderers but they are also pretty stupid. Who would try to escape using the causeway. Kind of limits your options.

Graphic photo.
This is very sad, something needs to be done.

Awful!!
Robbing is one thing, but everything seems to end up with a death!!! So sad......

Whatever happened to the guys who killed Officier Benjamin-have they been sentenced yet?

They have not even been tried yet, so no, they have not been sentenced yet.

I agree with you. There is no physical border between both sides. The Dutch side has more money floating around and a tougher police force. Therefore the logic for robbers is to live on the French side and rob on the Dutch one.

Immigration at Julianna only started working with the French police at the request of the French who also planted a few guys at Julianna.

Believe me, I lived on a border for 40 years and thieves love to exploit the administrative loopholes.

It's about time the SXM Govmt started tackle these issues globally instead of just shooting at the last robbers and waiting for the next ones.

Good statement!

it's so sad
We used to go to St Martin 2 times a year
Now we dont go anymore because of the acts of violence.

Article about the shooter. He was out of jail for good behavior.
https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/53872-suspected-shooter-was-out-of-prison-for-good-behaviour

I'm curious. Where do you go now?

I commend not only the police for their quick actions, but also the witnesses who weren't afraid to come forward.

Honestly, most of the recent victims have been locals. Shop owners, police officers and so on.

Crime here is not greater than in most of the USA, that does not prevent me from visiting the States whenever I can.

I think all of the recent victims have been locals. Not that their lives are not worth as much as a visitor's, because they are.

Locals or visitors, people are not going to want to frequent a place that has an overabundance of crime of any type.

With an average of 13 murders per 100'000 people, St Martin is well below the Caribbean average, for example Jamaica has 52 per 100k people.

This is not by any means an overabundance of crime.

Tourists still flock to the Bahamas where the murder rate is 30 per 100k and that in the US Virgin Islands is even 33 per 100k.

To me, statistics mean nothing. SXM needs to get a handle on the crime situation, period. There is way too much SERIOUS crime on SXM.

Agree completely, Carol but haven't we been singing that song for a good fifteen years or more? I know it wasn't like this in the 70s or the 80s or even in the nineties as I recall, and in the late nineties we started hearing a lot about island crimes of passion. But OMG, the gun violence of the past five to ten years is heart-breaking regardless of who it's directed at. A life is a life is a life. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Before we critique the crime situation in St Maarten we need to look at what is going on in our own back yard almost on a daily basis. Shooting every day in the states.

No, actually, I don't think so. It's not a matter of petty crime any more in SXM. Serious, VIOLENT crime, against locals AND tourists.. To me, the concept that tourists should not be concerned about crime against locals is abhorrent. Yes, to some extent, crimes of locals against locals, where people know each other, and the motive is PERSONAL, yes, that is somewhat different. But all these robberies of grocery stores, casinos, jewelry stores, etc., etc., etc., this is random, SERIOUS, violence against another human being, and should not be tolerated in a civilized society.

Absolutely correct. Violent crime or any crime for that matter should never be tolerated to any degree. Comparing the per capita of crime on St Maarten doesn't compare to the crime in our own back ward.
I agree something needs to be done both home and St Maarten.

I was curious, so I looked it up. The national average in the USA for murder is 4.5 per 100.000. In my home state of NC, the rate is 5.1 per 100,000.

So by my calculator, the US is 3 times safer than SXM. However, what I worry about as a visitor is theft, and I was definitely hit by this. This is the only place in the world I have visited where theft was an issue (for me).

Latest stats in Canada are 1.44 per 100,000 people.

Yes, there is crime at home. To me the point is, why would I vacation where there is an amount of crime that I'm uncomfortable with? At home, I know what areas to avoid, not so much on the islands. Look what happened to Jamaica when they failed to get the violence under control. Tourism dropped, people stayed only on the resort if they went at all, and you missed out on the local culture.
I can go any where in the world for an all inclusive, why go some place dangerous?

My opinion only but back in the 70's SXM people seemed friendly & happy. Then tourists---especially from USA---flooded in changed things, built hotels, high end stores etc. Changed what they saw as paradise into what they wanted in a vacation spot. Islanders see this and not all change has given them high paying jobs so they want what they see others have and the only way they think they can get it is by crime.

Someone here gave statistics on crime in Jamaica. We didn't like what we saw there and never returned. But we keep returning to SXM. My point is we Americans and tourists have created some of the problem. In my opinion.

OK, we all agree that these armed robberies are intolerable. There also seems to be a degree of consensus that the local govmt is not doing enough or taking the right actions to reduce this violence.

As you know, SXM politics is pretty complex. In another case, SXM medical center, the only step that seems to be effective was bringing in the Dutch Govmt.

Maybe we should all write to Dutch members of parlement, I know that a few of them have been bringing up mismanagement of SXM on a regular basis.

Re: hearing about violent crime in the 70's or 80's....that would be before everyone frequented the internet so the only way to know what was going on was by being there and reading the paper.

It would make sense that there WAS less crime because the Island was less active and less developed.

Pat: this was not really directed towards you but I could not find a way just to make a comment without replying to someone

Edited to add: Major <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> on me...I just noticed the box below the thread to respond to the thread and not a person

The thing about crime on SXM is that it is happening in our midst. We can be in a store, restaurant or gas station and it can get robbed. Most of us live in safe and relatively affluent neighborhoods at home and are rarely affected by crime. For example I live 30 miles north of Detroit and nothing ever happens up there. I've seen stuff down here that I've never seen back home.

we go to Aruba

Over the years!!!! There has been a influx of poor folks from other Islands, such as Santo dimingo jamaca. You can see that by the people on Island. The government allowed this influx, and I feel it pays the price with crime... I never was afraid to venture out at any time, but hardly go far at night... Sadly there has been casinos hit during the day... Now that scares me, as I like to play now and then, and realize its not safe day time or night time... the police presence and action prevent this from getting better... I wonder if it would be wise to try and weed out the bad seeds, and send them back to where they came... I know not realistic.... Have to just be vigilant if you want to spend time on Island.... Although anything could happen at any time, Hope your not there...

Sorry to disagree with you, but as it appears, the guy who shot the gas station attendant was a local, and the attendant was a haitian.

http://www.smn-news.com/st-maarten-st-ma...che-prison.html