With permission, here are the last sections from the "INCIDENT REPORT" prepared by the victims of the 11 Oct 2004 attack:

<snip>

.5. Issues of Concern

The October 11, 2004 assault and robbery was horrific for my wife and me. We are doing everything we can to make sure that what happened to us doesn’t happen again on Bonaire. There are certain matters surrounding the incident that concern me. They are as follows:

a. The Immediate Police Response

It is of great concern to me that I could not reach the police directly. “911” was busy. I tried twice. The “911” number needs to be open. The fact that it was “busy” on the night of the incident suggests that there are too few lines available for help or worse yet; there were too many other incidents that night. Worse still, if there weren’t other incidents, someone was using the line for a personal call. This can’t continue. Barbara and I were fortunate to have a security company at our disposal. Not everyone has this. What are people without a security company at their disposal to do?

The response team arrived within 10-15 minutes of calling them. I had asked them to call the police. The police had not yet arrived by the time that I had left for the hospital. The Security Company response team came from a greater distance than that required of the police. The police response time must improve.

The police team that did eventually arrive at my home was there while I was not and left before I arrived back. Had the SSS team not been there, the police may not have been able to investigate the scene. As it was the police left no acknowledgment that they had been there or what they had found. Critical evidence could have been disturbed had the SSS team not been there. Again, Barbara and I were lucky to have had the SSS team. What would have happened with respect to evidence had another family not been as fortunate as we are?

b. Taking of Statements and Collection of Evidence

The two police officers who later came to my home and interviewed me gave the impression that it was a burden to them to be there and they wanted to leave quickly. More importantly, they had no formal procedures either for the collection or marking of what could be crucial evidence. For example, Mr. Senior simply walked out of the house with the found tie-wraps in his hand. Further, he was not wearing plastic gloves so that if there had been fingerprints or other distinguishable marks on the tie-wraps, such marks would have been altered making the evidence of little value.

The issue of forensic evidence requires attention. With one exception only, the police made no attempt to obtain the assailants’ fingerprints from any place in the house. Not at the probable point of entry. It is true that the men were wearing latex gloves but we cannot assume that they were diligent and had them on at all times.

I am unfamiliar with Dutch and/or Antillean law so I do not know whether “chains of evidence” are important with respect to the handling of items that are conceivably evidence. In the United States, however, such a “chain” is of paramount importance. Without a very careful documented written log setting forth the manner in which items are collected and handled, such items, even if valuable to supporting a prosecution, cannot be used to do so.

c. Inspection of Crime Scene and Surrounds

There is no question that the police could have been more thorough in their search of my home and of my car that was used by the assailants to get “away”. It is very important to emphasize that I, not the police, found, the shell casing from the bullet that the assailants had fired in my home; that it was I who found two additional tie-wraps in the master bedroom; that it was I who found the bottle opener that the intruders used to open the bottles of Polar that they drank. It was I who found another bottle, two bottle caps and a remnant of a latex glove in the car. And it was I who found the footprints at the access gate to the “greenway”.

d. Follow-Up

The only contact that I have had with the police between the time of the October 11, 2004 and now is contact that I have initiated. Mrs. Maryanne Van Riet Holst has had no contact with the police between October 11, 2004 and now.

Barbara was interviewed briefly in the hospital but no Process Verbal has been prepared on her behalf. Despite repeated requests for information from the police none has been forthcoming.

6. Conclusion

Bonaire is a wonderful island. Barbara and I are fortunate to live here. We will get past the horror of October 11, 2004. The issues of concern set forth within this document deal with the October 11, 2004 incident only. There are other equally pressing issues that challenge us all. If we are to be safe here, practices and procedures need to change and change now. Barbara and I are here to help.

Document Completed: October 23, 2004

Albert Bianculli

The lack of forensic skills/knowledge is frightening. Friends of ours had their house burgled mid-morning a few weeks ago, and surprisingly a detective actually showed up (the regular Bonaire police themselves are unable for some bureaucratic reason to do investigative work, so that's left to members of the the police department's "recherche" staff). Anyhow, they ended up trying to find fingerprints at the scene of the crime, ending up with one fingerprint that was nowhere near where the burglar was in the house based on the pattern of obvious evidence in the house. However, the recherche detective justified it by saying that was a very well defined and clean fingerprint, and that was the one they were taking into the record (instead of the slightly smudged ones on the window the burglar had forced open, the kitchen knife he had apparently carried around during his theft, etc.). Ridiculous.

One interesting and very disturbing mention I see in Albert's report above is about a gun shot - there was previously nothing public made about a gun being involved in the home invasion...

I applaud Albert for being willing to make this part of his report public in any event. He's absolutely right we need to ensure nothing like this happens again on Bonaire, and educating Bonaire residents via such public disclosure is a good way to assist that.

Jake

I could go on with a whole page of what I think of the Bonaire Police, however, I have just thing to say:

BONAIRE POLICE FORCE: SHAME ON YOU! YOU ARE HURTING THE ISLAND OF BONAIRE AND IT'S PEOPLE BY YOUR CONTINUED LACK OF ACTION AND ATTENTION TO THE CRIMES ON BONAIRE HOWEVER SMALL AND LARGE THEY MAY BE!

OK..So now we know the criminals on the island had a firearm (handgun?) & fired a shot into the residence. Personally, I am a strong pro gun advocate.. When laws strip responsible & law abiding citizens of the right from using firearms in self defense, from having them in the home, the only people in society that have the guns are the criminals. Sadly I realize the laws on Bonaire are quite different from the U.S.
As an aside note, there was only one place I've ever been to where I really felt vulnerable without my .380 Beretta & that was on Jamaica (& I consider myself fairly world traveled throughout Europe & the Caribbean). I vowed never to return there for a vacation. I sincerely hope the good citizens on Bonaire are not headed down the same road..I (& I'm sure other BT'ers) will stay tuned to see what develops.

I'm with you Debbie, Shame on them!!! If this kind on behaviour happened in our towns and cities, the general public would be down their throats in a heart beat. I was shocked before but when I read Roger's post, I am stunned and speachless. I feel so sorry for Bonaire as a country and the people who have to put up with police. On my first trip to Bonaire we had to deal with the police in a minor complaint and I was appauled at the way they treated us. So I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

OK, well, in 2002 there were 12 violent crimes per 1000 people in British Columbia, Lorraine, so if we posit 10,000 people on Bonaire that would be about 120 violent crimes on Bonaire per year. Which may be the case if there are many unreported crimes against blacks, I do not know. I assume you feel confident in your local police force to investigate crimes and pursue the perps, and further confidence in your courts to mete out a punishment to same, which is why you are not "down their throats" about the level of violent crime where you live. So that is the real problem in Bonaire, the "empty uniforms" police force. And no solution on any near horizon. No throats to go down.
I, too, must applaud Albert for his posting. The fact that a gun was involved is the worst news of all. It's nice to get actual reportage of what happened, even if the news is unsettling.

As an annual visitor to Bonaire and a American citizen, I am sick and tired of the police departments lack of experience in handling the crimes committed. From past experiences with crimes being committed against me, I can give the people of Bonaire a sure fire way of changing the islands lack of concern. In one word, MEDIA. What would the politicians and police of Bonaire do if CNN, FOX News, ABC, CBS, NBC, BBC, AP, UPI and Reuters news services all reported this latest crime. The media can be used to get action, I know this as a fact. And the crime I reported to the media was far less important than the beating, robbery and soon to be death of a local citizen or a tourist. It really would not take that much of an effort to get this story reported worldwide. Given the continued crimes committed on the island, myself and my 17 friends will return this New Year's, just as we have done for the last five years in a row. We love the people, the diving, the food, the weather and yes even the damn donkeys. This year I will take extra precautions, which might be illegal on the island but I will take my chances with the customs inspector and the police, instead of relying on the thugs that want to kill me for $50.
Best Regards,
Smith & Wesson

Now we have guns on the island....this is not a good development. Let's see...3 or 4 yawning cops with little .380 semi-autos and 1 phone (used primarily to call home), no jail, an entirely un-armed populace and an arming criminal element. And rules and laws promulgated for an urban populace with an established and present law enforcement and judicial system which is completely ineffective in small rural outback environs.
It ain't looking good me thinks.

Seb, don't know where you got your stats.
British Columbia, twice the size of New York with approx 4 million people and 1 million of those people living in the high crime area of Vancouver (500 miles south west of me), so please don't attach their stats to us. In our little city of 80,000 I have great respect for the RCMP and their abilities (sorry that you don't). They are not perfect and when they screw up we are "down their throats" and wild as may seem, they improve. I have had to call them on a number of occasions and their response time is what I would expect - depending on the crime. However the court system is a different story. I don't believe in the "empty uniform" statement. They are flesh and blood like anyone and WILL buckle if enough pressure is put on them.

Lorraine, I just did a google search on british columbia crime statistics and found this police report:
http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/police_services/publications/summary_statistics/Chapter_2.pdf

The main site is
http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/police_services/publications/

I never impugned the abilities of the RCMP, please reread my post. I did impugn the abilities and interest level in policing of the Bonaire Police. How do you propose to put pressure on them? They answer to people in Curacao. I certainly hope that some media attention can help, but I am not overly optimistic until there is a change in government.

A government change will not help at all. It is for many many years the same discussion, Curacao is just not interested in Bonaire ... in any of the other islands. The Central government just forgets every time that it is the Government of the Netherlands Antilles.... what is needed is the change of the Statuut within the Kingdom of The Netherlands ... that was what the referendum was all about and the Bonaireans voted 85% of going out of the Netherlands Antilles ... it will take a few years to change the Statuut... in the mean time we need Dutch police here - normally to be asked by the Central Government, who of course will not do it. So the Bonaire government went last week to Holland to insist on help very soon ... and that is the only thing Bonaire can do at the current time.
I don't think that all the police men are bad, there are some very frustrated police agents in the force, but the top certainly is ...

(Message edited by CocoPalmGarden on October 27, 2004)

Thats what i meant by government change Brigette, change of the Statuut within the Kingdom.

As noted in my previous post on this subject, media attention will light a fire under someone's ass. I will be more than happy to begin that process being in the home of CNN. Sadly, we are leaving for Aruba this Friday for 10 days, okay so not sadly. But before I stick out my neck, it would be great to know how the locals feel about the exposure before it happens.

Heck, Curacao can't handle its own crime problems - shootings, stabbings, robberies, burglaries, etc. go on all the time, brazenly even during the day. Last week the husband of our "adopted" Bonairean daughter who now lives in Curacao with him stopped some guys who pulled truck into their yard and were attempting to steal a full 5' tall propane gas tank. The week before, some guys stole windows from the house being build in back of the property, and then broke into the neighbor's house and stole all sorts of stuff there.

So, Curacao's police being unable to stop rampant crime there leads to even less attention paid to Bonaire's crime problems (and local theories abound that the three bad guys are from Curacao - no idea if that's true or not...)

Jake