I was thinking that in light of all the talk of crime on Bonaire, it might be useful to give people some idea of just how prevalent it is. Since the Bonaire Talk community contains many who have travelled to Bonaire, I thought that a thread consisting only of people's personal experiences with theft while on vacation in Bonaire might provide some moderately accurate picture of the situation.

Here's what I propose: in this thread, list how many times you've visited the island, how many times, if any, you've been robbed, and what was stolen. I'd suggest that this is basically all you would list, and that we avoid any long stories, opinions, theories, critiques, etc. in the name of keeping this simple and staightforward.

I'll start. Nine visits, ten weeks total, zero thefts.

Anyone else think this is a good idea?

Yes...good idea.

2 trips (with two more planned), one stolen bottle of Cactus Juice Sun block - taken out of the truck.

13 trips i guess...TSA has a lot of my stuff ...birds have ate the fruit i had lying on the truck seat...otherwise, pretty lucky i guess;)

6 Trips of 8 days each with no thefts. 7th Trip scheduled for June 2006. Good idea Scott! Hopefully, this will give newbies some good info.

Lived here on Bonaire nearly 9 years and 3 incidents:

1) Had a bicycle stolen from my patio in the Makamba Plein (a "bungalow park" on the north side of Kralendijk). The bike was chained and locked to a concrete column - bike, lock, and chain all gone. This was in January 1998. Got a dog shortly thereafter.

2) Linda frightened a stupid burglar away in August 1998 from the same house as above (the week before we moved to Hato to our waterfront digs of many years). Burglar was stupid (we're guessing stoned) was trying to pry open the sliders while all the aforementioned patio lights were on, as were all the house lights. Police refused to interview Linda or take fingerprints. Burglar's accomplice had distracted the dog (Blikje).

3) April 2000 or thereabouts, a couple of teenagers try to steal the North & South BeachCam, but are horribly inept (can't figure out how to disconnect them) and get themselves captured or video taped in the process (with the world watching, no less!). Tape given to chief of police, kids never seen on beach again (but also not ever arrested or detained as far as we were told, even though they were wearing soccer shirts with identifying numbers on the video).

That's it for Bonaire.

As for our other run ins with theft prior to Bonaire.

In 1980 or so, I had my unchained bicycle stolen from outside my mom's business in Wellesley. Thief caught and sentenced very quickly. Repeat offender, mentally disturbed.

In 1990 or so, Linda had her car window smashed outside our condo in Londonderry and a radar detector stolen. Police were none too helpful, and suggested that some kids from the local high school probably stole it.

All pretty minor if you ask me.

Jake

Scott, I know what you are trying to accomplish, and appreciate it. While I don't mind this idea, we must remind folks of part of the Bonaire Talk Policy, which is this:

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quote:

-Special Note In Regard to Posts on Crime Issues: Postings in regard to crime on Bonaire are taken seriously by the Moderators of Bonaire Talk. If you post about crime on Bonaire, be prepared to back up your information with a police report. The moderators will remove posts that are vague, involving 'hearsay', and that cannot be backed up with facts in regard to the crime.

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I have no police report. Did not feel it needed to be reported. Sorry to have posted.

Annual two week trips since 2000 without incident whatsoever. Carole

since 1999 6 trips a week each time and no incidents

Tribs, my post was not directed at you. It was a "pre-attempt" to keep the posts credible and informational, so that hearsay and other such posts could be "nipped in the bud" so to speak.

3 trips since 2001 (total of 5 weeks and a day) .... no problems whatsoever. Thanks to BT'ers for invaluable suggestions.

Interesting thus far: 43 vacation trips (sorry Jake, I'm keeping the tallies for residents separate), one missing bottle of sunscreen.

Keep 'em coming, please. I think we'd all like to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly.

4 trips since 2001 -Zero Problems
{once an almost dive site theft, scared the kid away by yelling,...}

9 trips since 99 with groups ranging from 2 to 24 people and so far no problems at all.

29 trips since 1998. Only two minor problems. One broken car window at Andrea 1. Tee shirt and hat taken. All other doors were unlocked in truck at time except the one they broke the window on. Dumb thieves.
One attempt to steal gas from truck foiled. They did not not like camera strobe in their eyes at 2 AM. Get away car was IDed and police arrested thieves. All other trips wonderful.

Family has been going to Bonaire since 1991. 25-30 trips. No problems of any kind. Someone did leave a pair of sun glasses on hood of my car at Ol Blue two years ago. Stay at same place each year.

Ray

12 or 13 trips since 94, hundreds of days on the island, stayed at Divi, Carib Inn, Don's, Buddys, HHH, Sunset Homes, Dive Paradise, 3 different private rental houses, and 3 private homes, with and without dear friends.

Had the spare truck tire stolen at Weber's Joy on a night dive (I have a Polis report in Dutch and Translated English)and lost some licorice at Andrea.
Beat up AMEX and made them pay for the tire and translation fee. The latter of which they paid in dollars for guilders.
I found a seahorse on that night dive and showed her to my buddy, amongst other wonderful stuff. I didn't find out about the tire for a couple of days until I had a flat, and in retrospect, that dive was worth it.

Don't let punks crush your groove.

(Message edited by seb on March 24, 2006)

11 trips and around 160 nights on bonaire. On our very first trip I left a camera unattended and it walked; no problems after that.

Four trips since 1997. We always stay at the Divi and have never had a problem. The first year my husband left his new camera in the dunk tank "unattended" after a night dive. When he realized it and returned, the camera was gone. However, this story has a happy ending! The next day we discovered the camera under the lounge chair on our porch with a towel carefully draped over it. One of the other guests had found it in the tank, remembered seeing Michael with it and kindly returned it to our porch.
We can't wait to make our fifth trip to Bonaire this August!!!

48 trips (give or take) since 1985. Between '89 and '94 I herded large groups to Bonaire (30+). Of the hundreds whom traveled with me, only one regulator; two cameras; about ten pairs of booties (why do these idiots always steal booties? Haven’t they ever heard of cooties?); t-shirts, towels, and water bottles galore; and the item that really ticked me off--two Sun Showers (both at Red Slave).

In my private travels to Bonaire, I’ve had one 3mil wetsuit grabbed from the patio (’92), which was my own dumb fault, because I forgot to bring it in the night before leaving.

I have never had any physical or violent confrontation on Bonaire.

This in contrast to USVI (St Thomas and St Croix) where I’ve been mugged twice at knifepoint and once at rebarpoint. Grand Cayman, where I intervened in a rape, not more than 40 yards from the beach bar @ the Holiday Inn--while Barefoot Man was playing whatever it is he plays. Roatan, where I was robbed at gunpoint by a "police officer". Belize, where I had to have one of my brood airlifted to Houston after his throat was slit--only a block from the front door of the Ft. Washington Hotel. Antigua, Barbados, Barbuda, Tortola--oh, and I can’t forget PR, where I felt if I was robbed at both the Black Angus and La Riviera...but that’s another story, for another day, talking "stuff" with bunch of old sailors.

3 trips, 32 days, no problems. Will make #4 this fall if nothing goes wrong. Have a good day

Over the past 20 years have at least made 15 trips from 1 to 2 weeks. Have stayed at many resorts on the island. Have never had any problems whatsoever. But I practice all the usual precautions which have been mentioned ad infinitum on this board.
Used to own condo on St Croix where crime was rampant which is why I sold.
Stayed on 7 mile beach on Grand Cayman several years ago in a 2nd floor unit & chased an intruder out after returning from dinner. Yea, I threw anything I could get my hands on at him as he jumped off the outside terrace & ran. Will never forget it.

Only had one bad incident in 20yrs.
Parked the truck on a dark road when we went to town, the gas line was cut and gas stolen, a few years back.I park in a well lit place now.
Our truck was stuck in the sand by Pink Beach and a man who was fishing and another local gentelman help get us out.It was alot work but niether would give up until they freed the truck.
Another time I lost perscription glasses and found them, someone stacked up large pieces of coral and put them on top so I would see them.
More positive then negative.

Two tanks stolen at 1000 Steps while diving. Our fault for taking extra tanks and leaving them unattended. Police report filed. Dive op notified us a month later Police had made an arrest and recovered 6 of their tanks. 5 trips, so far.

Over 12 trips to Bonaire and all for either one week, two weeks or three weeks at a time and no incidents.

On one of my first visits to Bonaire way back, we forgot to bring in our bathing suits at night. In morning, hubby's speedo trunks and Hanes t-shirt gone, but my kids suits and my $80 suit were left. Found this funny as they just really must of needed the clothes as what they took were of no real value.

4 trips since 2001 - no problems

On our second trip to Bonaire our villa was burglarized to the tune of about $3000 worth of stuff-cameras, CDs, all easily portable items. A police report was filed and our homeowners insurance cover almost all of it. Entry was made through an unlocked kitchen window. Lesson learned and never a problem since. Our trip last year was for four weeks and was flawless.

6 trips since 2004, total of 11 weeks, usually stay at SunOceanfront Apts in town - only thefts were from unlocked truck at night when parked on street during Regatta Week when downtown was full of drunks - a cap and a pair of sunglasses. The car alarm went off and someone reached in, opened the hood and disconnnected the positive to the battery to turn off the alarm - wrecking the cable connector in the process - next morning two locals helped us find a replacement. Another time there was a report of someone seeing a presumed thief trying to climb up onto our balcony but nothing was missing. Use the usual precautions when at dive sites - nothing missing so far.

1 Trip in 1993 - lasted until 2000. 1 theft at the house in the 3rd year; many many many many shore dives - no thefts. Had open jeep, never locked. Left sunglasses, clothes and extra gear. Lucky or stupid I guess.

After the 6th year, jeep was stolen from in front of house. Found same day - hahaha. Thief locked the doors and removed the distributor cap for safe keeping in front of his house. Very considerate guy.

Owned The Sandwich Factory - too many break-ins to mention.

Safest place in the world IMHO.

Barry

No problems as a tourist (used safe and did't bring valuables in cars), living in Playa Pabou no problems and in Belnem nada..thank God..I have two dogs and a cactus fence plus when I go off island find windsurfers or divers to pet sit...I have nothing of value so to speak..use my bank safety deposit box and use my ATM card or check book so never carry cash...simple easy peasy...out of all my tourist clients, two have been broken into and each time the windows were unlocked and all belongings out in the open...

Keep 'em coming, please. My rough tally thus far shows 243 trips reported, 6 thefts (plus Jon's report of several thefts out of hundreds of vacationers he's taken there -- hard to tally that). I hope that people will continue to post; my intent here is solely to give people looking at Bonaire as a vacation spot some kind of rough idea of the reality (good and bad) of the oft-discussed issue of crime against tourists.

Just had my 12th trip to Bonaire since 2000 and five of them were without my husband and felt totally safe. Had one shortie that was either taken my another tourist or stolen. Not sure which because there was another just like it in a bigger size. That was in the Divi's Dive shed before the new lockers were put in.

This is our 5th trip since 1998 and we have not had anything missing, stolen, misplaced, trashed, broken into. Count us in for nothing missing . Thanks !

Stayed many years at the old Bonaire Beach bungalows. No locks on doors. Never a problem. Just here-say. But going to Bonaire for years, one heres a lot of BS as well.

Almost forgot, a donkey ate a cigar back in 97. He came into you yard, walked onto the deck and made himself at home. God I miss that place!

Fourteen trips to Bonaire for a total of about 38 weeks with hardly any problem. We stayed at Sand Dollar the first two years, Carlos's one year, Logeon Hills two years and HHH nine years. Just returned from a three and a half week stay, great as usual.

9 trips over 5 years, $20 left on front seat of unlocked rental car which was gone when I returned from snorkeling 1000 Steps. That was due to stupidity though. Other than that, no other problems. This past trip, not realizing my room would be cleaned daily by a maid, I left cash, passport, documents on a table, not locked in a safe, and nothing missing. Use common sense and you'll have no problems.

Scott, Thanks for starting this thread. I have been lurking for some time to get as much info as I could before my 1st trip which is at the end of April. I admit that some of the crime treads have made me a bit nervous. I feel that this really helped put it into perspective for me. Thanks to all who contributed.
Gordon

22 trips tp Bonaire and the only thing that ever went missing was a beach towel. The next day at the Divi I saw a guest using it. I think it was a case of mistaken towel identity ; > )! Going back in 2 weeks and really looking forward to it!

My 10cents.

A very good, entertaining and educative thread. Good idea!

I live on Bonaire for 4 years now, and didn't have any problem. But I use my common sense and take precautions, like leaving nothing in the car ever, always using alarm-system in my house, grills and bars on the windows. Lock the doors and gate most of the time. This compared to my experiences in many other countries. I have had problems in nearly any country, including the Netherlands and the USA. Also on these trips I was careful. Nothing happened in Singapore and Iceland.
Oh sorry, once they took the gas from my car on Bonaire, that's all.

My partner was robbed the first night when she arrived on Bonaire (some 10 years ago), and lost most of her gold-stuff. Report was made. The son of my partner, living on Bonaire too, was also not so lucky. They are not active on BT, so I write this for them.
Once a scooter (locked in front of the restaurant where he works) was stolen, went to the police to make a report, but they advised him not to make a report, because his scooter-papers were not OK, and police suggested he would have stolen the scooter himself.
Once a Playstation with software was stolen from his house. A report was made and signed, fingerprints were taken, but he didn't get a copy of the report. When we pressed him to go and get a copy of the report, he went, and the police couldn't find the report anymore. So sorry, no report either.
Third thing was with his car, standing in front of his house with technical problems for several weeks. Wheels stolen, a seat, and several essential parts of the engine. I think this was at least a little bit his own fault. No report made.
A fourth thing was his stolen telephone, can also have been his own fault, while leaving it unattended on the table in a bar/restaurant. No report made. (After the story with the lost report on the Playstation, he doesn't want to go and make a report anymore. It doesn't help, he says.)

But still Bonaire is relatively very safe.

Harrie

I deleted the text of this post because it was double posted. Sorry

(Message edited by harmoni on March 24, 2006)

10 trips since 1999, stayed at Sand Dollar and Belmar, total 100+ days, no problems.

The only crime we have encountered while traveling was an attempted purse-snatching in Barcelona last year.

-David

Seven trips since 2000 with no problems.

Oh I have to add an alarm system is essential here..for residents..

Seven trips since '98, 60 or so nights. Nothing missing, despite Sandy leaving her bag with a bunch of valubles on the counter of AB on our first trip. An hour later, when we realized it was not with us, we went back and the ladies had rescued it. I wear the same T-shirt to every dive. No one in their right mind would go near that after about the second day. I've never come up with a good solution for my gear bag however, so it always lives in the back of the truck. I guess there's not a great resale market for rust stained, tattered mesh bags cus its always been left alone.

My Wife & I stayed here at Lagoen Hill for 2 weeks in June 2004, no problems.
We have lived here for a year and a half now and have not encountered anything untoward. We do have security bars and a big dog which probably helps.

We spent our first trip in Feb 2006. No problem. I got ripped off at Aruba last year so we just don't let things lay around. Sometimes you get in this comfort zone and you just have to keep things locked in the safe and don't let anything lay out that you don't care if you see it again.

We have been here since 2002, as visitors and then as residents. We have had no problem but heard about quite a few crimes: robberies, thieves, directly from the people that suffered.
Did anybody see this in Amigoe.com? Does it count as hearsay?
-----------------------------------------
Bicycle renter tired of robberies

BONAIRE – Owner of the bicycle- and scooter business De Freewieler, Frank Böhm is tired of the robberies on the island. In a letter he appeals to the government and police to finally do something about it.

According to Böhm, the year has started very bad. Many residents and tourists are scourged by the many robberies that take place on a daily basis on the island. Also his company was robbed more than once in the past months. Four bicycles and one scooter were stolen in less than three months. He stolen goods were just a few months old. This loss of income is a lot for a small company. The delivery time for some brands is more than six months. The goods disappear through robbery much faster that they can be imported and replaced. In one case, the stolen bicycle was thrown in the sea while the police was watching, and the thief was released from prison and walking free in Kralendijk, before the bicycle could be dredged up, says the disappointed entrepreneur.

Many tourists rent cars, scooters or bicycles. Apartments and cars are often broken into. Sometimes the robbers just load the scooters on a pick-up truck. Tourists that stay at certain addresses on the island are often refused rentals, which outrage them. According to Böhm, the inconvenience becomes too much and tourists do not come back. The government spends a lot of money to attract tourists, but cannot protect them.

He says not to expect anything from the government. The letters are not answers and suspects are not arrested. According to him it cannot be that difficult to pick up thieves, lock them up and keep them behind bars.

In the 15 months of owning the hotel, we have had no reports of thefts from guests. We have had two incidents of thefts by guests.

Four visits, no problems, just enjoyment.

The story of Frank Bohm is again pointing at the main problem.
OK, there is not much crime on Bonaire, as this thread also shows. But when there happened something, the authorities and the police do not act the way it should be, and do the ultimate to find the thiefs.
Remember the thread of the armed robbery, some threads ago?
First they didn't want to show up at the moment the woman was robbed, and second? Did anyone hear of catching those bad, bad guys? I haven't heard anything anymore, total silence. It cannot be so difficult to find these (few) but very bad guys on a small island like this. Police just doesn't do anything, and that's what worries me, The best way to stop potential thiefs is to show that there is a good chance to be catched and put in prison for a long time. When nothing happens, it looks so easy and so simple to do things like this.

Harrie

Just an addition:

Stealing scooters or bikes isn't so bad, what worries me the most are the armed robberies. But I am sure the guys that did that armed robbery started with some simple theft, didn't get punished for that, and went on, doing worse things. It is essential to be very attentive also at the simple thefts, and punish the culprits, to prevent them from starting doing worse things.

Harrie

Even though stealing scooters/bikes etc is not life threatening, I still wouldn't say that it isn't so bad.
The long term effects are that people like Frank don't remain in business, tourists will not rent vehicles as they are liable for a large deductable if there mode of transport disappears.
As such, fewer businesess paying tax, less amenities for tourists, another reason not to come to Bonaire.

Okay, we've had a few diversions here, but I'd like to again encourage people to briefly post their personal experiences --good, bad, or ugly -- so that those that come here to BT can get a decent grasp on what the situation really is on Bonaire. Thanks to all who've contributed so far.

I've been lurking here for a year .Finally decided to post.Have been to Bonaire 5 times for 2 weeks or more each visit. Had some flip flops take from an open jeep at one of the northern dive sites,lesson learned ,don't leave thing in the car.I stay at a home in the Tera Cora neighborhood ,no problems ,don,t leave anything out and lock up when out of the house.My friend who owns it says only 2 problems in 25 years there.Both times valuable stuff left out so someone could see it.

There's only one problem, this poll will prove absolutely nothing.

There are plenty of people that have posted on this board about being the victim of theft that are never going to come back and post in this thread. On top of that it also doesn't address incidents that have happened to the thousands of tourists that will never ever even see this forum. That means that most of the respondents are going to be BT regulars which have a vested interest in the outcome. This is going to hopelessly skew the data and make any conclusion drawn from it incorrect. In fact what it will most likely do is paint a false picture by understating the problem.

Quite frankly I'm amazed at some of the stuff I've read here on this subject that people don't seem to think is a problem. People come on here and say stuff about needing to put bars over their windows, alarm systems in their houses, and how you shouldn't leave anything out in plain sight when you're in the room sleeping. Doesn't anybody see a problem with that?!?

Yes, crime is everywhere and Bonaire is head and shoulders above most places when it comes to violent crimes against a person. Those luckily are very rare occurances. For now anyway. However, when it comes to breaking and entering, and especially "hot" entry B&E's where the occupant is in the room at the time, Bonaire is not very good when compared to other destinations. This is a very serious issue because a tourist must at the very least feel safe in their room. If that isn't the case then tourists, especially those with children, will not come to the island where they can just as easily go somewhere else that they don't feel threatened.

And just to put that into perspective, I live just a few miles outside of Boston in a town with over four times the population of Bonaire and slightly less land mass than the inhabited part of the island, i.e. much higher population density. Yet I can leave my camera, cash, or whatever on the kitchen table and there's a 99.999% chance it will still be there when I return home, along with all my other possessions in the house. And I don't have an alarm system, bars over the windows, or a dog. I can also sleep in a first floor apartment with the windows open and in 43 years have never woken up to an intruder in the house.

The bottom line is if all that were happening were cars being rifled through at dive sites this wouldn't be a big deal, but it's not. There may not be any easy answers, but one thing is for certain, trying to hide the reality of the situation isn't going to help matters one bit. All it will do is enable it to continue.

Btw, on our first trip last summer our truck was gone through at least twice that I'm sure of, and maybe one other time that I can't be positive of. But those wouldn't count in this poll because nothing was taken (I know they were there because things that had been placed in specific spots had been moved.) where we didn't leave anything of value and therefore no police report was filed.

Jim, thanks for your input. I respect your opinions, but wish to offer mine also.

First, I disagree with your statement that "BT regulars have a vested interest in the outcome." As a "BT regular", I started this thread because I thought that honest input would be useful, good, bad or indifferent. I have no "vested interest" in making Bonaire look better or worse than it really is, and doubt that many other people do either. The people who have provided input in this thread are, by and large, NOT people who have any vested interest in Bonaire but are simply people who have been there on vacation. There IS a problem with crime on the island, and I for one have no interest in denying that or downplaying that. I have never seen anything resembling a poll on this issue, and simply felt that it would provide information that people can interpret any way they want. I had (and have) no idea of how this would (or will) turn out, and sincerely hope that people will take this for what it is: an informal poll. There are plenty of other threads here and elsewhere that contain lots of peoples THOUGHTS on the subject, but my goal here was to provide something along the lines of raw data for people to process however they wish.

I also feel that your statement that people who have already been victims of crime on Bonaire and won't post again or will never even go on BT can be taken the other way, too: thousands of people who have had incident-free vacations will also not post on this thread. I don't think that there is any filter here that skews the data one way or another.

That said, I am not a statistician, nor do I pretend that this is in any way a scientific, statistically sound survey.

Yes, you're absolutely right, that there are many postings on BT and elsewhere where people seem to (erroneously) feel that there is no problem with crime on Bonaire. But there are, in my opinion, just as many posts that seem to overstate the problem also. My intent was to try to offer some balance without people getting too deeply into the usual extreme points of view (eg. "there's no problem there" vs. "this is the worst crime-infested vacation destination on the planet").

I still hope that this thread will continue with postings of experiences both incident-free and not.

OK, I am posting Scott's original thought for this thread.

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quote:

Here's what I propose: in this thread, list how many times you've visited the island, how many times, if any, you've been robbed, and what was stolen. I'd suggest that this is basically all you would list, and that we avoid any long stories, opinions, theories, critiques, etc. in the name of keeping this simple and staightforward.

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And as I said previously, the data being collected for this poll has absolutely no scientific control to it what so ever and is primarily being responded to by people that so far have a vested interest in the outcome. That is going to hopelessly skew the data beyond the point of ever being able to draw any realistic conclusions from it. At least have the honesty to admit that this poll has no other value other than that of entertainment.

If you really want to present a realistic picture of the amount of crime occurring on the island, get the police logs for the past year and post raw numbers for the various crimes committed.

Jim, no claim to "scientific control" is being made. Your statement that the responses are from "people that so far have a vested interest in the outcome" is baseless. Please do not make statements like this without facts to back them up. If you have any luck obtaining the police logs that you mention, I'd appreciate your posting them here on BT. Have a nice day.

Scott & Moderators:

Just a short one.
I doubt if the police have any logs at all, they will not give them to anyone, and I am sure they lost the papers of "difficult" cases.

Harrie

Hi Harrie,
My statement to Jim was not meant seriously; I think most of us know that the chances of ever seeing real statistics from the Bonaire police logs are essentially zero. That's one reason why I think that this thread has merit, and hope that people continue to post their experiences on it.

20 years going to Bonaire. We have always been there 2 to 4 weeks and to date we have not had any problems. The island has always given me a feeling of security. I have gone there some times without my husband and was not afraid. Can we all say that about our hometown or place we are living now.
Hope it continues as it is a very special place.

Well
I guess I really have to tell my story. As some of you may remember I have been visiting Bonaire since 1980. During that time I have had 2 incidents. About 7or 8 years ago. someone took my cheap sunglasses and flip-flops while I was snorkeling. Last Sept. however as my daughter and I got to our truck about 4 PM at Karpata two young fellows confronted us with, believe it or not, large rocks in their hands. Since these guys had about 60 years on me I did nothing. They grabbed our Otter boxes and ran into the yard across the road. My box was empty,my daughter had a few guilders in hers. We reported it to the police in Rincon. They seemed to take it quite seriously.
End of story. Mick

Scott,
of course I understood it was meant sarcastic, but this is really the main point of this discussion, the lack of action of the police, that's why "petty thiefs" grow to real plunderers.

Harrie

Congratulations I think the point has been made.... there obviously is an insignificant crime problem on Bonaire so the Police are doing just a bang up job and there really is no point in all this letter writing and we are all just making a total fuss about nothing. This is truly a fabulous way of enhancing the security at remote sites because it is just fine the way it is. You do not have a valid sampling here and the ones that do just throw the stuff away until it fits their perspective and use your numbers to justify their position. One needs to be very careful about the potential implications of postings such as these.

Personally I am deeply grateful to those who have had intrusions and violations of their lives and choose to share their experiences in the hope that we may all better prepare and possibly avoid such incidents ourselves. Without their contributions I for one would not have the information to behave appropriately.

It is also unfortunate that some some of those who have posted feel abused by subsequent rather unconstructive postings.

Perhaps those who contribute to this forum should be aware of the double edged sword that it can be.

On Bonaire I have window bars multiple alarms and perimeter security which I certainly dont need in NY!!

David, I see nobody making any statements here about "an insignificant crime problem on Bonaire so the Police are just doing a bang up job." None whatsovever. There are statements here from people who have been robbed and from people who haven't. I see no one using any numbers to justify any positions. I see lots of people sharing their experiences and anybody having the right to draw their own conclusions. I also see this attempt at getting some straight info out to people heading down the same path it always does......There should not be sides drawn, here, people; there is definitely merit to trying to get the powers that be on Bonaire to address their problems; there is absolutely merit to people telling about their unfortunate incidents; it's vital to share advice on how to keep yourself safe --- but what's wrong with an attempt at trying to get a handle on the how often this stuff happens to people? And anyone who thinks that this is just some scam being perpetuated by those with ulterior motives are just plain wrong.....

Juni, Jim Peters, David Pascoe, You are all off topic, and obnoxiously so. If you are not posting the information Scott asked for, don't post on this thread, or you will be suspended.

Excuse me, off topic? did I not post that we have had no problem since we've been here in 2002. I did not see any bad language or nasty remark in my post to be called obnoxious.

My point of adding what was printed in Amigoe.com is just to caution people that even though most of us are not crime victims but it does not mean there are no crime on Bonaire.

Moderators,

Could a separate topic be established to discuss crime statistics analysis and the difference in violent versus property crimes (and the relative comparisons of those crimes versus other islands/locales? As well as police response, and the lack thereof? If so, where on BT would you prefer that thread be started? (feel free to move this message there)

Relative to the "Unofficial Crime Statistics" thread at http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/cgi-local/bbs/show.cgi?36/262220,
it seems to me that Jim Peters and David Pascoe have good points. And certainly the concerns of Harrie and Juni should not be disregarded.

While Bonaire's violent crime stats are low compared to neighboring islands like Curacao (although I have no idea how it works on a percentage basis), the fact that it seems to take iron bars on our homes, and dogs in our yards on Bonaire as a safety measure to protect our possessions is certainly a bit discomforting in retrospect.

And the police track record is not encouraging either...

Jake

Thank you Jake and others for posting on this topic and to Scott for really trying very hard to keep everyone on Topic..
please feel free to start a thread in the Community Chat section{it is not just for gifers and chit chat,, we also like the challenge of a good discussion}where you can discuss the other aspects of this conversation.. I believe that more people might join in on the conversation if it is out of the LOCAL threads.. Thank you all for playing nice...

Eight visits since 1998. The only incident was having my appendix taken at knife point. We hope to return once again this June to search for it.

Per Freddie's suggestion, see:

http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/23830/262695.html

Thanks Jake. I think I will get better sleep tonight. Yes, mods do lose sleep over threads like this, and how to handle them. So, back to Scott's original question and brief answers on:

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quote:

list how many times you've visited the island, how many times, if any, you've been robbed, and what was stolen. I'd suggest that this is basically all you would list, and that we avoid any long stories, opinions, theories, critiques, etc. in the name of keeping this simple and staightforward.

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KISS...- keep it simple folks

Thanks for your cooperation.

Cynde

It was certainly not my intention to imply that there were "unconstructive" posts in this thread nor in fact that there were in other threads but only that others had interpreted them that way.

Also the last thought on my mind was that ANYONE had ulterior motives in their postings.

I do think the post was on subject... the awareness of the potential implications of our posts should be very much on the moderators minds. Who might I add continue an outstanding job.

david

My 2 cents: http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/cgi-local/bbs/show.cgi?tpc=1022&post=315346#POST315346

Five visits since 1995 and never a problem at all.

4 visits in past 4 Februarys - no problems.

I bring my sunglasses and some $ along for the ride in my BC; against my objections, my husband always left his in the glove box. Only mask boxes, ratty tshirts and extra tanks left in wide-open truck.

Not to go off topic, but my au pair's friend left her backpack in her unlocked car last week parked in our quaint little downtown in front of the bank and it was gone when she returned. This just shows petty crime can happen anywhere. Violent personal crime and home invasions are my concern.

"Poll".... "survey"... good lord people listen to yourselves getting all worked up... this is not a scientific NASA survey for god's sake... it's nothing to argue about... it's a CHAT thread, nothing more. Add your stats if you want, if not, just skip it.

Been to Bonaire 5 or 6 times, nothing stolen that I can recall...

Five vacation trips, total of 9 weeks, since 1995. We always stay in a private home, somewhere along the water. No thefts experienced.

from 1977-1980 6 times to Bonaire
in 2003 2 weeks in Bonaire
Zero problems, only enjoyed myself

Here we go again....for me and family 12 weeks on island in 5 years.....had a beer swiped in year one...
EVEN IF EVERYBODY BELIEVES I DRANK IT.

Wally, I drank it. It was cold, it was delicious, it was gone.
Mare

3 visits in past 4 years, next one this summer. Stayed at Buddy's each time. Only loss has been my sanity upon returning home.

Forgot to add, my biggest concern has been loss of items in my luggage at the San Juan Airport (behind the protective TSA security area.)

Doug, Put these on top of your clothes and "if" someone in SJ decides to open your bag, I doubt they would touch anything! heh heh...

3 trips (2 weeks each) since 2003 and nothing stolen. we left the windows of the truck down & the worst that happened was bird poop on the passenger seat.

i noticed that ABC car rental (at least on their Mazda trucks) has a locking gas tank. When you go diving, you could lock some important small items in here, like your credit card, drivers lisence, cash, etc. Just remember not put put the cell phone there because of the static electricity hazard.

Grasshopper...ROFLMAO!!!

Ginny, I thought about buying some, but they seem expensive. So, I'm just going to go down to wallmart and buy a package along with a brown felt marker and make my own to "line" my luggage next trip ;-) heh heh...wouldn't they baggage folks have a "nice surprise"...

Short and sweet: 5 trips since 1997, 14 weeks total island time, no crime, no theft, always felt comfortable. Best regards, Jack.

9 times - Divi ocean front rooms, time share - 0
- two weeks at a time

House in Republiek - 0

Three one-week trips since 2004. No problems. Parked all over the place, window open. Used to leave Rx glasses in truck. After reading BT, on last trip carried them in an Otterbox while in the water. Sandals, tee shirts, shorts, cooler w/water in truck never disturbed.

Once forgot fins in Buddy's rinse tank for about an hour, they were there when I came back.

Oh gosh, y'all are talking about gas being stolen.

Once in 1994, at 1000 Steps, I couldn't clear and came up off the dive and there was some joker with a gas can and a pair of side-cutters under our truck.

He said his name was Elvis.

He looked familiar.

I spoke with ***** about the incident, and the next day one of the dive staff was no longer one of the dive staff. Strange, that. How the divemaster who resembled said Elvis no longer worked at the resort.

The thief hung around and volunteered his name???

Wow.

OOooohhh Mare..........well Ok I'm happy now

Whew, I'm glad we finally have the case of "Wally's missing beer" solved after all these years. Mare, we give you clemensy, you're off the hook for admitting to the "c" lol (don't even want to type that word!)

"Juni, Jim Peters, David Pascoe, You are all off topic, and obnoxiously so. If you are not posting the information Scott asked for, don't post on this thread, or you will be suspended."

Hmmmmmmmmmmm strange how the recent posts did not draw the ire of the powers that be. With all due respect they do seem just a trifle off subject or is it just that they dont offend certain sensibilities.

But I do promise not to ever ever ever post another thing on this thread so I wont get kicked off.

At least I am using my name instead of a generic nom de plume. It is funny when I made the original post I was somewhat concerned for the political realities that the moderators might face as their predecessors did. It might do us all well to realize the multiple uses and implications of posting on a public list.

ciao

Dude, you are taking this WAY too seriously; political realities and implications, indeed. And the only nom de plume I see on this thread is for someone who is well known by their real name on BT (it's there, if ya look) and whose work has been instrumental in keeping BT alive.

17 trips since 1986, two to three weeks each trip. In all that time, we have always felt safe - had my wetsuit taken from the wall outside our room - my fault for leaving it there...temptation, you know.

2 trips.

On trip#1 (2/97), went with Bill & Cathy L. While I was elsewhere on one day, Bill did a dive with Cathy taking in some sun, and had some minor stuff stolen out of their vehicle. Cathy was mostly pissed that she was nearby and had noticed the "kids playing", but didn't pay enough attention to see them rifle their car.

On trip#2 (11/00), we were witness to a car break-in, although it wasn't ours. Here's my photo:

http://www.huntzinger.com/dive/flamingocar11-00.jpg

On that same trip, we ate lunch one day at the Swiss Chalet. The owner had been broken into ~2 days prior and was showing friends/customers the newspaper article. I'm not a subscriber to the Bonaire Reporter, but in checking the calendar, this would have been published in the 11-22-00 edition.

Not sure how you want to score this, since we were lucky enough to not be the victims, but we were witness to two, and saw clear evidence of a third (which can be verified by checking newspaper archives).


Overall, I'm glad to hear that the new police chief is having some success. Been wanting to go back to Bonaire for a long time, but can't really relax when I feel that I have to have my "city streets" radar turned on all the time...that's hardly relaxing.


-hh

Five trips so far. Our first trip in 1994 our condo at LH was broken in to on our second night. The sliding door was locked but was lifted out of its track. Our two friends and us lost 1 very nice EOS Canon with all attachments, and carrying case, 1 passport, about $200 us dollars, and 1 truck rental key which cost us $200. A police report was filed. About three weeks after we arrived home the Bonaire Police Department notified us that our camera was found and pretty badly damaged from lying on the beach and would send it to us if we so choose. We never let this incident spoil our first trip to Bonaire, and haven't had an incident since then. Bonaire is a great island with great people and diving. We'll be back!

Really have to say that the "obnoxious" statement was uncalled for, in my opinion and to threaten to suspend was unnecessary and perhaps self serving. Sorry to say that I feel that such thin-skinned comments by a moderator validate concerns that a bias exists when it comes to the crime topic. Just my thoughts.

Now I can close this crime threads with a new howl...
somebody swiped my beer once...and it was Mare!!!