| Title: | CRUISE TRAVEL |
| Moderator: | XANADU::FAMULARO |
| Created: | Thu Aug 04 1988 |
| Last Modified: | Thu Dec 12 1996 |
| Last Successful Update: | Tue Dec 31 1996 |
| Number of topics: | 562 |
| Total number of notes: | 2834 |
On last night's "Prime Time Live" TV News show on ABC there was an
expose' of the crime in the US Virgin Islands, especially St Thomas.
Apparently a local reporter recently won a Pulitzer Prize for his
reporting on the crime problem. How long he will remain alive is a good
question!
There are over 5,000 serious felonies committed in St Thomas a year
with less than ONE PERCENT resulting in an arrest and conviction of the
criminals.
To make matters worse, the Local Police are a large part of the problem
e.g. they lose murder weapons, 10 lbs of coke, etc. that are in their
property rooms (nicknamed "The Black Hole").
And the most entertaining of all: The past governor of the islands
PARDONED a number of first degree murderers, including one guy who had
shotgunned and machinegunned some guests and staff in a local
restaurant a few years ago during the governer's last five minutes in
office. And it was LEGAL!
Plus the US Navy had (don't remember if they still do) stopped their
ships from landing there for liberty after 6 sailors were killed. One
guy beaten to death with a baseball bat spiked with nails and then shot
"execution style" while standing outside using a public phone.
The "good news" according to a Federal Prosecutor is that "most of the
violence involves the people who live there - not the tourists". Which
may or may not be true since I remember an NBC expose' presented during
the evening news.
I've been to St Thomas but stayed on St John and the place (St Thomas)
is really pretty scary, ESPECIALLY after dark - but the cruise ships
NEVER stay overnight there.
So, if you visit, be careful!
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 532.1 | So, what's your point? | STAR::ABELANCIK | Tue Jan 16 1996 12:54 | 9 | |
Oh, Tom,
You're such a cry-baby. I thought that risking your life is
the very thing you go on a cruise for. What with running into
sandbars and icebergs, outbreaks of food poisoning and the
miscellaneous terrorist attack...running into a few coke-ed up
natives doesn't seem so bad!
Your buddy, Alan
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