Originally Posted by
FritoBandito
Here is a post from DR1 chatroom that someone reposted. It's dated from 2007, but the point is that the DR can be a dangerous place, don't be deluded that it is a "Corona Beer Beach paradise" with no criminal element to speak of.
Encuentro is a notoriously dicey area, perhaps because of its proximity to the poverty in La Cienega. Below are some valuable observations about crime at Encuentro by Greenzulu on June 4, 2007. At the time he was living in a gated development in the Encuentro/Coconut Palms neighborhood:
"DR1 posts often contain, as a group, more mudslinging, sarcasm, rhetoric, rhetorical "historical" references, insults, bragging, fault-finding, finger pointing, I've-been-here-longer and general gringo too-much-time-on-my-hands drivel than information. More straight facts would be helpful, although perhaps less entertaining to the writer.
No one on DR1 appears to have the hard statistics to define, predict, or even comment usefully on "crime trends." Occasionally there are useful facts or intelligent comments, which makes it worth scanning DR1 to find the pearls amidst many swinelike posts. Long-timers, short-timers, small minders -- what a waste of space.
As of today, June 4th, there have been four armed robberies in 90 days within 250 yards of my house near Cabarete. This is not rumour; I saw the residents half-dressed and tied up in one case, and spoke to those whose dog was shot in front of them in a second case [the robbers making a point]. The two other houses were unoccupied at the time, so we don't know whether the robbers had arms or not.
A fifth attempted robbery five days ago was broken up by a security guard with a shotgun. He apprehended one out of two; purportedly the one, now in jail, gave up his three friends [not good for his future health]. Two Dominicans, two Haitians. Criminals don't seem to share the DR/Haitian cultural conflict. They may, or may not, have been implicated in the other robberies; the one apprehended was not armed. The armed robbers behaved like people with military or police training: gun trained, pointing with free hand, other stuff. One should assume they were different people.
A few days ago two doctors from Gaspar Hernandez were followed by a white Montero, which pulled alongside and flagged them to stop. They accelerated, it dropped behind -- and started shooting. It then pulled alongside again, and the doctors popped three rounds of their own at the Montero. It droped back again and followed for awhile more until they stopped in a populated area. Later they received a call from the police saying that the assailants were policement who thought they were chasing "delinquentes." I wouldn't think that likely.
At a security gate near my house, two weeks ago, a Haitian cleaning woman on the way to work at 7PM was threatened with rape by three youths, purportedly manning the gate. She was saved by a Haitian moto conch driver.
In the last three days, the hinges [external, bad idea on the builder's part] on one of my downstairs windows were half pried out. My house is mostly secured by heavy metal. The vertical, upward-carved scratches from the screwdriver slipping off from time to time are visible above both hinges. It was probably done to ready them for a final, brief push in order to get in quickly. I have taken adequate countermeasures.
The comment made regarding the cycle of new development/abandoned development makes sense. Criminals will always go for low-hanging fruit. Moreover, as was also correctly mentioned, "Cabarete people" are unlikely to be responsible for most of the crime. I know personally of gangs that operate in this area out of Santiago with some regularity, and there are undoubtedly gangs from other cities. They are both Dominican and Haitian.
All of the foregoing is based on first-hand knowledge. I think this is my second post in two years, I doubt they will become more frequent. I hope it is useful.
For the record, I think the DR is a lovely place to live, and Dominicans are a friendly, cheerful lot as a whole. But it is not an appropriate place to take many chances with your safety or family, or for those unprepared to pay a price in vigilance for what they save in housing costs and bad northern weather. There are serious disparities in wealth here, poorly-paid police, and a lack of crime prevention technology, which adds up to a need for considerable self-sufficiency and reliable local information, however obtained. As the SAS teach, it helps to be the grey man.
Be careful.
greenzulu
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