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#60352 12/20/02 07:52 AM
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Should we have any concerns about safety while we're on AC? I've heard that there have been some crime problems on the mainland, but that AC is quite safe. Any comments? Also, I've been reading about the great food on AC - can't wait to try some of those coconut tarts!
Dog

#60353 12/20/02 10:12 AM
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If you don't get drunk and become engaged in a "misunderstanding" with somebody else who is drunk, you will be fine ........ ! Have fun.

#60354 12/20/02 10:36 AM
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As my wife says to me,"Don't worry your pretty little head." A truism about islands is they are too small for criminals to subsist. No where to run to, no where to hide... The one time I was talking to an unsavory character[crackhead] i had 3 locals tell me to be careful in a span of about 10 minutes.

#60355 12/20/02 10:52 AM
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There is a little petty theft from tourists(people who leave their cameras,wallets etc. on a bar or table).The only visitors that I knwow who got into serious trouble were trying to buy drugs,and this is unadvisable.

#60356 12/20/02 03:41 PM
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This is an often-asked question, and I think the answer is that overall the island is quite safe.

However, with nearly 5,000 residents and at any one time several thousand visitors, you are always going to have a certain amount of crime, mostly petty thefts and break-ins but occasionally something much more serious. San Pedro will always be a magnet for a few bad apples who see "rich" tourists (and quite a few rich island residents as well) as easy pickings.

In tourist areas, it is always in the interests of the hotel and other tourism operators to downplay crime, but if you read the San Pedro Sun or just ask around you will hear a lot of stories about crime, a few involving tourists -- the occasional stabbing, mugging, rape or attempted rape and of course thefts and break-ins at hotel rooms.

If memory serves there have been three murders on or near the island this year, but two were in an execution-style murder on a boat from Corozal.

The worst crime on the island in my memory was the murder of a noted gardening writer, an American expat resident on the island, and her British friend, a few years ago -- they were horribly beaten and thrown into the sea late at night just south of town on their way back from a club. The murderer, from PG, was caught and convicted and sentenced to hang though as I recall he is still in prison.

Crime-free paradise? No. But in general the island is as safe as you could reasonably expect a resort island to be. Just use the usual precautions.

Crime happens everywhere. Just last week I was out of town and when I returned I found my office in a small town in North Carolina had been broken into, the second time in two years. This time the security system stopped the guy, and the cops almost caught him.

The only thing he got away with was a straw Guatemala hat I bought in Belize about 10 or 12 years ago. Fortunately, a police dog
found the hat and only chewed it up a little.

--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com


Lan Sluder/Belize First
http://www.belizefirst.com
#60357 12/20/02 04:01 PM
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Not sure that the information you gave was all that needed. When someone asks me if it is safe in NY city I say yes but, don't be stupid! Same goes for San Pedro. I don't think that telling people about drug murders on the back side will do anyone any good. By the way you forgot to mention that two people where arrested for driving without a license.

#60358 12/20/02 04:14 PM
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seriously i don't think lans honesty will hurt business. :rolleyes: i have had an unattended water jug and a hat taken from my golf cart. just remember if you value it, don't leave it out of your sight in ac or anywhere else for that matter.
gay

#60359 12/20/02 06:11 PM
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Ian's assesment is a very realistic one. The island is friendly and as safe as anywhere you will travel, but paradise (at least when it comes to crime) just doesn't exist anywhere. Relax and enjoy, but don't elude yourself into thinking you can take unneccesary chances you wouldn't take in the States or anywhere else.


R.B. Mernitz
#60360 12/20/02 06:57 PM
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Travelin Man: The purpose of this board is not to censor. If you think info posted isn't "necessary," just scroll past it. Don't attempt to decide for others about what they want to read.
I think its good to post the truth, even about drug murders. It might keep some visitor from doing something foolish.
With very very few exceptions, most of the few instances of violent crime on AC appear to have been motivated by conduct and relationships not likely to impact most tourists (unless they buy drugs). And when they do happen, things are done about it. There is a lot of volunteer crime prevention activity.
Petty thievery happens everywhere. And much of that is "opportunity crime" (you leave your camera, wallet, etc. on the beach thereby giving someone the "opportunity" to steal it..)
We have owned our condos for 11 years and have only been ripped off twice. Once was by a tour agency (some guy named Semmmler)who leased our units, didn't pay, and stole all our linens.
The other time was when our owner's locker had an underwater camera stolen, which we think was by a guest who took advantage of the maid's failure to lock it.
No guest has ever reported a theft.
We feel very safe on Ambergris Caye. A lot safer than we do in California.
We see kids playing in the park at night after dark, as late as 10 PM. I'd like to see a public park in the US where you would let your kids do that.....


Susan Guberman-Garcia, Attorney at Law. Phone: 510-792-2639
Fax/Voicemail:: 510-405-2016 Email: [email protected]
#60361 12/22/02 10:33 AM
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I don't think you understand what I am saying. I never said to censor anything. What I said is I don't think it is important in any way to anyone to tell people about things like murders that happened years ago! I think it is very important to explain to visitors about petty theft and being smart ei: don't ask people to help count your wades of cash and don't leave you camera on the bar or on the beach and go away for an hour. This is constructive. Telling someone that some drug dealers where killed 6 months ago on a boat in the lagoon 7 or 8 miles from town has no bearing on what normal tourists will be doing or experiencing. Telling people about a murder a few years back also fits into that category. That is not censorship.

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