Do not listen to AVIS!

[DustyC]

My fire district is also the boundary line for the patrol district in my County. We (and the SO) cover 17,000ish people. In the most populous County in my state.

At peak time, 1400 to 2300, I have 3 patrol deputies in my district and 1 Sgt covering it and 2 other districts, and 1 LT covering the entire County.

 

[DiveMaven]

We only saw one police car on the road for the southern sites and 2 others in Kralendijk in 2 weeks.

 

[mmmbelows]

It's not uncommon for places that understand and value the safety of tourists to budget for separate law enforcement that are typically called 'tourist police' they usually speak the major languages of their most common visitors, have the ability to resolve conflicts expeditiously, keeping tourists out of the court system, and of course they provide a buffer from crime as they are dedicated to patrolling high tourist areas. Most of the cost of these public servants is simply paid for either out of the net savings of the increases in tourist dollars that flow into these places or simply by dedicated taxes applied to tourist money being spent such as room taxes, a special small tax on restaurants or souvenirs in the tourist zone or even on admission fees to tourist attractions. I've seen tourist police all over the world and what I've noticed is the feeling in the areas that have them is that they aren't needed as their is so little crime to discuss in these area, however of course that's a chicken or the egg discussion because obviously the tourist police are directly responsible for the results of the low crime.

Bonaire? Hello...

 

[mmmbelows]

To state it another way, does anyone here know whether Bonaire law enforcement would be considered understaffed by small-town US standards? I don't know what resources they put out there, or what would be considered typical by US standards. I do know that I have not personally observed many police vehicles or officers, but that's just me. I refuse to jump to conclusions. There are apparently small towns in the US plagued by crime, drugs, etc., and I would guess they could use some more policing. So, what's typical for a place like that? Is Bonaire extremely understaffed by US standards, or merely understaffed the same way as some small towns in the US?

When you have to try so hard to justify something unusual through unusual justifications it usually means the first conclusions are usually the right ones and all the excuses and rationalizations you have to reach for are just that.

 

[kelemvor]

It's not uncommon for places that understand and value the safety of tourists to budget for separate law enforcement that are typically called 'tourist police' they usually speak the major languages of their most common visitors, have the ability to resolve conflicts expeditiously, keeping tourists out of the court system, and of course they provide a buffer from crime as they are dedicated to patrolling high tourist areas. Most of the cost of these public servants is simply paid for either out of the net savings of the increases in tourist dollars that flow into these places or simply by dedicated taxes applied to tourist money being spent such as room taxes, a special small tax on restaurants or souvenirs in the tourist zone or even on admission fees to tourist attractions. I've seen tourist police all over the world and what I've noticed is the feeling in the areas that have them is that they aren't needed as their is so little crime to discuss in these area, however of course that's a chicken or the egg discussion because obviously the tourist police are directly responsible for the results of the low crime.

Brilliant! I don't travel out of the USA that much, so I've never seen tourist police before. Unless that's what I saw in Cozumel.. I guess I wouldn't know tourist police from regular police in Mexico.

 

[mmmbelows]

Brilliant! I don't travel out of the USA that much, so I've never seen tourist police before. Unless that's what I saw in Cozumel.. I guess I wouldn't know tourist police from regular police in Mexico.

You would if you look for the signs, they pretty much all say something like "Tourist Police" on their cars or uniforms. Might look something like this:

 

[Lorenzoid]

When you have to try so hard to justify something unusual through unusual justifications it usually means the first conclusions are usually the right ones and all the excuses and rationalizations you have to reach for are just that.

Just asking for some data, that's all. If we're going to analogize Bonaire to small-town USA, then it's only fair to examine whether Bonaire is already doing what's done in small-town USA.

I'm just considering the possibility that the Bonaire authorities consider how many patrols they presently do, and maybe they think that's in line with other places that might be analogized to Bonaire.

I completely agree that whatever Bonaire is doing, they need to do more. The idea of Tourist Police has been mentioned in previous threads. I'm not entirely sure that's the answer. Crime against Bonaire tourists is mainly petty theft from trucks at dive sites and some burglaries of vacation rental properties. The Tourist Police I have seen in other parts of the world seem to be aimed at stopping robberies/muggings and other violent crime against tourists, as well as things like aggressive panhandling. So far, none of that is a major problem on Bonaire. The robberies that I have read about have been against local businesses. Anyway, whether the answer is Tourist Police or something else, I would agree the authorities could do more than they are presently doing.

 

[Kharon]

My fire district is also the boundary line for the patrol district in my County. We (and the SO) cover 17,000ish people. In the most populous County in my state.

At peak time, 1400 to 2300, I have 3 patrol deputies in my district and 1 Sgt covering it and 2 other districts, and 1 LT covering the entire County.

Point?

 

[mmmbelows]

I'm just considering the possibility that the Bonaire authorities consider how many patrols they presently do, and maybe they think that's in line with other places that might be analogized to Bonaire.

Success is measured by results, not effort.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Success is measured by results, not effort.

You can't "measure success with results" until you first persuade the authorities to change what they have been doing. I believe it is useful to try to understand what the Bonairean authorities might be thinking. An argument that change is needed might be more persuasive if you start from a position of understanding the other side's thinking.