Foriegners living in DR, please take extra Precaution, there is a crime wave, here in the north and the media is not reporting. Of course probably, because they do not know.

Dominican and Foreigners that i know, have been recently robbed or know some one, that has been recently robbed. The latest one, was a white U.S. friend of mine, got robbed, in his APT at gun point, they took his laptop,monies, etc..

iT IS NOT BEING REPORTED BECAUSE YOU DISCOURAGED FROM DOING SO AT THE POLICE STATION....PAY ME SOME ONE AND I WILL WRITE IT UP. OH YEAH IF YOU WANT IT INVESTIGATED TAHT WILL BE EXTRA.......NOT REPORTED IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

It's true that police discourages it to report it, since they're pretty much useless in case of robery (actually, theyre useless at anything). The media isn't reporting it so much cause it has become common.

As most things in the DR, the society has accepted that crime is another daily hassle of their lifes. Unfortunately I don't have to much hope in the situation changing at all..., only worsen. Foreigners aren't the only victims here, I know of a lot of dominican people that they got robbed. One friend has been robbed 3 times in a period of 12 months. 3 TIMES!!!!!. No bad luck is so punishing!.

I would suggest death sentence for any scumbag that is caught robbing with a gun (a kind of attempted murder), but we have two problems with it: the metro has taken all the electricity to power up a electric chair, and soon gas prices will be too high to burn the crooks...

I can tolerate high prices, I can tolerate traffic and tapones on the street, I can tolerate undiscriminated construction... but crime... honestly that scares the hell out of me...

Honestly, the media can't report crime because there's too much at stake when it comes to DR. If the news of crime is reported, tourism will take a hit, and the economy is still too fragile to be taking such a hit. The american and canadian businesses have too much at stake to let the media interfere with their businesses.

Exactly, finally some people that understand, on what is going on, with the system down here.
My business got broken into last year in February, and let me tell you, that going to the police station was a big waste of time. They wrote down the report in a notebook, and when i asked for the copy, they couldn't, because there was no electricity. so i said i will be back, to get the report, when i returned still no report. I just said the hell with it, there not going to catch anybody, and if they do, the will just get there cut.

Yeah, but those same tourist who get robbed , also spread the word, when they get back home.
So what will be the solution, maybe start by, giving the police a pay raise.
5,000 pesos a month is nothing, in these expensive ass days we living in.

Well to tell you the truth, i don't think giving the cops higher pay will change things as much. I think more cops should be hired with a decent bump in raises. There should be an internal affairs for the police department to stamp out crooked cops. Also, in order to alleviate the crime situation, the Dominican government must solve the inequality issue in DR. Not to mention, they must educate and provide more social services to the people. Of course this is my opinion, but i think it would be the best way to curb crime rates.

I agree with you guys. We expect the police to act correctly when they can't live a decent life with their wages. Many criminals also get into robbing cause the situation is bad. If the situation doesn't get better, crime won't get better either.

There are two main issues regarding crime in the DR. One is the weak judicial or criminal Justice system. Second the low wages for Police officers.

Police officers should be paid adequately to discourage corrupt activities and behavior. There should be a minimum education qualification set for entry in the Police force. i.e BBA BS etc. There should be merit pay for officers who contribute to their local communities. There should be community watch dogs put in place to keep police officers in check and report unscrupulous activities. There should be Increased fines and penalties for things such as 3-4 people on a motoconcho

It's a matter of prioritizing. Politician are not dynamic and creative and therefore unable to invent new solutions to simple problems. They're preoccupied "with how much will I make from my next corrupt enterprise".

at the very least require that police officers have a high school diploma..I'm tired of always being bothered with attempted shake-downs by those uneducated ruffians whom Dominicans like to call "police" every time I'm down there...