02-25-2015, 10:21 AM
I hadn't heard about the LTU robbery and I was there a month ago - doesn't mean shit to a tree but since its my "hang" I thought the Negril Grapevine would have spilled it down...
No doubt there is crime against tourists and they get robbed walking here there and everywhere, sometimes in broad daylight. THIS IS NOTHING NEW and there is no increase in these types of incidents - my friend was robbed right outside the Caves years ago when it was just a chain link fence - and he friggin' lived there!
What's different is all this gun violence. For years many Jamaicans did not have guns. Now it seems they all do and they are all loaded. What happened on Lime Tree Lane I'm SO sure was gang related. For many years the West End gang-bangers and the Redground gang-bangers have been going at it.
As Sharleen can attest back in the 80's there was a rash of murders - expat business owners. I was told by a Jamaican friend who's boss and dear friend was a victim of one of these murders that Jamaicans don't just shoot white people. They get paid to shoot white people - there are evils beyond the borders at work with hit men that will do the job for a C-Note.
Agree with Winni - the "it happens anywhere" is an immediate defense - its a defense we use that has desensitized us from the proliferation of senseless violence we are bombarded with on the evening news. But when its in a place you love - as most of here do - we try to reason with the why's and what we can do's. We are helpless - we can do nothing but pray.
I don't agree with Tim that its only a matter of time before one of those bullets hits a tourist. That tourist would have to be in the most seriously wrong place and wrong time doing something really stupid like buying coke on a dark lane off the main. These incidents of gun violence in the past year have all been Jamaican on Jamaican which is tragic enough. As responsible visitors I can say with full confidence that we are not in danger of being gunned down in the street there - anymore than we are in danger of being gunned down in the street in LA.
But I do agree that if the level of violence in Negril has you worried - stay away. Why go vacation somewhere to be scared for your life the whole time? Costa Rica is awesome I have friends there who own property/homes there and its their go-to place.
My heart continues to break for these young women and their families. I thought I'd read on FB this morning that another young woman died? Confirmation?
No doubt there is crime against tourists and they get robbed walking here there and everywhere, sometimes in broad daylight. THIS IS NOTHING NEW and there is no increase in these types of incidents - my friend was robbed right outside the Caves years ago when it was just a chain link fence - and he friggin' lived there!
What's different is all this gun violence. For years many Jamaicans did not have guns. Now it seems they all do and they are all loaded. What happened on Lime Tree Lane I'm SO sure was gang related. For many years the West End gang-bangers and the Redground gang-bangers have been going at it.
As Sharleen can attest back in the 80's there was a rash of murders - expat business owners. I was told by a Jamaican friend who's boss and dear friend was a victim of one of these murders that Jamaicans don't just shoot white people. They get paid to shoot white people - there are evils beyond the borders at work with hit men that will do the job for a C-Note.
Agree with Winni - the "it happens anywhere" is an immediate defense - its a defense we use that has desensitized us from the proliferation of senseless violence we are bombarded with on the evening news. But when its in a place you love - as most of here do - we try to reason with the why's and what we can do's. We are helpless - we can do nothing but pray.
I don't agree with Tim that its only a matter of time before one of those bullets hits a tourist. That tourist would have to be in the most seriously wrong place and wrong time doing something really stupid like buying coke on a dark lane off the main. These incidents of gun violence in the past year have all been Jamaican on Jamaican which is tragic enough. As responsible visitors I can say with full confidence that we are not in danger of being gunned down in the street there - anymore than we are in danger of being gunned down in the street in LA.
But I do agree that if the level of violence in Negril has you worried - stay away. Why go vacation somewhere to be scared for your life the whole time? Costa Rica is awesome I have friends there who own property/homes there and its their go-to place.
My heart continues to break for these young women and their families. I thought I'd read on FB this morning that another young woman died? Confirmation?
"Once in a while you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right..."
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