{"id":19511,"date":"2012-03-19T12:09:36","date_gmt":"2012-03-19T16:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=19511"},"modified":"2012-03-19T12:09:36","modified_gmt":"2012-03-19T16:09:36","slug":"u-s-embassy-crime-warning-concerns-bahamas-tourism-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2012\/03\/u-s-embassy-crime-warning-concerns-bahamas-tourism-officials","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Embassy Crime Warning Concerns Bahamas Tourism Officials"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"crime
Crime in the Bahamas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A United States Embassy warning issued last week to Americans living in and traveling to New Providence about recent reports of robberies tied to staged vehicle accidents in the capital, was yesterday said to be \u201ca very serious concern\u201d that has further implications for the tourism industry and the economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ought to be concerned about the content of the warning and the manner in which the [criminal] activity is being carried,\u201d said Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Deputy Leader Philip Brave Davis yesterday. \u201cThe first time this came to my attention was when the warning came out last week, and I think the reason we ought to be concerned is because the bulk of our economic activity is fueled by the tourism product, of which [the majority] originates from the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

The embassy in Nassau said last Thursday that there have been reports in the local media of criminals using the staged accidents as \u201ca ruse to rob the driver and passengers of their possessions\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent cases robbers have either hit or bumped the victim\u2019s vehicle from behind, or stopped quickly to cause an accident. Once the cars are stopped, they will approach the driver in an attempt to rob the driver and passengers\u201d said the embassy, which attributed the details to media reports, though it was unclear exactly which reports it was referring to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. Embassy would like to remind U.S. citizens to be extra vigilant when involved in a vehicle accident, and to keep windows closed and doors locked until you are able to assess the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis stressed that the warning further highlights the country\u2019s high level of crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will perhaps have very serious consequences on our economy,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe need to find urgent means and ways to arrest the perpetrators of these criminal activities, but the government appears paralysed to do anything about it, particularly the high instances of violent crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police at the time of the statement\u2019s release did not offer any comment, but an official said yesterday that there were no known cases or reports of robberies tied to staged vehicle accidents.<\/p>\n

Chairman of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Mark Humes said the international warning further highlights the level of criminal activity in Bahamian society, which he deemed is \u201cout of control\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does not bode well for the country and despite all the crime bills the government introduced, despite the national crime address and the other initiatives put in place, the government still has not been able to reduce crime essentially,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes people more reluctant to come to The Bahamas, and once there are reports of increased criminality I don\u2019t think you would want to come here. There are so many countries in this region where [tourists] can have a relaxed and safe time if The Bahamas can\u2019t offer that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement by the U.S Embassy also said there is no indication that tourists are specifically being targeted.<\/p>\n

Royston Jones Jr
\nThe Nassau Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tourism officials are worried that the U.S. Embassy’s recent warning to Americans on crime could hurt the tourism industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[31,33,73,113,219],"class_list":["post-19511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines","tag-crime","tag-tourism","tag-travel-2","tag-united-states","tag-violence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19511\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}