Crime in Providenciales TCI
 

Hello travelers,

My husband and I recently visited Providenciales in TCI Turks and Caicos. When we arrived we were so impressed with the beauty of Grace Bay Beach. After three glorious days there we went out for dinner one night and came back to discover that our villa had been ransacked and EVERYTHING OF VALUE taken. We had been careful to lock our doors but the thieves removed a window and came in that way. We called the TCI police and they came and took a report. After that, our vacation was ruined. Gone were IPad, IPod, jewelry, camera, binoculars, clothing, etc. I have attempted many times to be in touch with the TCI police to see if they ever investigated. I get no response. If you are the victim of a crime in Provo DO NOT COUNT ON THE POLICE , to care or to investigate. Once you are off the island you are forgotten and they do not care about your losses.

Please understand also that I have visited at least 24 Caribbean islands and have never had one bit of trouble of any kind. I have emailed and called the TCI police repeatedly and no one responds. They are either incompetent or they do not value American tourists. One only needs to read the local TCI papers to understand all the problems in the police force.

We were fortunate to have not been physically injured in a crime in Providenciales. Read the TCI weekly to learn about those less fortunate than we.

Keep this in mind when making vacation plans.

See this warning from the US State department

https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentRe...aspx?cid=15386

Sorry this happened to you, I saw where you had written about it over on Tripadvisor too.

Good news, they were caught! They are currently in custody.

PS that's not a US department warning, it's a report out of the embassy in Nassau, not the States. If the US issues warnings, then you know it's out of control. The report also states that crime is still considered very low.

Check your facts,,old news! They have been caught!

We had the same thing happen to us while renting a villa in Grace Bay. Onley WE WERE AT HOME at the time. Luckily, we were not bothered, except by a noise we did hear downstairs. We had the same experience with TCI police. I have also traveled very extensively throughout the Caribbean and am often not on the beaten path and have NEVER had anything like this happen. Needless to say, I will NEVER return to TCI.

so jmaynard - you just now joined fodors to post on this thread??? which villa did you stay in? were your doors locked?

I feel obliged to chime in here. It's absolutely horrifying what happened to snapdragon,and my heart goes out to her family (!), but unfortunately these kinds of crimes aren't unique to TCI. We have close friends who were held up at gunpoint at their villa in Tobago, and friends who were mugged at night on the beach in St. Martin and Jamaica.

Two nights ago, the house next to ours in a quiet Westchester, NY suburb, was burgled while the residents slept upstairs. With the economy tanking, I think these kinds of crimes will only increase both here and abroad. Whether that keeps travelers from visiting certain destinations is a personal decision, but it won't prevent us from returning to Provo.

Jmaynard makes a good point. Tourists will not return to TCI when they realize that the police there are

1. Indifferent
2. Not well trained. (Incompetent)
3. Do not even have it as a goal to find the culprits who rob tourists.. These are not professionals like you would find at home.

Let's face it. This is an island. The criminals are there doing the same thing over and over. HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO FIND THEM?? They steal from visitors and then sell the stuff. How difficult can't his be to track them down on a small island?? It isn't New York City. It's just Provo. Figure it out: the police aren't looking and they don't care.

People who love the beaches ( as I did ) and just hope crime down't happen to them will return. But, I'm afraid their heads are n the sand. There is a big problem there.

Snapdragon, I feel terrible for what happened to you, but I've said it before and I'll say it again:

The police do care-- they caught the robbers

They found the culprits and are currently in jail waiting for trial

They just got their much needed police cars

It's still, despite what happened to you, one of the safest islands in Caribbean. I bet it's much safer than the neighborhood you live in.

I know I would feel as you, if something happened it would taint my thoughts on a place.

Perfectly understandable.

But they are now caught, police do care.

The police may have caught someone but it is NOT the ones responsible for our crime. And. I m not clear on how the police would advise you but not advise the victims of the crime.

The TCI police do not seem able to solve the bigger crimes, like the recent murders, and my guess is that they don't care a single bit about American tourists who had their electronic equipment stolen.

Sorry to hear about your ruined trip snapdragon.

Some islands have more crime than others. We are planning a trip to the Caribbean in the winter and have noticed, according to various articles I've been reading, that Martinique, The Cayman Islands, Montserrat, BVI, Bonaire have the lowest crime.

We were considering St. Thomas but when I read it has the highest murder rate in the Caribbean, we nixed that quickly.

>>Please understand also that I have visited at least 24 Caribbean islands>>


snapdragon, what are your thoughts about the best island for visiting. Do you recommend the Grand Cayman Islands?

nanabee, it's not the "Grand Cayman Islands." Grand Cayman is one of three islands in the "Cayman Islands". It's a great destination, but it's expensive (more expensive in general than St. Thomas).

Again, I think you're misguided to nix the idea of St. Thomas just because of what you read about the murder rate (I wrote that on your other thread).

You may also want to take a look at Aruba, which is beautiful, very Americanized, safe, easy to reach, and with lots of timeshares.

Who would leave valuables unattended in a villa and then complain they were robbed? Surely the travel insurance must have replaced this stuff by now, or didn't you have insurance? Or did the insurance company not honor the claim because items like jewelry were not secured in a safe? Items are replaceable.

There is crime all over the world, Caribbean no exception and there are far worse crimes that happen to tourists of other nationalities, which never makes the headlines in the US.

Thanks Doug. I didn't realize it at the time but I did mis-speak when I said Grand Cayman Islands. We are considering The Cayman Islands. I will check out your comments on the other thread. Again thanks so much!

I don't think snapdragon is complaining that she was robbed as much as she was complaining that the police don't do much to find the criminals and to hold them responsible. Nor do they seem to respond to tourists complaints or offer much support to them.

I DO recommend Grand cayman! also Anguilla, Eleuthera et. Al.

Nanabee is right that my point is that the police are not responsive to tourists and are not well trained. Until recently they only had one patrol car !

There was a ( very small) safe in the unit where we stayed. It was not large enough to hold an IPad or other valuables.

Some visitors to a place love it so much that they don 't want to admit the dangers there. They even defend the incompetent police who the TCI papers write critical articles apart. If you do a little research it is easy to learn that TCI has significant problems in this arena.

As for statistics and crime everywhere, I have lived in either New York or Boston my whole life , always cognizant of the possibility of crime. The only place. I was robbed was in Provo.

Just trying to alert other careful, vigilant travelers to educate yourself about your surroundings.

Many thanks to those who have been sympathetic to people who have been victims of crime. Not so much to those who blame the victim without knowing the circumstances.g

Also, to repeat.

This is a government warning about increased aggravated burglaries in TCI

https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentRe...aspx?cid=15386

TO REPEAT:

Criminals have been caught, they didn't tell me personally, it was in the local news and on their Facebook page

How can they not care about tourist robberries and catch the criminals anyway? You can't have it both ways. What more can they do than to catch them?

Did you attempt to "hide" iPads etc, or because safe too small leave them in sight?

There are areas on every place in the world safer than others.

The warning is NOT out of the US, it's out of Nassau Embassy. Warning has expired. Warning also says TCI remains one of the safest destinations anyway.

Anguilla has crime. A couple of months ago at Blanchards men with guns and machetes tried robbing diners while they dined.

Cayman, read their local papers, has crime every week.

My point? There is crime EVERYWHERE. I'm not defending because I love a place (Anguilla is actually my first love!). But to put things in perspective.

Take care regardless of island choice. But don't be fooled that TCI is any more dangerous than anywhere else, quite the opposite in fact.

Snap, I understand you're shaken. I understand you never wanting to return. But your posts are way out of proportion and not entirely true (more crime in TCI, police don't care when they caught the criminals, etc)

Agree with Blamona!