A cautionary tale, especially for returners

[Kahuna3]

I say hire an armed off duty police officer to protect guests/property at night. I say like mentioned before, u could catch these guys in a sting so easy, do it..... Let the public know when it works...

Exactly my point. You can hire more and more security - many of them fall asleep in the middle of the night anyway - you can install door alarms, you can barricade yourself in your room, you can do all that you listed, but the tiefs will still be out and about and scoring.

So, to keep doing what you are doing and to expect different results is simply idiotic.

Nail the SOBs! Catch them in stings and display them in public. Kick their arses around Redground. Post their pictures on line and on Telephone poles and humiliate them. Put them in a cage in the back of a pick up and drive them around town with speakers blaring. Throw them in jail. A Jamaican jail is a very effective deterrent.

Other thieves and would-be thieves would see this. If they know about stings and think they may sneak into a room that has a cop with a gun waiting inside they will be deterred. (In fact, they would probably be shot.) Remember, they are cowards.

[Lionheart]

I understand why someone might not want to be specific about what hotel it happened in. It IS however, in this case, relevant information. Perhaps in your mind it could have 'happened' anywhere, but that's not actually the case. It didn't happen 'anywhere' or 'everywhere'. It happened where it happened. That it may have ALSO happened somewhere else is not relevant or your responsibility. The truth is that information about where it happened can very much help someone deduce from that how to adjust their security strategy. Especially the more one knows the landscape, the town, the geography of the beach, even the vibes of the individual places. I think it actually is very relevant which property it happened on, and while it's not their 'fault' per se- it is very much their responsibility, which is an important matter. You are not maligning or betraying or otherwise trashing the property or the proprieters by telling the truth about what happened. It's a security issue, first and foremost, so the secrecy about it only helps the people on the other side of this one. The more out in the open it is- the more incentive there is to not let it happen again, and the better chance there is of people as a whole sharing information to make it that much harder to do it again. I understand people have interests in not harming people's business or otherwise penalizing a business for something you are seeing as not their 'fault'. In this case, however there is larger issue at stake- which is people's safety and people having information to make an informed decision. I think you are perhaps being too lenient on the hotel. It is very much their responsibility to ensure safety. What if by mentioning the name of the hotel someone decides to stay somewhere else- presumably that is the situation you are trying to avoid which is understandable but what if by NOT mentioning the name- someone chooses that very spot where this did occur and then DOES get injured. What is the decision to withold the information going to seem like then? Isn't THAT the much bigger risk to take then that a place may lose business? It's natural to not want to throw an establishment under the bus, but in this case I think its interfering really with just giving people the information they need to make an informed decision, and this is not about who has nice lounge chairs or the best pina colada. This is people's safety at stake

[negril#1fan]

I"m with ya..... Have a female undercover officer walk down the beach at night alone..... Have a undercover officer walk down the street with some bling during the day.... Have an undercover officer ride a scooter along the west end road, late at night.... Have an undercover officer stay in a room with a lot of stuff displayed..... Have an undercover officer flag down an unregistered taxi....

These crimes aren't being committed against newbies looking for drugs, prostitution, whatever, these aren't people lurking around where they shouldn't be.... Normal folks tying to enjoy vacation.... On the beach, in their villa, on their scooter, walking along the road....

[negril#1fan]

Lionheart, the hotel has been mentioned at least a dozen times already, what do u want?

[jojo p]

Although it is obvious by now which hotel this happened at, I think Lionheart is stateing a good argument about
why it would be important to name names for possible future incidents. Lionheart, I couldn't of said it better.

[Tanfastic]

BNewb I wanted to address your comments, the last three towns/cities I have lived in publish a police blotter once a week with all the crimes committed along with the names of the accused. This is a routine in many parts of the US that I have seen over the last 25 years. High profile cases do make the front page but it's my experience if you look you will see all the crimes someplace in the newspaper.

As far as the fact that by law they are required to hired a licensed and bonded security company shouldn't matter, we have heard of a number of instances of guards sleeping or "lost" during these crimes. I'm not a routine visitor to Jamaica like many but the times I have been there the guards at the places I have stayed are armed with nothing but a 2-way radio and tend to be quite old. Not much help if the criminal has a weapon. To get licensed and bonded means nothing more than having a clean record and paying a fee.

Obviously these crimes are newsworthy, we have had almost 100 posts to this thread in a little over 24 hours, some heated and others providing empathy. You and Rob being on the island with the power of this forum can make a difference. Maybe it's time to get the hotel sponsors from the Forum together to discuss a solution to this rising crime problem. There are many smart people in this world, in my experience many want to hide, many want to offer an idea while others "know all the answers" and shut down those that want to get involved. It's my opinion that if we want to keep Negril as a favorite vacation spot we better figure this out quick otherwise we will spend our hard earned $ elsewhere.

[Lola]

Sadiekat, in your original post you stated that the security co bears the most blame; don't you think the Hotel is responsible to verify and test the security services they have contracted? You seem pretty comfortable taking on that role for them.

North Americans generally get results when complaining about services in their own country. It can be hard to believe it doesn't work that way everywhere.

[Shaggy]

for me , nowadays security is my biggest issue as to where we stay esp. since I cant run anymore with 2 fushions in my back. I wonder what the hell l would do. Most likely the theif is going to take off but if he did not than i would have to stand my ground and I garantee you it would get real ugly being I would have no choice in the matter at that point. I agree that if you don't need to take alot expensive stuff with ya than dont, All we take is a small ipod and an ipod dock , no computers , expensive phones or expensive jewery. I feel as bad for the staff at Rondel as the ppl who got robbed.They are all good ppl passionate about their jobs. Most locks will not keep a prefessional out , That said I also agree that the locks need to be updated there . The last thing i want is to be is face to face with an armed burguler because any burgerler that will enter an occupied room will be armed and probably puts a low value on life. I'm sure all the resorts have had trouble from time to time with thieft but when you have several instances that close together then you better get the problem resolved because it will come back and bite you in the ass. It does not surprise me that Rondel is looking for a new security firm. I dont know what it takes to get licenced to do that kind of work but its seems like their own staff could go thru what it takes . They are the ones we have trusted all these years. srry for my ramblings on this issue but im very upset with whats happening there being we have been repeats there for years and we had just got back from there c weeks ago.. So just hoping things get better before our next reach and that jamaicas economy improves alot .

[onthecorner]

my 2 cents......security is a hotels responsibilty....there are many things that could be done to increase security that are not very expensive....clocks around the property that have to be keyed on the patrol of the grounds....this makes sure the gaurd doesnt sleep......motion detector lights......so a gaurd knows where to check......spot checks on security to make sure they are doing their jobs......whats the point of cameras if nobody is watching......but most important of all is whats happening on this forum....open and honest constructive critism.....

[Kahuna3]

OK - so Rondell doubles or triples their security. Good for them, bad for all the other hotels that can't really afford it because the thieves will avoid Rondell and move down the beach a little. Not every hotel can afford to install state of the art security and employ Homeland Security.

Yes, security is really important, but the real problem here is the thieves. Right?

What about robberies on the street, on the beach?

So how about focusing on going after the thieves? Am I missing something here?

Maybe we should build a Green Zone around the beach area of Negril and have everybody enter and leave thru two armed security portals. That would probably be secure enough to keep the thieves out. That seems to be the ultimate result of the 'improve security' mindset.

Or, alternatively, maybe the focus should be on the thieves? There are a LOT of thieves in Negril during the high season.

Catch them and punish them. I know, easier said than done. But worth a concerted effort. Otherwise, we lose the place.