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Crime in Bahamas

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Submitted By spanky226
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A cruise-ship passenger gets robbed at gunpoint by thugs in the Bahamas, raising the important question, How safe are you while on vacation?

Offending Party: Bahamian criminals

What's at Stake: a few hundred dollars

The Complaint: As reader Carly Milne found out, nothing can ruin a holiday faster than armed robbery. (Though dysentery and street mimes run pretty close behind.) Last November, Milne says, she and 17 other Bahamas cruise-ship passengers were accosted by gun-toting criminals during two separate onshore excursions in Nassau. The passengers, who were traveling aboard Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line ships, were all scooting around the island on Segways (on ship-sponsored tours) when they were robbed of their money, passports and cell phones.

Milne reported the incident to the police and later contacted the Avenger, hoping to get the word out about the rising crime rate in a popular stop for American tourists.

The Outcome: None of the passengers were injured, and all were compensated by the cruise lines. But it seems they are not alone in being victimized in the Bahamas. The national crime rate has been rising there in recent years, alarming the government and its tourist board. The Bahamian murder rate hit record highs during two of the past three years, and the country's crime rate appears to be ascending in 2010. Crime was up 17% in the first quarter of this year, with an 18% jump in armed robberies (to 224, up from 190 in the same period in 2008) and a 17% spike in murders (27, vs. 23 in 2008).

Historically, crime in the Bahamas has generally been confined to residents, outside of episodes of pickpocketing and other petty offenses. But the recent tourist robberies in Nassau may signal a troubling shift, and they have drawn a swift response from the local authorities. Police have stepped up patrols in downtown Nassau, especially in

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