Journalist Robert Anglen has an article today in the Arizona Republic entitled "Stats Don’t Fully Account For All Cruise-Ship Crime." The article was also published in USA TODAY and discusses the false and misleading cruise ship crimes statistics in the FBI database which mentions only 2 cruise ship crimes for the second quarter of this year.
You will recall that the cruise lines were suppose to be required to report the hundreds of crimes which occur each year, pursuant to the 2010 Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Law. But the language of the new law was altered at the last minute to permit the cruise lines to cover the crimes up. Lawmakers said the FBI demanded the alterations to benefit the cruise lines. There is no doubt that the cruise lines and their trade organization, the Cruise Line International Association ("CLIA"), were behind the last minute shenanigans.
Mr. Anglen wrote an article earlier this year (in June) entitled "Law Shields Industry On Cruise-Ship Crime Information" which exposed the manipulation of the law which was originally designed to require greater transparency from the cruise industry. The public was suppose to be able to access an accurate public database with all of the crime allegations available. But the behind-the-scenes alteration of the law has resulted in an unprecedented concealment of crimes by the cruise lines with the full cooperation and assistance by the FBI.
Is it just a coincidence that many of the top security personnel at the cruise lines today used to be senior FBI officials? The FBI has an open dialogue with the cruise lines but routinely keeps the victims in the dark.
This cozy relationship between the FBI and the cruise lines is a great disservice to the cruising public.
The article mentions Ken Carver, CEO of the International Cruise Victims organization.
Mr. Anglen’s article also quotes me referring to the FBI database as "bogus" and only 2 crimes in the last quarter as "lies." These comments were from from a blog I wrote in August – "Lies, Lies & Lies – FBI & Cruise Industry Continue to Publish Bogus Cruise Crimes Statistics."
The cruise lines must be chuckling after thumbing their collective nose at the legislative process. They have proven that foreign off-shore industries can easily circumvent the U.S. democratic process, as long as they have friends in high places.
Photo credit: FBI