We have recommended in prior articles that people thinking of cruising to the Bahamas should first read the local news papers in Nassau.
Today the Tribune published two interesting articles which cruise passengers and crew members should consider reading.
The first article is entitled "Hospital Reports Show 40% More Rapes Than Police Statistics." The newspaper reports that "Princess Margaret Hospital (where tourists are often seen after being raped in Nassau or on cruise ships arriving in port) officials dealt with 147 rape cases in 2013. However, official crime statistics released by the authorities last month, reported 104 cases."
A governmental official told the Tribune:
“Clearly there is a huge discrepancy with what the police are publishing. I don’t want to come out and say they are fudging the stats, but the actuality is that the police are not being upfront with the public on crime.”
The second article is entitled "Hospital Says 519 Shot Or Stabbed Yet Only 10 Attempted Murders Recorded."
519 people were shot or stabbed in 2013 according to Princess Margaret Hospital records, yet only 10 attempted murders were recorded by the local police department.
The newspaper concluded that the statistical disparities raise questions about the possible deliberate manipulation of crime statistics.
A doctor at the hospital told the newspaper that the "impact of violent crime on providing care to patients has been unbelievably onerous."
We have mentioned many times that crime has reached an epidemic level in Nassau.
Mostly against the local citizens, the violent armed robberies and sexual assaults also affect cruise passengers who disembark in Nassau thinking it is a tropical paradise.
The U.S. Embassy and State Department have already issued two critical crime reports about murder, armed robbery and rape in Nassau in the last six weeks based on the "official" Bahamian crime statistics.
Cruise passengers traveling to Nassau should read these articles.
They should consider that the rapes, shootings and stabbings in Nassau are even worse than the local Bahamian police are reporting.