Few tourists who use their common sense are victims of crime while on vacation in the USVI.

True...but it seems, from this report, that common sense had nothing to do with this recent murder on STT:
http://www.onepaper.com/stthomasvi/?v=d&i=&s=News:Local&p=1138079735

islandjoan,

True...but the query was about rental villas and the subject of the incident to which you refer was not in the USVI for a vacation.

Accdg. to the article, a couple was driving down the driveway of their villa when they were approached and demanded of their possessions. in another incident, visitors were robbed at their villa while in broad daylight while they were home upstairs.
the article was from Nov 05 btw.

c@va,

We've all read the articles about the incidents you mention. Very few details have been reported about the circumstances of the robberies so I can't tell you why the robbers chose the people that they chose. It has happened. It does not happen often. If you use common sense and do not wear flashy jewelry, do not leave cameras or purchases in your car, do not expose a wallet full of cash when paying for a purchase etc. you are very unlikely to be robbed in the USVI.

Yes, that's true their query was about safety in villas in STJ, but your post said "Few tourists who use their common sense are victims of crime while on vacation in the USVI" so my post was in reply to that statement.

I've been living on STX for 5 years, a short time yes, but my husband's family has been here for 200 yrs and they frequently lament the increase of crime in the Virgin Islands, as do many old timers. I think its simplistic to just say "use common sense" because common sense alone will not keep you safe in the USVI or anywhere in this world for that matter. Sometimes you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time and with the increase in crime here (and elsewhere in the world) it pays to be aware of what's going on and to be vigilant.

islandjoan,

Common sense includes maintaining awareness of one's surroundings, especially when those surroundings are unfamiliar. You may think it's simplistic to recommend common sense but I did not suggest that common sense would prevent crime, only that it would decrease the likelihood of becoming a target. As a percentage of visitors, few tourists are robbed and of the few who are, most of those robberies occur from parked cars or items left unattended at the beach rather than at gunpoint or knifepoint while in a villa. Perhaps crime is greater now than it was fifty years ago but the USVI is by no means a dangerous place to visit.

I'm planning to return to St. Thomas and St John and was told by a resident who has subsequently moved back to the states that the situation in St. John is unparralled in its verocity as compared to past times. That the burning down of houses and violence is at a dangerous level.

Former Resident:

If you log onto to the online newspaper, St. Thomas Source, you can read at length all about the "burning down of houses and violence" which occurred last year and get a rather good grasp of the reality of those incidents, which are not exactly as they first appeared...

I always say. If you don't do it at home don't do it on vacation