By AVA TURNQUEST
Tribune Chief Reporter
aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
THE US Embassy in Nassau issued a security alert yesterday after an American woman was attacked during an evening jog on West Bay Street.
The incident took place near Goodman's Bay Park shortly after 8pm, according to the embassy, and a later crime report by the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
Police have taken a Bahamian man into custody in connection with the matter.
The US alert read: "The US Embassy in Nassau advises that a US citizen was assaulted during the early evening hours of February 6, 2018 while jogging on West Bay Street just west of Goodman's Bay Park. Motorists and passersby stopped to help. The local police are now investigating and looking for the suspect. While this event happened near the Goodman's Bay Park, caution should be used in all areas of New Providence while travelling by foot after dark.
"Be aware of your surroundings. Review your personal security plans," it added.
The alert follows an updated travel advisory for the country last month, with the US telling its citizens to stay clear of popular cultural restaurant hub the Fish Fry at Arawak Cay at night.
The earlier advisory ranked The Bahamas at 'Level 2: Exercise increase caution,' stating that violent crime, such as burglaries, armed robberies and sexual assault are common, even during daylight hours and in tourist areas.
Comments
DDK 6 years, 10 months ago
What a shame. However, cannot help but wonder if the lady would go for a solo night time jog any where but in a gated community in her home country.
RESCUEFREE 6 years, 10 months ago
Regardless, there should be a need to feel safe. It is sad that this is so accepted. Another mark against our country.
242gyal 6 years, 10 months ago
BULLS^$%!! This is exactly the S&%# that will ruin this country. Hundreds of countries and thousands of cities where you can go for some exercise without being attacked. What kind of animals live in this country!! GOODMAN'S BAY! Cable BEACH!! Our bread and butter. Should be police all the time!
Porcupine 6 years, 10 months ago
DDK, Get the hell out of Nassau or Freeport for a year or two. There are many places, if not most places, in the world where you can feel safe, and jog at night. Look at the stats. Bahamas - 29.81 homicides per 100,000. The U.S. - 4.88 per 100,000. Cuba - 4.72 per 100,000. Canada - 1.68 per 100,000. Nassau is a violent and poor excuse for a "civilized" city. This incident alone will cost The Bahamas plenty. Our reputation, much needed dollars, the taxes, and perhaps even jobs. Quit making excuses for the inexcusable. These thugs are killing our country. Do not look for the police. We have raised litters, not families here. The talk is wearing thin. All talk. Excuses. Excuses. We are failing miserably. Failing at honesty. Failing at our jobs. Failing at creating a decent society. Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. We have nobody to blame but ourselves. Yet, it is the Haitians, the expats, the foreigners, the Chinese. For God's sake. Can't start acting like adults in this country.
DonAnthony 6 years, 10 months ago
DDK what you say is not true, you need to travel and be exposed to another reality, there are many safe communities. I lived for many months in a major u.s. city ( population over a million) and we did not lock our front door, children ran in and out of the house, played on the streets with no fear whatsoever. We travelled for a weekend getaway to another state and did not lock the front door! Try that in Nassau. I would not let my child play on any street in Nassau. Stop making excuses, Nassau is a crime infested city. I never feel safe anywhere in Nassau. Admitting we have a very serious problem is the first step in solving it.
DDK 6 years, 10 months ago
Admit we have a very serious problem, but MOST WOMEN would not go JOGGING ALONE in a city after 8:00 p.m. - London, Paris, New York, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Nassau, Kingston, Houston, Montreal, Edinburgh. Further can you imagine the wagging tongues if a woman went running done the streets alone at night in a small town. There is now also much crime in smaller towns world wide. If we want to encourage locals and tourists alike to go day or night jogging/walking, we should police lighted jogging strips, and, as with beaches and swimming pools, have posted signage indicating the time the jogging guards go off duty.
ashley14 6 years, 8 months ago
DDK, the answer to that is yes. We jog where we want in the states, without incident. We have walking trails, bike trails and some cut thru the woods. I'm always aware of my surroundings. Even in the Bahamas back in the 70's I spent three summers in the Bahamas's. We walked everywhere, hitched rides, without incident. The crime does seem to be out of control there. I think it's due to the economy and lack hope for the future, but there is. Leave move to Fla., get a job, buy a house, have a family. You are so close to the Bahamas, visit anytime you want. Seek out a better life.
Gotoutintime 6 years, 10 months ago
So sad---I fear for the future of my Country!
joeblow 6 years, 10 months ago
What future?? Barring an intervention from the Almighty, it is over!
The lunatics elected to serve are clueless as to how to right the ship!
avidreader 6 years, 10 months ago
Yes, everyone seems all excited by this unfortunate news but they seem to forget that "little Nassau" isn't so "little" anymore with all the destructive influences at work on the young people, especially the men. The outside world is having an influence on our people and it is not entirely a beneficial influence. The reality is that crime is everywhere and common sense must prevail when on a small island with many young men on the loose who have nothing better to do than look for trouble. Nowhere is perfect, there is no Utopia, as much as we would like there to be one right here at home. There has always been crime in The Bahamas the difference being that today's version is frequently more random and more violent especially with the seemingly easy access to illegal weapons.
DEDDIE 6 years, 10 months ago
Just Saying. The crime rate of countries with small populations will always appear to be dis-proportionally more when compared with large population countries. Yes, I know they use per 100,000 criteria but I don't think it provides a fair comparison. It is always easier to find a rock in a pond as compared to an ocean. Why don't they do the same think when stating who win the Olympics.
DonAnthony 6 years, 10 months ago
You seem to have a problem with even the most basic mathematical concepts. Let me make it easy for you would you rather live in a city where the odds of you being the victim of crime is 1 in 100,000 or 1 in 10,000. We have some of the highest violent crime rates in the world on a per capita basis, which is the fairest comparison of all.
DEDDIE 6 years, 10 months ago
DonAnthony, You are probably someone who simply accepts what people tell you without any critical analysis. Questions: do you suppose they take into consideration that our visitor population is more than our current population per month or how population density impacts crime stats. If 80% of your population live within 90 square mile radius, of cause you will have more crime compared to the same population spread over a 1000 mile radius.
sucteeth 6 years, 10 months ago
Wow how ignorant can one be.. fact is we have one of the highest crime rates in the world. doesn't matter how you want to try to rationalize it but facts don't lie.. maybe someone needs to rape you and see if that changes your thought pattern..
Porcupine 6 years, 10 months ago
DEDDIE, With all due respect. You are not using proper reasoning. Here is one of the problems in The Bahamas. When people who have spent years in school learning how to think, do math problems, using logic, ethics, using proper English, etc. come here and attempt to argue a case, they must start from square one. Most educated people have already put in their time. Bahamians have not. A failed educational system, coupled with a majority of the population who have no intellectual spark leads to the situation we have now. Arguments based on silliness. As far as I have read, very few visitors are contributing to the murder rate. Population density may contribute to the "rats in a cage" syndrome, exacerbating violence. But, we are talking about hard numbers here. Nassau, which accounts for the majority of murders, from what I read, is an unsafe place. The many people I know who live in Nassau, all Bahamians, rarely go out at night. They come home, lock their doors and stay there. They lock their cars, keep their kids inside, carry their purses close to their side. They don't stop on the road to help someone in need. Decent people in Nassau live in fear. Some call this living. I don't. And, neither should the rest of us. We are headed towards hell, if we are not already there. We MUST stop the excuses.
DEDDIE 6 years, 10 months ago
Porcupine you miss my point.I am not suggesting in anyway that visitors are contributing to our crime rate. What I am asking is if The Bahamas have an extra 400,000 people here per month shouldn't they be consider as part of the per 100,000 criteria after all if one of them gets murder it counts toward our murder count .If the extra 400,000 visitors were counted then it would reduce the criteria by half. Example, rather than 20 per 100,000, it will be 10 per 100,000.
concernedcitizen 6 years, 10 months ago
Millions of people visit New York and millions more visit the entire U S ,should we include them so their per capita murder rate is lower ,,give me a break ..The violent crime rate in the U S has been decreasing the last thirty years as has their teen pregnancy rate ,,As long as we keep beating the snot out of kids under the guise of spare the rod our violent crime rat will continue to grow .We in effect teach them you solve conflicts w physical force .The Nordic countries w the lowest crime rates on the planet do not even allow corporal punishment
Dawes 6 years, 10 months ago
The murder rate in London is on average 171 per year. The population is 8 million. There were 154 murders in Lambeth over a 12 year period to 2012. This is the largest number of murders in a borough of London, population there is 327,000, so over a 12 year period they, with the a little less population, had very close to the most we have had in a year. WE are a violent country and there is no way of saying otherwise.
Porcupine 6 years, 10 months ago
Excuses. More excuses. Is there ONE positive measurable indicator in our society.? Just one.
TalRussell 6 years, 10 months ago
Ma Comrades PM Minnis ,Security Minister Marvin and Tourism Minister Dionisio James, how many more international travel alerts will sound before your governing mandate expires 2022? Is it above you competences pay scale to begin to arrest the root cause all crimes being experienced in the Bahamaland?
TRUTH1968 6 years, 10 months ago
Only by luck was this American jogger not harmed. I’ve said it before and will say it again, we are just one incident away from a total economic disaster in the Bahamas. If one foreign visitor gets brutally harmed, or worse killed, that will put a fork in the ever soooo fragile economy here. A tettering economy will be pushed over the hill if the travel advisory is upgraded and people stop vacationing here. Remember comrades, we are a society that is based on tourism. Take away the tourist dollar and watch the whole thing collapse. I’m not sure why the power to be can’t see this plainly. Open your eyes or they will be opened for you!! It only a matter of time, until statically, this happens. Then it will be too late.
Groidal 6 years, 10 months ago
undoubtedly a jet ski operator waiting for his jet skis to be loaded up and looking around for more tourists to assault
Well_mudda_take_sic 6 years, 10 months ago
Out-of-control crime in the Bahamas is the primary reason why I now have a ranch in Montana and condos in Florida and Canada.
Porcupine 6 years, 10 months ago
DEDDIE, My point is proven in your response.
BahamaRed 6 years, 10 months ago
Personally at the end of the day I feel it comes down to a few factors.
Uneducated, overworked, and underpayed people living in a society that is overpriced and only caters to the who you know and not what you know mentality.
So in essence we've created a group of people who have a ghetto mindset. Take or be taken...
People are not rewarded for hard work and intergrity, but for having family with connections and no fear of putting said family up the totem pole regardless of qualifications.
Very few people are making it, to many are living hand to mouth, pay cheque to pay cheque. The minimum wage is far less than the average cost of living, yet we have politicians talking about raising the parliamentarian salary.
I can go on and on, but bottom line is this will only get worse. We've past the point of return...the mentality of this country is such where we are no longer our brother's keeper, but rather steal from our brother and kill him.
DDK 6 years, 10 months ago
Truly sad.
ashley14 6 years, 10 months ago
Truth1068 your right. When a tourist is killed it will hurt tourism for a long time. You know we as women do always watch our backs, but yes there are plenty of places that we feel safe out alone. I read article after article in this paper how even you guys don't feel safe. That is scary. I will be in Nassau this week. I used to walk everywhere. I don't do that anymore. A woman alone doesn't have much of a chance up against a man. Also I believe that a lot of people think that Americans are rich and that makes us a target for robbery. Well let me tell you, most of us can't wait until Friday for our pay checks. Employment is good in the US but our bills and food take moist of our money. If I did have a lot of money I wouldn't walk down the street with it in my pocket. The diamonds in my ears, cubic zirconia. We already paid 3,000.00 dollar on average to visit for a week. Your island is beautiful we spend it just for a taste of paradise. Thirty years ago I walked Freeport from one side to the other and never had anyone bother us, but times have changed. I am looking forward to my visit. Where's the best place to go for Valentines Day. I will pay for a cab, instead of walking. Of course I would travel with a friend. I'm coming in hopes of finding him.
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