Cruise Ship Safety

[Retired not Expired]

With all the concern people are having about safety on the cruise ships, I gathered some stats on the small town of Hollister, MO, which has a population about equal to the number of passengers and crew you would find on an average cruise ship. This is a bedroom community that is considered extremely safe, where adults and children go about without fear.

 

These stats are only the primary offense with which the person was charged. If they were charged with multiple offenses, they are only shown here with the worse offense.

 

Note too, that the police chief was only concerned with the 17 stolen vehicles as this is higher than the average for a town of this size. The rest are about average.

 

50 Burglaries

43 Assaults

24 Drug arrests

33 DWI’s

32 Juvenile offenses

40 Property damage

11 Sexual assaults

17 Stolen vehicles

134 Stealing

184 Traffic accidents

13 Suicide and attempted suicides

5 Unattended deaths. (These are deaths investigated as homicide until found otherwise.)

 

Remember too, this is a small town where everyone knows everybody, unlike a ship with people from all over. Use common sense on a cruise ship, anywhere else you may travel, and in your home town.

[Merion_Mom]

RNE, brilliant as always. You have put this into excellent perspective.

[Retired not Expired]

RNE, brilliant as always. You have put this into excellent perspective.

 

Thank you. I forgot to mention, these are the stats for 2005.

[jwlane]

13 Suicide and attempted suicides

But, then again, it is Hollister, MO.;)

 

Just kiddin'. It's nice to put some perspective on exaggerated claims, however.

[negc]

Ohmigod, I'm going to cancel my trip to Hollister and call on everyone on these boards to boycott it until they take steps to halt this crime wave. Thanks for the info. Without your input Hollister officials would have succeeded in covering up the truth about their community.:D

[FinelyCruising]

It is a lot of stuff for one small community in one year.

[madelinerose]

Hey, the US is a very violent place. :(

 

It is a lot of stuff for one small community in one year.

[Retired not Expired]

It is a lot of stuff for one small community in one year.

 

Yes, it seems a lot, but remember, the chief was only worried about the one stat being high for a town that size. The rest were close to average.

 

If you believe the news, crime only happens in large cities and cruise ships.

[rokcop]

There are six small towns on the island of Martha's Vineyard each with a population roughly the same as a large cruise ship year totaling around 15,000 year round residents. However, our summer population grows to approx 80,000. Thus, our crime stats are somewhat higher than those posted by RNE. We may all know most of our fellow islanders, but we also have visiting celebrities, foriegn dignitaries, politicians, athletes, and the idle rich, so wether its Boston, NYC, Chicago, or Hollister, you never know what or whom you may encounter.

 

My 17yrs of law enforcement experience have taught me to always error on the side of caution, don't take your personal safety for granted, alcohol and attitude don't mix, and couples still fight on vacation. I have always felt safe on the cruise ships, but I remeber that I'm on a floating city, and act accordingly. Be safe & have fun.

[FinelyCruising]

Here's the question I have....were the crimes committed by the townfolk or were they commited by outsiders? If it was their own community assaulting itself, let's hope they put a fence around it, and not let any of them beyond it.

[Retired not Expired]

Here's the question I have....were the crimes committed by the townfolk or were they commited by outsiders? If it was their own community assaulting itself, let's hope they put a fence around it, and not let any of them beyond it.

 

The stats I found doesn't say if it were town folks or outsiders. But I think you are missing the point when you say put a fence around it.

 

These stats are considered AVERAGE for towns of this size across the whole U.S. So this is what you can expect to find all over the country. People don't realize it because most of it never hits the news. It's not sensational enough.

[jwlane]

If it was their own community assaulting itself, let's hope they put a fence around it, and not let any of them beyond it.

One would not want those types disrupting the good folks in the Branson, Point Lookout, Kirbyville, Melva, and Gretna areas.:rolleyes:

[AFT_LOVER]

since they can wreck a great time. I was relaxing in a hottub when some drunk old geezer started feeling me up. When I jumped him putting his head under water for the count of 3, he woke up fast & apologized. I told him he was lucky to still have balls!

 

We have seen guys at a craps table in the casino doing shots & start to fight. The waitress knew they were tanked but still served for tips???

Even the Casino Manager asked foks to alert him if we say anyone else getting drunk or loud. We asked him why folks getting drunk are still served. He failed to answer.

[hstrybuf]

Good post RnE and as Carol said, it puts things into perspective.

 

Not many people are aware of the crime statistics in their own little corner of the world unless they read what is published in the newspapers or check it out on the internet. Crimes are more prevalent than we know, but as someone said, it isn't always big news.

[flczr]

13 sucides or attempts maybe it was one person who couldn't do it right:rolleyes:

[smeyer418]

13 sucides or attempts maybe it was one person who couldn't do it right:rolleyes:

 

If it was 13 attempts by one person in a year, I see a good malpractice lawsuit...

[Retired not Expired]

To add to this, I looked up some stats on larger cities. Remember, using cruise line stats, we know there are over 200,000 passengers on board every day throughout the year. These are for 2005.

 

St Louis 343,000 people, 131 killings

Kansas City 444,000 people 127 killings

Philly 1.4 million people 380 killings

 

So, the average killings per year (2005) for every 200,000 people in these three cities is 58. Just a little more food for thought while listening to the news sensationalize the "danger" of cruise ships.

[ORANGEinINDY]

While the stats are very interesting, it is unfair to compare "a population about equal to the number of passengers and crew you would find on an average cruise ship." While all the numbers may be equal a small town has to deal with people that can come in from anywhere. the statistics of a small town reflects not only that town but many miles around it.

Good post though!! Thanks for the #'s

[BecciBoo]

Great thread youguys: I heard of a dude who jumped overboard on one of RCCL's boats (Drunk as a Skunk, or maybe a skunk first and foremost, ey) and caused the ship to turn around wasting a couple of hours to get him back and pick up the deck chairs etc that were thrown to him by others. The line charged him a whopping $10,000 for his little escapade after casting him off at the first port of call. This was supposed to have just occurred before our Aug. sail on Rhapsody. RCCL leaves most people alone until it becomes a safety issue but I don't think they play around!