Monthly Archives: July 2017

Summertime. Vacation time. No time to let your guard down. Traditionally, crime goes up during warmer weather, with property crimes and aggravated assaults on the rise. In some locations, murder rates increase, too.

When temperatures rise, there are more windows left open, more sweaty and irritated people seeking relief outside, and more alcoholic beverages consumed in public, all of which can prompt bad behavior.

Maybe you and your family have decided to take an ocean cruise to get away from it all this summer. Well, beware, because there is crime on the high seas, too sometimes violent crime. And consider this: A vessel might be registered in the Bahamas, headquartered in Miami, traveling in international waters and carrying passengers from any number of foreign countries, so law enforcement jurisdiction is murky.

If the ship departs from, say, Florida, and a crime is committed onboard, the local police might investigate once the cruise liner returns to port. The feds have jurisdiction if a crime has occurred against a U.S. national on a ship that has departed or will arrive back in the States. The FBI might be assigned to investigate. But these professionals will be days removed from when the crime was committed. Every detective will tell you that evidence gathered immediately following a crime is often crucial to prosecution.

The cruise industry says it caters to more than 24 million customers each year and that crime rates on board one of those massive floating hotels is a small fraction of the comparable rates of crime on land.

But on dry land, you can immediately call 911 for help. You likely have a cop shop a few minutes driving distance from your location and a fully equipped hospital nearby. On a cruise ship, perhaps hundreds of miles out at sea, youve got . . . well, youve got whatever the ship has to offer.

An official with the Cruise Lines International Association insists there is robust security onboard to assure passengers are safe. But lets get real: Any security officers are working for the cruise line, and their primary allegiance may not be to a victimized passenger. Their efforts gathering evidence, taking witness statements or tracking down suspects may be lacking.

NBC News has reported extensively on cruise line crime and calculated that of the 92 alleged crimes reported on cruise ships last year, 62 were sexual assaults. Im guessing here, but I bet the combination of hot temperatures and free-flowing booze tends to reduce passengers inhibitions. But most frightening is that a majority of the sexual assaults be they committed by crew members or passengers were never prosecuted. A congressional report from a few years ago found that minors were the victims in a third of those sexual assaults.

The dirty secret in the cruise line industry is that crime does occur on cruise ships and very often law enforcement isnt notified, evidence isnt preserved, people arent assisted, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He is sponsoring a bill in the U.S. Senate that would require cruise lines to report any claim of criminal activity to the FBI within four hours, turn over all video evidence, earmark cases in which youngsters are involved and include a federal officer called a sea marshal on each ship. Id like to add that each vessel be equipped with a proper evidentiary rape kit.

NBCs reporting included stories about victimized teenage girls, one of whom tried to commit suicide after she alleged that she was given alcohol and raped onboard a cruise to the Virgin Islands. Another teen interviewed claimed she was sexually assaulted by a crew member in the ships gym. Jim Walker, a Miami attorney, said his firm has represented many victims of alleged cruise ship crime, including one who was just 3 years old.

The average passenger load on an ocean liner is about 3,000. But some mega-cruise liners can hold up to 6,000. Whenever you get that many people in a finite space, lulled by adult activities over here and supervised children and youth activities over there, trouble can develop.

Im sure the cruise lines do their very best to fully vet and hire suitable employees. It would not be in their best interest to do otherwise. But this summer, if you are taking the family on a once-in-a-lifetime cruise to paradise, dont let your guard down. Have a wonderful vacation, but realize that crime can happen anywhere, and you and yours are not immune.

* Diane Dimond is an investigative journalist and syndicated columnist.

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Original post:

Hit high seas on vacation but be careful - Maui News

Summertime. Vacation time. No time to let your guard down. Traditionally, crime goes up during warmer weather, with property crimes and aggravated assaults on the rise. In some locations, murder rates increase, too.

When temperatures rise, there are more windows left open, more sweaty and irritated people seeking relief outside, and more alcoholic beverages consumed in public, all of which can prompt bad behavior.

Maybe you and your family have decided to take an ocean cruise to get away from it all this summer. Well, beware, because there is crime on the high seas, too sometimes violent crime. And consider this: A vessel might be registered in the Bahamas, headquartered in Miami, traveling in international waters and carrying passengers from any number of foreign countries, so law enforcement jurisdiction is murky.

If the ship departs from, say, Florida, and a crime is committed onboard, the local police might investigate once the cruise liner returns to port. The feds have jurisdiction if a crime has occurred against a U.S. national on a ship that has departed or will arrive back in the States. The FBI might be assigned to investigate. But these professionals will be days removed from when the crime was committed. Every detective will tell you that evidence gathered immediately following a crime is often crucial to prosecution.

The cruise industry says it caters to more than 24 million customers each year and that crime rates on board one of those massive floating hotels is a small fraction of the comparable rates of crime on land.

But on dry land, you can immediately call 911 for help. You likely have a cop shop a few minutes driving distance from your location and a fully equipped hospital nearby. On a cruise ship, perhaps hundreds of miles out at sea, youve got . . . well, youve got whatever the ship has to offer.

An official with the Cruise Lines International Association insists there is robust security onboard to assure passengers are safe. But lets get real: Any security officers are working for the cruise line, and their primary allegiance may not be to a victimized passenger. Their efforts gathering evidence, taking witness statements or tracking down suspects may be lacking.

NBC News has reported extensively on cruise line crime and calculated that of the 92 alleged crimes reported on cruise ships last year, 62 were sexual assaults. Im guessing here, but I bet the combination of hot temperatures and free-flowing booze tends to reduce passengers inhibitions. But most frightening is that a majority of the sexual assaults be they committed by crew members or passengers were never prosecuted. A congressional report from a few years ago found that minors were the victims in a third of those sexual assaults.

The dirty secret in the cruise line industry is that crime does occur on cruise ships and very often law enforcement isnt notified, evidence isnt preserved, people arent assisted, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He is sponsoring a bill in the U.S. Senate that would require cruise lines to report any claim of criminal activity to the FBI within four hours, turn over all video evidence, earmark cases in which youngsters are involved and include a federal officer called a sea marshal on each ship. Id like to add that each vessel be equipped with a proper evidentiary rape kit.

NBCs reporting included stories about victimized teenage girls, one of whom tried to commit suicide after she alleged that she was given alcohol and raped onboard a cruise to the Virgin Islands. Another teen interviewed claimed she was sexually assaulted by a crew member in the ships gym. Jim Walker, a Miami attorney, said his firm has represented many victims of alleged cruise ship crime, including one who was just 3 years old.

The average passenger load on an ocean liner is about 3,000. But some mega-cruise liners can hold up to 6,000. Whenever you get that many people in a finite space, lulled by adult activities over here and supervised children and youth activities over there, trouble can develop.

Im sure the cruise lines do their very best to fully vet and hire suitable employees. It would not be in their best interest to do otherwise. But this summer, if you are taking the family on a once-in-a-lifetime cruise to paradise, dont let your guard down. Have a wonderful vacation, but realize that crime can happen anywhere, and you and yours are not immune.

* Diane Dimond is an investigative journalist and syndicated columnist.

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Hit high seas on vacation but be careful | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui ... - Maui News

Australian circus trio tell us about the swashbuckling goings-on aboard the Red Rubber Duckie

Ropes, ladders, rigging, flying cutlasses and derring-do: pirate ships and circuses have a surprising number of things in common. All of which Australian circus troupe Head First Acrobats make the most of in their fabulous family show, Arr We There Yet?. But when it came to creating the piece, this swashbuckling gang from Melbourne had a more pressing reason for making the connection.

'We had joked about it for ages,' says Cal Harris aka Snotty Steve, the sailor with a serious sinus problem. 'Then we booked a festival in Melbourne specifically with this show, but wrote the blurb before we'd done anything on it. The show then sold out so we realised we had to make it fit the blurb.'

The trio has just come offstage at the Brighton Fringe, and if their post-show banter seems joyously candid (with no-holds-barred self-deprecation and ego-free descriptions of their creative process), it's a measure of how much their relaxed stage personas are more than just an act. This is Head First's debut show for children (they received much acclaim at last year's Edinburgh Fringe with Elixir) and has taken two years of 'trial and error' development to reach its current incarnation.

Taking place on board the Red Rubber Duckie ship, we meet unhinged pirates Captain Pricklybeard (Thomas Gorham), softly-spoken Captain Joseph (Rowan Thomas) and the aforementioned Harris as Snotty Steve, as they steer a calamitous quest for buried treasure, dodging low-fi ghosts, a cuddly shark and the sneaking ambitions of one another to each seize the title of captain. There are head balances and hand balances, quick-fire tumbling, plank walking, (or rather plank jumping, by way of a see-saw) and a riotous soundtrack of souped-up shanties and rock tunes.

But what makes the show truly special is the effortless way the three draw in the kids for some interaction. Not only are they unfazed by the unpredictable ad-libs children can bring, they positively embrace them. On the afternoon I saw the show, kids were on their feet shrieking at the ship's ghost, eager to take part when volunteers are called for. In a variation on 'What's the Time Mr Wolf?' involving a treasure-hoarding shark, one participant steals the show by mimicking Harris' floor-slide and seizing the treasure himself.

When I bring this up they all flip out. 'That was amazing! I wanted to high-five him,' says Gorham. The group insist that they rarely experience shy, retiring audiences because, from the outset, their priority is to create an atmosphere where children feel welcome to be part of the action.

'We engage them from the very beginning,' says Thomas. 'So from the start it's not like a closed wall with us on stage and they watch. We bring them into it so that all the way through the show they have input; then they feel like they're in a room with their brothers and sisters and can just yell and play.'

Meanwhile, grown-ups are entertained with groanworthy pirate puns and the acrobatic displays. But ultimately, Thomas admits, it's hard to separate what children and adults respond to. 'I think if we can laugh at what we're making then we know that they will as well.'

Arr We There Yet?, Underbelly's Circus Hub, Middle Meadow Walk, 626 Aug (not 14, 21), 2pm, 1012.50 (911.50). Preview 5 Aug, 6.50.

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Head First Acrobats take to the high seas in a raucous family show - The List