Alert! Increase in Burglaries on STX

M.A. Dworkin

St. Croix - In a recent news conference conducted by Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) Deputy Chief of Police, Naomi Joseph and Chief Detective Marisol Colon, the crucial discussion centered on the alarming increase in burglaries on St. Croix over the past few months. The month of April 2025 brought on ten (10) burglaries; the month of May 2025 brought on thirty-two (32) burglaries; and up until the day of the news conference of June 13, 2025 there were fifteen (15) burglaries. 

“Be aware that burglars are taking advantage of your absence from your home and even when you are present. No one area has been spared, from Frederiksted to Christiansted,” Deputy Chief of Police Joseph warned.

“The majority of the burglaries are Burglary 3rd, which means they occur when you are not in your home, when you are at work, on vacation, when your house is unoccupied, that’s when these people take advantage and break into your home. And that makes up the majority of the cases we have,” said Detective Colon. “We also have the Burglaries 2nd, which is when you’re sleeping in your home in the evening and someone breaks in the house. And we have the Burglary 1st, when you are in the house and these people commit a crime inside. These are the issues we are having right now on the island of St. Croix.”

“We need you to pay attention, to your surroundings,” stated Ms. Joseph. “Do what you need to do to protect your home. Whether you need to bring in an animal, a dog or an alarm system. Do something to make sure you make it difficult for the burglars to get in, Maybe take your valuables and secure them elsewhere, a safety deposit box at the bank, jewelry, if you have thousands of dollars, don’t leave them at home unless you have a hidden safe under the ground or something to that effect.”

St, Croix Times Note: The recent spate of burglaries is perhaps somewhat attributable to the slow economy on St. Croix. A similar rash of burglaries occurred a few years back when things were particularly slow. 

“So, please do what you can to protect yourself. We also ask you to look out for your neighbor. Be your neighbor’s keeper,” Ms. Joseph said. “Look out to see what’s going on. From our experience, they would park a distance away in a cut and then walk on foot into the home. They have already done their drive-by to see if somebody is home, they’re scoping you out. Ring cameras are cheap,” She advised. “Invest in them and put them in your home and they give you an alert so you know when somebody is at your house.

“We have got to do our best to protect ourselves,” Ms. Joseph urged. “Because by the time the police come, burglary has already happened. You come home to find your house totally ransacked and then it’s too late…And it’s not just residences, they are targeting businesses, offices, restaurants. It’s an equal opportunity burglary team we’ve got going on out here. So let’s do our part to get these people off the streets.”

If you have any information at all, especially about anybody trying to sell items taken from these burglaries, call 911, or 340-712-6031 or Crime Stoppers VI at 1-800-222-TIPS. All tips will remain anonymous.