Press Release - May 22, 2008 - ICV Community Home

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TOPIC: Press Release - May 22, 2008

ICVADMIN

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Date: 07:28 PM May 22, 2008

Press Release - May 22, 2008	Permalink

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 22, 2008 Crime rates on cruise ships SAMMAMISH, WASHINGTON The International Cruise Victims Association, Inc. (ICV), a not for profit corporation formed by victims and families of victims of cruise crimes, is pleased to see major legislation introduced in California which would require Ocean Rangers on all cruise ships entering or leaving California waters as well as action taken by the US House of Representatives which would require full disclosure of all crimes on cruise ships. These legislative initiatives have stimulated much discussion regarding the safety of cruise ships. As of today, this bill has been approved by all necessary committees in the California Senate and will be voted on by the full Senate for approval probably this coming week. A report issued by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), to the Honorable Elijah Cummings, Chairperson of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, states that the FBI testified during the September 2007 hearing that based upon the FBIs own analysis of incidents occurring on a cruise ship, a passenger on a cruise ship has less than .01% chance of being a victim of alleged crime. This CLIA statement appeared three times in the report to Chairperson Cummings and is repeated yet again in a March 14, 2008 letter to California Senator Joe Simitian, Chairperson of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. In fact, according to the FBI, they made no such statement. On April 4, 2008, Thomas Nunemaker, Section Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division of the FBI wrote a letter to Kendall Carver, President of International Cruise Victims, stating: Please be advised that the FBI did not submit nor testify before the subcommittee in regards to the statistical data reported by CLIA. Mr. Nunemaker goes on to say, The FBI did not present an interpretation of this data to the subcommittee. This undermines the integrity and truth of CLIAs statements to both the US House of Representatives and the California Senate. In addition to the above, a well-known Internet site, Cruise Critic, in an editorial dated May 16, 2008, cites results of a survey of 1700 people that have taken a cruise and found that 10% of respondents said yes to the question: Have you ever been affected by crime minor or major on a cruise ship? Dr. Ross Klein, Professor of social work at Memorial University of Newfoundland, indicates that, These numbers would suggest that as many as one million Americans have been victims of a crime on a cruise ship. ICV is deeply concerned that the industry has attempted to prevent the placement of one independent security officer on their ships by threatening in testimony to the California Senate committee on Appropriations on May 12, 2008 that they would bypass California ports if the legislation passed. In view of the crime rates reported by the Cruise Critic survey, the industry must have something to hide. Otherwise they should gladly accept independent security and thereby provide their passengers with the same security that they would have in major resorts in this country where the police are called if a crime occurs. For more information about the International Crime Victims Association, please visit www.internationalcruisevictims.org or contact the following: Kendall Carver E-Mail Kcarver17@cox.net Phone 602 852 5896 -- Edited by ICVADMIN at 20:30, 2008-05-22 __________________ Admin

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