Date posted: October 18, 2023
Dear Neighbours,Bin Nights and Incidents
As many will know, we have had a series of further incidents on the nights before bin collections, and we are putting considerable energy into addressing the related issues.
On the evening of Thursday 28 September, as usual, significant numbers of people were observed entering the neighbourhood and searching through bins and recycling bags that had already been put out. Whilst walking her dog, a resident noticed that one of these individuals was carrying a large knife, acting somewhat erratically, and showing more interest in her, than in any of the bins, before disappearing into the Nature Sanctuary area next to the Brewery. She was sufficiently concerned to report the matter on Buzzer.
In the early hours of Friday morning (29/09), an aluminium extension ladder was stolen from a house in Heldray Avenue, and a light fitting and cable was removed from a house in Lindum Close. Private security cameras revealed that the latter theft was committed by someone dressed in a reflective orange jacket, typical of those worn by many who search through bins.
Throughout our time as CPNW, the hours of darkness between Thursdays and Fridays have seen substantially more incidents than any other period. Dealing with this challenge is no simple matter, as both the causes and possible solutions are more complex than simply securing our property.
We are also aware of a range of views and a degree of polarisation on how best to respond to this issue, and we also understand that not everything we suggest will be convenient for everyone. However, we are certain of a few things:
- This problem can be solved.
- Solving it will take collective action and everyone’s involvement.
- Not solving it will result in increasing numbers of outsiders entering the area after dark.
- This will give rise to a range of associated problems including littering, squatting and crime.
- We will continue to see an increase in incidents on “bin nights”.
- Unchecked increases in criminal incidents in our area tend to escalate in both frequency and severity.
Challenges
This is a problem we have often grappled with in past years. For most of us, it is easier to put bins out the evening before collection. Mornings tend to be rushed, we forget, collections are sometimes earlier than expected, or we simply sleep too late.
Some have argued for simply banning bin-pickers from the area or laying charges against them for touching the bins (which are private property), for littering, or for stealing shopping trolleys. Others plead the case of desperate but honest individuals forced to pick through our waste as their only alternative to crime, and the benefits of the recycling work they do.
Considerations
When grappling with these issues, there are a few considerations to bear in mind:
- We have no automatic legal right to prevent non-residents from entering our neighbourhood or to remove them from the area.
- While charging individuals for investigating bins is technically possible, in practice it is beyond our capacity (each individual bin owner would need to lay a charge) and that of our justice system.
- Addressing trolley theft may be more feasible but would not solve the bigger problem.
- Unfortunately, most of the suggested “solutions” persecute individuals who are not here to steal but are simply trying to survive. Some of these individuals are also invested in fighting more serious crime.
CPNW’s Approach
The above points have informed our current approach, which is as follows:
- We try to identify and engage with individuals who enter the area with the legitimate aim of finding and salvaging recyclable/reusable items.
- We encourage them to only enter the area during daylight hours, to keep things tidy, and to alert us to suspicious activity.
- We engage with the security companies operating in the area about “Bin Night”, highlighting the challenges we face on “bin nights”. Based on the assumption that picking through bins in the dark is a futile exercise, we request them to investigate individuals found in the area after dark, and in cases where they cannot demonstrate a legitimate purpose for their presence, to escort them to our boundaries.
- We have arranged for community volunteers to do vehicle patrols for a few consecutive Thursday nights, whilst a few dedicated volunteers also carry out more covert patrolling.
- We have made it our goal to permanently end the practice of leaving bins and recycling bags outside overnight, ideally before December of this year.
Please Don’t Leave Bins Out Overnight!
On the last point, we recognise and deeply appreciate the extra effort this requires from everyone. It does mean getting up earlier, getting into a new routine, speaking about this to neighbours and perhaps helping with someone else’s bin if they cannot do it in the morning.
We believe, however, that this effort is relatively small when compared to dealing with a serious outbreak of crime and all the resulting problems from the continued ingress of a range of desperate people into our area on Thursday evenings. If anyone feels a strong need to support bin-pickers as a form of charity, perhaps they could consider setting up an informal recycling depot at the boundary of our area where we could all drop items.
Our view is that we can solve this issue provided everyone gets involved. Naturally, there are those who seem oblivious to the existence of CPNW (perhaps even to the idea of community). And inevitably a few independent-minded individuals may simply resist this group effort in principle, while others may resist because they feel they have better solutions. One fairly strong argument is that more predictable collection times would make it easier to leave bins out for a shorter period. We would support efforts to engage with the City about this, but this additional task will no doubt require some persistence, so we would need help to take it on!
Majority Agreement
It is already clear, though, that the vast majority of residents agree with our current approach.
After an urgent appeal following the Sept 28/29 incidents there was a striking reduction in the number of bins put out overnight (only 44 of an estimated 500). Whilst patrolling, we left notes for as many as possible who had left their bins out, explaining our concerns and asking them not to. The following week, all but 21 responded to our message, although sadly, an additional 12 put bins out overnight. The reduction in the number of people entering the area overnight has been massive, and we have had two consecutive crime-free weeks.
Appeal
We will continue our efforts in all spheres and try to reach all residents not yet on board, but we need everyone’s help in this respect.
So, we appeal to everyone to help create a new culture where putting bins out overnight is simply not done.
This will likely involve politely informing those who seem unaware of what we are trying to do and might involve helping someone who genuinely cannot do it on a Friday morning. Some gentle persuasion may be needed at first, but we expect that over time, if all one’s neighbours avoid putting bins out overnight because they care, this should ultimately become its own deterrent!
Night Patrols
We are enormously grateful to those who volunteered to do night patrols! Unlike most neighbourhood watches, patrolling is something we seldom ask of our members without a specific purpose. This is primarily because we feel that inclusivity and collective effort by everyone, whether or not they see themselves as patrollers, is far more important than relying on only a handful of members who patrol.
However, we are concerned about our steady uptick in crime after a very quiet period during Covid, and about our deteriorating socioeconomic environment. We therefore need to stay on our toes, improve our preparedness and increase vigilance in the area. We will thus be initiating a less frequent but more regular pattern of occasional nighttime patrols and are again calling for volunteers.
We know that patrolling can be exhausting but feel that between us we can manage at least one or two a month, without anyone having to do it very regularly. Please give this some thought and be ready to offer your time, perhaps once every three months, or even less, when we ask for help!
Intruder – and Buzzer
We have also had one incident unrelated to bin night, when an intruder was chased from a property in Dunedin Road on the evening of 26 September. In this case the alarm was raised on the Buzzer App, and whilst we are still fine-tuning how we use the app locally, we are very pleased to now have 314 members on the app. We are increasingly confident that Buzzer is going to become a very effective crime response and reporting tool for all of us.
Cameras
Our camera project is also making great progress, with additional cameras installed this month in Ntombeni Way, Village Lane and Cardinal Close. We are dedicating a substantial portion of our budget to acquiring cameras.
The next areas where we plan to place them include Beach Road, Sleepy Hollow, Avondrust Circle, Heldray and Pepper Streets. If you are a resident in one of those streets and are willing to host a camera, please let us know by replying to this email!
Connectors
Regarding our connector network, we are glad to note a slow but steady growth of connector groups despite large areas where neighbours remain “unconnected”. Why people would choose not to have a connector group for security-related communication with close neighbours remains a mystery to us!
We have learned that there are neighbour WhatsApp groups that are not connected to CPNW. If you are the admin of such a group and would like to be connected to CPNW to share any concerns and pass on locally relevant information to your neighbours, you can join the Connector Group on the following link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/HOQZazavDZZ6vLu3Y6C8uV .
Vulnerable Neighbours
We have so far had only one notification about a vulnerable neighbour. We would very much like to keep track of anyone in our community who may be in need of extra support, especially in the event of an emergency.
So, if you do know of anyone we should be thinking about, please drop a line to Lynne Hogan at lchogan15@gmail.com .
K9 Tracker Training
We are very grateful to Ollie Wright, who has been a CPNW Committee stalwart and is now managing the K9 Project, for offering training for dogs and owners interested in tracking. Members of this project and their wonderful dogs have been invaluable over the years in finding criminals hiding in the bush as well as lost children, but membership of the group has been declining.
If you are a dog-owner interested in taking part, please let us know, and we will put you in touch with Ollie!
And… the AGM
Finally, our AGM is approaching, so please set aside Monday 13 November 2023, 18h30 for 19h00 to join us at the Noordhoek Community Centre.
As always, we are way short of the support we need to do everything we would like in order to take us to another level of safety amid the challenging reality of our country. However, we have proved time and again that this is not impossible!
So please consider volunteering to help our efforts in some small way! And importantly, please at least show that you care enough about what we do to take one evening of the year to attend our AGM!
Wishing everyone a safe October!
The CPNW Committee
Leave a Reply