Date posted: May 27, 2017
Dear Neighbours
We are enormously reassured by the fantastic response to our calls for help to arrest the recent crime surge – thank you everyone who has pitched in!
We do recognise, however, that at a time like this, emotions tend to run quite high and we would therefore like to take a moment to stress a few key principles in regard to conduct as members of the neighbourhood watch. We believe that this is really important as we have worked hard to build the security of our area on the basis of a supportive and inclusive community, which, as the foundation to all our efforts, is something we are anxious to uphold and develop.
So, please take a moment to consider three key points we would like to emphasise:
Communications
Please pause and think (and ideally get someone else to read your post) before hitting send on social media. This includes considering what time it is that your message will be landing in in-boxes as well as the potential for your message to cause hurt, irritation or anger. Please remember that a lot of people, with different perspectives and in different states of minds will be receiving your message! As important as your point may seem, if it damages the collective effort, it will have done more harm than good.
Identifying data
We would urge anyone spotting anything to try and take careful note of what has proven to be most useful in identifying suspects. According to information we have received, the most useful items of clothing to describe are shoes and trousers as these can less-easily be changed when a perpetrator is on the run, whereas hats, shirts and jackets are often swapped as a quick disguise. Whilst skin tone and hair colour and characteristics are undoubtedly useful, as are approximate age, height, build and facial features, unfortunately many of us are still in the habit of taking note of someone’s race and stopping there. This is not only minimally helpful (as people of all races live and work in our area and people of all races have a variety of skin tones and hair types) but it can also portray an impression of racist stereotyping.
On “stop and search”
Please remember that we are stepping on thin ice here as far as legality goes (depending on how clearly the assumption can be made that the person is linked to a specific crime). Wherever possible please leave this to the ADT patrollers or SAPS members and politely ask the person to remain where they are until the patroller is available. In all cases please exercise calmness and courtesy. Anyone has the right to be in a public area and we also have a right to enquire about peoples’ activities and to raise questions if there is good reason to suspect they are linked to a crime. We need to win over everyone who happens to be in our area for any reason other than criminal activity to helping us in the fight against crime and most people will respond reasonably to a reasonable request and explanation. They might even help us in the future!
Leave a Reply