4 July 2008

Do you have the right to moan about crime?

Picture if you will a typical suburban dinner party where the topic inevitably moves to crime. Someone will throw out the comment “they just don’t care or have any respect for the law” or something similar which will typically be agreed with by comments such as “savages” or “thugs”.

Now I actually do agree in most part with these comments, however I do take issue with the high and mighty stance that the speakers take. You cannot bemoan the fact that others are breaking the law by stealing, robbing, fighting or whatever when you also have little consideration for it.

Almost without exception every member of that dinner party will have done one or more of the following in the past few years: broken the speed limit whilst driving, driven under the influence of alcohol, cheated on paying taxes, run personal errands on company time without permission (theft) or used company resources for personal gain (also theft). The first reply is that these are victimless crimes.

Well firstly I disagree, innocent third parties are killed by speeding and drunken drivers. Secondly, even if you argue that the others are insignificant you may be right for the individual incident, but when it becomes a national tradition the effects are cumulative. A million tax payers underpaying by R100 means a R100 million that the government can’t spend on social upliftment, infrastructure or fighting crime. Twenty sales staff each using R500 worth of personal calls on their cell phones each month starts to become significant.

If you aren’t sold on that argument, then you are essentially also providing the answer for the more obvious and traditional type of criminal. Lets look at it from their view: when cars are stolen or houses are broken into, insurance pays - no problem. Surely that makes them “victimless” crimes too !

The crime situation in South Africa will only be solved with a change in attitude from you and me. If the national culture changes to one of obeying rules and laws, starting with the petty ones, then this mind set filters through the community. Soon the more serious and violent crime becomes unacceptable to even those communities who may benefit from it. This increases the chances of whistle blowers and police resources can focus on the more important crimes.

And it all starts from YOU changing your attitude and your actions, no matter how insignificant it may appear.

28 May 2008

Is everyone really that concerned about crime?

It has to be the biggest topic of discussion in South Africa, yet when it comes down doing something about it, hardly anybody does a damn thing. We all expect “the government” to sort it out. Well get your heads out of the sand, it is simply not going to happen that way.

Whenever someone takes some initiative to set up some extra security in the neighbourhood, such as extra guard patrols, booms, cctv cameras or the like, they will typically receive a luke warm reception from their neighbours. This is especially the case when asked for some extra money each month to finance the security measures. Everybody moans about it, they spend thousands on their own security, some even spend much more leaving the country, but don’t dare ask them to help out the neighbourhood - which is in fact a far more effective means of protecting your property.

Have you every attended a local community police forum (CPF) meeting? Out of communities of thousands of people you’d be lucky to have 20 people pitch up - and even fewer get involved. Who attends crime meeting at their local police station to stay informed on what happening in their area? Who joins the police reservists? Who is involved in their local community anti-crime group? Who helps to raise funds for policing? Who helps nearby disadvantaged communities to improve their lives so that they don’t resort to crime?

Most readers of this blog will have done none of the above. If you are doing one or more, I salute you. If not stop whining and get involved. And by the way, paying your taxes doesn’t count, its not enough.

15 April 2008

Typical headline nonsense: “Smash and grab robbers terrorise Joburg offramps”

Oh please people. For starters smash and grabbers are not robbers, they are thieves. A robber threatens you with your life, a thief merely takes and runs - big difference when it comes to psychological trauma. So your window made a big noise and you got a fright ... big deal, that is not terror. You now have to pay to repair your window and probably replace credit cards, drivers licence and cell phone which is really inconvenient, but its not terror.

It never ceases to amaze me how everyone is always talking about crime. Its in the newspapers, on the radio and TV, at dinner tables, in pubs and restaurants and at work conversations. Nobody in South Africa can claim to be ignorant about our crime situation and yet every day some imbecile insists on displaying their purse / laptop / bag / phone on their car passenger seat whilst driving around. Come on people wake up and take your heads out of the sand. Put the stuff in the boot and you won’t be put through all the hassle.

4 March 2008

“The cops took hours to arrive when I arrived home from holiday to find my house was burgled.”

Ummm, yes? So your point is what? I hate to break the news to you but a swift response from the cops now is not going to help in the slightest. Chances are that there are other things happening at the same time and they may very well be more important than filling in some forms for you. Robberies, shootings, motor vehicle accidents with injuries, fighting and yes even the famed doughnuts are all going to take preference over your “urgent” housebreaking.

If they haven’t arrived after two or three hours than phone 10111 again and find out why not ... politely. Don’t try the “I pay your salary” nonsense, you’ll just deservedly get shoved further down the list. If you phoned your local station instead of 10111, then expect the message to get lost. Even at 10111, these calls get lost. Give them a break. They must receive hundreds of these each month, some might go astray. Deal with it and just phone them with a friendly reminder .... don’t whine.