Residents put crime response in frame

Crime is one of those things that strike at the heart of people and their communities.

There's no shortage of publicity given to criminality at the high end of the scale - the rapes, the murders, the vicious street assaults.

But ask anyone who's been the victim of a burglary about the sense of hurt and violation they are left to deal with, and you'll quickly get an insight into the damage caused by this and other offending.

Because of this, crime prevention is one of those rare unifying issues that matters to everyone, with the notable exception of the criminals themselves - although it could be argued that it matters to them, but in an entirely different way.

It's because crime prevention is so important to so many that the police sometimes find themselves at the sharp end of criticism around all manner of aspects of their role: crime prevention, response time and, of course, their arrest rate.

This also explains why people such as the residents of Rangitatau East Rd sometimes end up taking their own steps to prevent crime in their community.

After several years of planning, surveillance cameras were installed along the road in December, after being paid for by a community group made up of about two dozen residents.

It's good to see that the residents have worked with police as part of this initiative, including receiving advice on the correct way to set up the system.

However, it does raise some questions around issues of vigilante justice.

Were the cameras to detect a crime in progress, or even a suspicious-looking group heading up the road, how easy would it be for residents, wanting a quick response, to take matters into their own hands rather than alerting police and waiting for them to arrive?

With all the best intentions in the world, sometimes the desire to take immediate action can easily lead to tragedy. It's also worth bearing in mind that not everyone will have the financial resources to take similar steps in their own neighbourhood. More often than not, it's the lower socio-economic demographics that are the victims of crime.

That aside, the residents of Rangitatau East Rd will hopefully sleep a little easier at night, knowing their neck of the woods is a bit safer than it was before - and also that it was their drive and commitment that helped make it that way.

Feedback: editor@wanganuichronicle.co.nz