You articulate the issues well Bev. I look forward to hearing what the deal is. After all, we are still left with 2 unsolved murders in Observatory and they were very recent. At this stage I do not think I would object to being 'checked out' as long as I was treated in a polite manner. Julia. ----- Original Message ----- From: Bev P To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 5:22 PM Subject: Re: [obsnw] Re: Police harassment
I understand Trevor(‘s democratic right to speak his mind). I understand where Teun comes from. What bothers me is this….. As an ONW patroller I have seen many potentially suspicious folk around in Observatory. Some with very long poles. Some with trollies (….which, potentially, contain stolen goods). Oscar 19’s son lost a laptop to thieves this way. As I recall, the thieves walked past Oscar 19 pushing their trolley which contained his son’s laptop. He (Oscar 19) didn’t want to search the guy…..which (for me) is both understandable as well as very frustrating. I and other 2-way radio holders have (at times) asked both the SAPS and VS to “check out” suspicious people in our streets......meaning ".....please search them." Way back Trevor once joined a couple of us who were “tailing” two suspicious characters. I know these guys, when they reached the Bijou, were warned by the ONW guys tailing them that they were being “watched”. Is it okay for us to be warning people in the streets that they are being watched? Early one morning when out patrolling I spotted 3 young guys walking along Lwr Main (whom I assumed were from Salt River). Very much in the context of the crime we’ve all been subjected to in Obs, these guys left me feeling unseasy………pure gut feeling. So I asked VS the SAPS to “check them out please” ( = please search them). One of the three was found with a lethal-looking five inch knife (….which was removed from him by VS). The chap who had the knife taken from him objected vociferously about his rights being infringed. I was left wondering as the group was sent on its way by the SAPS who among us (residents) might have been attacked with that knife. One night Jonathan, whilst out patrolling with a group of us, was offered drugs by a local dealer who could supply him with anything. This resulted in a number of ONW patrollers (including Jonathan and myself) hounding this chap out of our area. Jonathan tried to photograph him and I subsequently did manage to take a photo of him (….at the time that we were pursuing him). Were we within our rights to do this? Perhaps it’s time for all 2-way radio holders, Vetus Schola and the police (who tread a very fine line for all of us in Obs) to get together to sort out this issue of how we deal with people whom we might find “suspicious”. I personally feel there are times that suspicious folk need to be searched…. Given the crime that we’ve all struggled with for the last few years, I (personally) feel okay about being searched by the police. I think I would find it difficult and demoralising, as a member of the police, feeling I was damned if I did (search) and damned if I didn’t…… And with our level of drug dealing in the suburb……what do we do? I'm very aware of our appalling history and of how complex the issues are here..... Where to from here ? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/obsnw?hl=en To unsubscribe from this group, send email to obsnw+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/obsnw?hl=en To unsubscribe from this group, send email to obsnw+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject.
