In my opinion, this issue is being debated without enough clarity about what we are referring to when we talk about “homeless people” and ‘informal parking attendants’ or ‘car guards’.
I agree that some ‘good street people’ who have been part of Obs for many years. They do live here and its unjust and pointless rejecting them because they are ‘homeless”...unless they are trapped in crime or severe anti social behaviour, and that should also be attended to by those experienced in that field. I agree that it is worth the effort if some could be assisted in becoming more skilled and helpful in what they do. Practical training combined with some supervision could be very helpful to them and the people of Obs would benefit if the most worthy were given ‘upliftment’ support. Those selected need to be clearly differentiated from the chancers who harass people in the streets and are suspected by many of casing the streets on behalf of criminals who some assume are probably informed about opportunities. Efforts that can improve the relationships between the community and those on the periphery could possibly keep the more undesirable elements in check? I agree that it would be very beneficial...if “something can be evolved that works for us all”. Its worth trying! Marc From: Steve Killick Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2016 6:21 PM To: Barbara Anne Langridge Cc: Trevor Hughes ; Rosemary Robins ; Hudson McComb Coo ; The Observatory Neighbourhood Watch Subject: Re: [obsnw] Feb ObsLife I would like to echo Barbara's sentiments. The homeless people are apart of our community whether we like it or not and we need to introduce some form of social upliftment if we are to effectively solve our crime problem. You may recall the outcry a few months ago when SAPS effectively 'outlawed' the informal parking attendants from operating in Obs by enforcing a city bylaw: "But what about all the 'good' car guards trying to eek a living off of the street?" At the time, drastic action was taken in reaction due to the large number of thefts from motor vehicles and other petty crimes perpetrated by the car guards including the harassment of both residents and visitors to Obs. It was accepted that some 'good' street people would suffer and Obsid undertook to investigate how to incorporate them into OBSID upliftment programs. Car guards are still arrested on a routine basis in order to prevent the scourge from returning and we will continue to work with SAPS on this. However, I would like to believe that there is also a space for social upliftment in our community and I hope that Hudson and his team can find something that works for all of us. Steve ONW Chair On Wed, Feb 10, 2016 at 4:32 PM, Barbara Anne Langridge <[email protected]> wrote: The car guards will be there with or without Obsid and we have no way to remove them. The people I have come across are polite and helpful. They are unemployed and need opportunity. Maybe Ttevor has a job for them as an alternative. Regards Sent from my iPhone On 10 Feb 2016, at 3:57 PM, Trevor Hughes <[email protected]> wrote: Having just read the relevant sentence or two I am a little bit concerened at this car gaurding gig. Firstly its not a useful contribution to anyone. OPBSID will simply be paying layabouts to accost people for money which I have no doubt they will continue to do. I have no problem with the street sweeping initiative or maybe some gardening or some thing useful. Car guards that get paid is just a handout for nothing in return and I cannot agree with that and think its a rotten idea. What next - pay the drug dealers not to sell their drugs to the public - at least a drug dealer is performing a useful service to the portions of community that uses them and in Obs thats a large portion I would imagine if you just consider cannabis. Slippery slope Trev -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OPS [Obsid Public Safety] - 24/7 control room TEL: 021-447-1066 or 072-063-1653 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EMERGENCIES: 10111 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ONW email: [email protected] WEB: www.obswatch.org.za FACEBOOK: facebook.com/obswatch ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Useful Obs Numbers: obs.org.za/obsdir 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 https://groups.google.com/d/forum/obsnw?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Observatory Neighbourhood Watch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OPS [Obsid Public Safety] - 24/7 control room TEL: 021-447-1066 or 072-063-1653 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EMERGENCIES: 10111 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ONW email: [email protected] WEB: www.obswatch.org.za FACEBOOK: facebook.com/obswatch ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Useful Obs Numbers: obs.org.za/obsdir 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 mailto:obsnw%[email protected]. 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For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- Steve Killick Cell 084 447 5544 email: [email protected] -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OPS [Obsid Public Safety] - 24/7 control room TEL: 021-447-1066 or 072-063-1653 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EMERGENCIES: 10111 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ONW email: [email protected] WEB: www.obswatch.org.za FACEBOOK: facebook.com/obswatch ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Useful Obs Numbers: obs.org.za/obsdir 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]. 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For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OPS [Obsid Public Safety] - 24/7 control room TEL: 021-447-1066 or 072-063-1653 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EMERGENCIES: 10111 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ONW email: [email protected] WEB: www.obswatch.org.za FACEBOOK: facebook.com/obswatch ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Useful Obs Numbers: obs.org.za/obsdir 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]. 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