It would seem that crime is once again on the rise. Becoming aware of your surroundings and taking steps to secure yourself and your family is priority number one.
Our police force is doing an amazing job with successes being recorded daily but still the scourge of crime is ever present. The police are working with finite resources and it can prove difficult to monitor every area simultaneously. This creates opportunity for criminals who are all too aware of this fact. Hijackings and house robberies have seen a spike of late with areas like Mayberry Park being hit rather hard.
Now we can debate the reasons behind the crime like poor economy, high unemployment and rampant drug usage but what’s important is not just why it exists but how we plan to deal with it.
Not all crime is planned; most of it is opportunistic. When we leave our cars parked with sunglasses and laptops in plain sight, we create an opportunity. If you leave your car idling in the driveway as you get out to open the gate or quickly run into house to fetch something, you create an opportunity. When you buy new fridges or a TV and you just leave the box on the pavement on rubbish day, you create an opportunity.
Being aware isn’t just having an alarm on the house or insurance to mitigate loss, it’s about thinking about opportunity.
What opportunity is my action creating for crime, as simple as leaving your front door open creates an opportunity. Now I know that we shouldn’t have to live like this and that we should be able to leave our belongings unattended or leave the garage door open as you pop off to the shops and no it isn’t fair. But unfortunately we are living like this, crime is a reality and it’s one that we all need to deal with.
Take the time to attend a CPF even if it’s just to see what is going on in your area, not everyone has to be a patroller but knowing what to be on the look out for can make all the difference.
