Another senseless murder
The senseless murder of Mr William Daly is another brutal reminder of the crime that is terrorising our communities.
The senseless murder of 89-year old Mr William Daly, the only surviving son of the founder of well known fruit cordial company W Daly & Son, at his Morningside home this week is another stark and brutal reminder of the rampant crime that has infiltrated our suburbs and communities.
Attacks on our elderly have become commonplace but this does not mean we can allow ourselves to become resigned to such brutality against the vulnerable in our society. We cannot allow ourselves to become immune to the effect such an incident has, not only on the family and friends of the victim, but neighbours and surrounding communities as well. With every screaming newspaper headline fear rises, we buy more bolts for the doors, retreat behind our high walls and spiked fences and click our tongues and shake our heads about our crime-ridden country.
There comes a time when we have to take a stand. Instead of retreating, let us advance. Instead of shaking our heads in despair, let us join hands and take responsibility for our streets and our neighbourhoods. We need more residents to follow the examples of other crime-fighting groups in Berea suburbs where regular patrols take to the streets, where neighbours look out for one another, where there is support for local Community Police Forums, Sector Meetings, Neighbourhood Watches, Safety Forums and Watchmen initiatives. Gone are the days where we sat back and left the protection of our property and ourselves to the police. Our police force has its own challenges to deal with and cannot possibly be expected to be everywhere all the time. It needs our help, our eyes and ears and our committed involvement to stand up with them against crime. We need to be the deterrent to those criminal elements who lurk in the shadows and prowl our streets assuming we are too distracted to notice them; too fearful to get involved; too smug behind our fortified fences to worry about a neighbour next door, across the road or down the street.
Don’t let Mr Daly become another horror headline on the pile. Let us channel our outrage over his murder into something constructive. Let it be the catalyst for change and let us be the kings of our streets, our neighbourhood and our communities once more.
