A CRIME-FREE SUBURB
Why act now?
The days when suburban crime consisted of mostly petty incidents with an occasional break-in or car theft have almost faded from our memories. Now, sadly, crime is endemic and often very violent. On numerous occasions in recent years Emmarentia residents and business people have been confronted by armed criminals, had their cars taken or houses ransacked at gunpoint. We have no reason to believe that our suburb is unusual - crime rates across the north-west suburbs appear to fluctuate, possibly as gangs target one area before moving on to another. Nevertheless, an increasing number of Emmarentia residents feel that the situation is intolerable, irrespective of what police statistics indicate.
The reliability of police statistics have long been challenged by various interest groups. It is difficult to make comparisons or to track trends when methods of recording crimes and time-spans for reporting keep changing. Further, it is well known that a very large number of crimes go unreported. As faith in the police diminishes this silence is likely to increase. A true and accurate picture of criminal activity is not available to us, so speculation and anecdote flourish.
We hear a lot about the police and how effective they are. Tales are told of how they arrived within minutes of an incident, or took two hours, or failed to come at all. The probable conclusion is that the police are understaffed, under-resourced, and often poorly managed. They manage to carry out their responsibilities adequately some of the time, but some of the time is not nearly good enough for us.
So what is to be done about it?
Well, for some members of the ERA EXCO enough was enough, and they began to make inquiries into whether there were any successful strategies at suburban level. Previously too, a number of Emmarentia committee members attended a presentation given by the Forest Town security sub-committee to Greenside residents.
Two suburbs that have formed such a proactive, local security system are Forest Town and Lonehill (there are others). Both estimate that crime has fallen by 80%-90% since their systems were set up. There is no doubt that they work.
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The conclusions are quite simple:
- we have to move from a reactive to a proactive security system. Thus, instead of an alarm going off and summoning the security company's officers after the crime has taken place, we need patrols and other forms of vigilance to deter criminals from attempting the crime in the first place
- we have to move from making our security arrangements on an individual basis by signing up with a security company and building walls and erecting razor wire or electric fences on our properties, to forming a suburb-wide collective method of dealing with the problem.
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What's been done by Emmarentia so far?
The Emmarentia group began inquiries in late 2005. By 10 January a plan of action was emerging, and additional objective were outlined at their third meeting. These proposals were presented to the monthly EXCO meeting at the end of January, after which a formal sub-committee took matters forward.
Since January the sub-committee has met 3 more times and identified a number of people whose skills and knowledge will be useful in setting up the proposed security management system. The next step is getting approval from residents to take the establishment of a proactive security management system forward.
The proposal
There will be a single security company for Emmarentia that will be contracted by ERA. Companies will be invited to tender by presentations.
ERA will manage the security aspect through a Section 21 company
The security company will be proactive in fighting crime through a co-ordination of patrol vehicles, motor bikes foot patrol etc...
All guards will have two way radios all on the same frequency and will be highly visible.
The security company will have a detailed list of requirements and will be held accountable for services delivered and not delivered.
The community will be involved, partly by incorporating businesses, schools, religious groups; we will work in conjunction with the police and council wherever possible.
Targets
1st year
- Decrease crime by 50 %
- Have Greenside joining with ERA's security plan
- Have 50% of residents signed up with ERA's security company
- Have 30% of residents contributing to Capex and environmental funds
2nd Year
- Decrease crime by 75%
- Have 70 % of residents signed up
- Have 40% of residents contributing to funds
- Have a full time administration manager
How will this affect the average resident?
Typically, residents will have the following concerns:
What guarantee is there that security will improve?
How will costs be contained?
Will this system demand more time and effort from residents ?
What will happen to individual residents' existing security arrangements?
ALL THESE QUESTIONS WILL BE EXPLORED AND RESPONDED TO AT THE AGM. IF YOU HAVE ANY OPINIONS OR SUGGESTIONS, MAKE SURE YOU ARE THERE TO PRESENT THEM
