Just wondering how many active Neighborhood Watch groups are there in the Treasure Beach area. In today's world it is very important that people look out for each other.Technological advancements cannot replace the good neighbours, friends or community members looking out for each other.Safety of children,women pets, private property public property and facilities is very critical these days.Evil can be defeated! The joy of one family should be heart felt by the whole community and so too, the grief and pain of a member of the community will weigh on the hearts of every well thinking member of the community.Support each other and isolate evil and activities that will breath destruction in the community.Never be afraid to stand up for what is in the best interest of the community; even if the evil doers call you Informer!Good over evil. Please look for everyone but especially those that are most vulnerable; our innocent children along the road, women walking the streets,our senior citizens that spend a lot time by themselves,shop keepers,vendors and other business people. Keep on eye an each other. Every stranger or strange activities should be broadcast right away.We are all one people. One love!

In the the hip hop world and secretive-clique environments, there's no greater epithet than being a labeled snitch (informer). It can more than ruin your appetite...but on the other side of that reality is the overheard conjecture: an interesting philosophical question...is it okay to snitch to the police on the police?

Seriously, at the community level, native, will you use your name when, after a neighbour refuses to lower his booming sound system, you call the "authorities" (under the Noise Abatement ordinances) to shut up that blasted racket?

Z, you have touched on some serious issues.Just to say part of the role of the Neighbourhood Watch is to insist that the law is enforced by those so responsible.Community power suggests that when responsible persons; law enforcement or elected officials fail to carry out their duties effectively, citizens should collectively insist on their removal.

I do not want to put my name here but I am one who DID call the police and give my name about noise from a booming sound system after the perpetrator laughed when I asked him to turn it down. The police came and confiscated the sound system. Being a neighbor does not mean one has to suffer the ill manners of others.

A Neighborhood Watch is different I believe. That pertains to one or more people usually riding in a vehicle in the evening up and down the different roads and lanes looking around to see if they observe unusual or possible criminal activity. They should then call the police unless they feel no harm will come to anyone by doing something themselves, even shouting.

"You must be vigilant against criminal activities in your communities without being vigilantes."
Derrick Cochrane (Assistant Commissioner of Police heading the Police Area Three (St Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon)

Claiming that "vicious" and "dog-hearted" criminals were violating the rights of Jamaicans all across the land, Cochrane said the time had come for the nation to be "one big neighbourhood watch" working in partnership with the police.

The assistant commissioner, who was speaking against the backdrop of the recent rape of five females including an eight-year-old from a single home in Irwin, St James, and rising fear in normally sedate St Elizabeth and Manchester because of a hike in gun crime, reminded lay magistrates that the law gave the power to private citizens to make arrests.

This power, he suggested, was an important element in the effort to build community anti-crime programmes. However, he cautioned against vigilante justice. Rather, he said, citizens should work in tandem with the police.

"If you see something, you need to say something to the police (and) if you have to arrest in your capacity as private citizens, do so and call the police" ...????

Cochrane argued that Jamaica was "at a crossroads where crime and criminality is concerned... evil persists when good men stand by and do nothing.
If we the people of Jamaica who are in the majority are to take back Jamaica from these criminals, we need to do something. The Neighbourhood Watch is a good vehicle by which to do so."

While claiming that there was usually little or no crime in communities with functioning neighbourhood watch groups, Cochrane noted that usually such groups were only formed "out of some traumatic criminal and anti-social experiences..."It was a matter of regret...that such groups often waned and even died once the short-term effect of reduced crime in the community was achieved

Cochrane told journalists that particularly in St Elizabeth and Manchester, many of those being held by police for gun crimes originated elsewhere.
"What it shows is the migratory nature of criminals. They continue to move around.
If we are going to really take back this country, citizens have to be alert and not give criminals security by giving them solace in their communities..."


Observer Article: Use Neigbourhood Watch...
www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/-Use-Neighbourhood-Watch-to-fight-vicious--dog-hear ted-criminals-_12657020

Remember that informing as revenge is a by product of this.

Better than jungle justice where a single voice may become the catalyst for the actions of those who choose to lose themselves in a mob. I felt a sob in my heart when I saw the Observer front page of the teacher with a man over him about to plunge another knife into his body surrounded by....the people?

The voice of the people is the voice of the people. Don't blame God for the actions of groups of humans, however large they be and however sacred their leaders portray themselves.

As a frequent visitor I'm glad to know there's a local Neighborhood Watch group. It's good to know the community cares about its own safety, and that of visitors.

I think it's plain common sense to have neighbours looking out for each other. It also builds a sense of community which is sometimes lacking. We don't need people driving around spying on one another, but simply being aware of what is going on in the area.

Vigilantism a Path We Dare Not Walk

We are aware that employment - even cheap, short term employment - can help to reduce crime and other social ills. But if that fact is recognised there should surely be an integrated plan to help people to organise themselves at the community level in order for the benefits of any job programme to be maximised.

The organisation of communities is critical if we are to deal with unemployment, crime, ignorance and illiteracy, irresponsible parenting, public health and other social issues, all of which are intrinsically bound together. This is not rocket science. It has long been recognised by our national planners and policy-makers. The trouble is that capacity-building in communities has all too often gone the way of the nine-day wonder.

One thing is clear. Government agencies such as the Social Development Commission (SDC), political representatives and their shadows at the local and parliamentary level, the police, teachers at the community school, the pastor et al, must partner to build community organisation and leadership.

From thence will come, for example, the Neighbourhood Watch Programme to empower the community to turn its face against criminality and disorder. Organised, properly directed community action is what is required to prevent the recent atrocity in Irwin, St James and the frightening increase in gang activity in once peaceful rural communities across the country.
Properly organised communities, lobbying their government as they should, would have long ago ensured the passage of laws such as those relating to criminal gangs.

We mustn't fool ourselves, time is running out for us as a people to take our country and mould it in the way it should be.

Vigilantism which rears its ugly head all too often is testimony of the public frustration and anger threatening to take us in directions we dare not walk.

Observer Editorial:
www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/Vigilantism-a-path-we-dare-not-walk_12657049

My husband and I were members of our neighborhood watch in Colorado. We did this for about two years. He and I rode around for three hours at a shift about every six weeks because there were a lot of others from our community who also participated. We never saw criminal activity but I know it made our neighbors feel more safe, and we felt safer on the nights when others were on watch.

Is this happening all over Treasure Beach?

A community is as safe as its slightest member.Who are the people that can provide good leadership ? Are they willing to get involved ? Who educate the community regarding safety concerns? How are safety concerns addressed ? Lets not forget( hope it not) no one is "immune against crime, every community is vulnerable to undesirable activities.The neighborhood watch is a good way to preserve culture and traditions. It also sets good examples for children to develop civic mindedness and values such as neighborliness.Money in the pocket is good but nothing is stronger than a united community.

It woks, keep it going. Helped put my neighborhood back on track and got rid of the dealers selling crack no more girls selling their bodies on my block (Dam Shame), that is someone's child a communities child. Hope for the best.

I read the posts here regulary but seldom post. It helps me keep in touch with beautiful TB!

In addition to Neighborhood Watch we have CrimeStoppers where I live Canada. It is a phone number where people can report criminal activity to the police and their identity is protected by law.

Often it is difficult for a good citizen to stand up when they fear for the safety for themselves and their family.

Does Jamaica have a CrimeStoppers program?

http://www.crimestoppersofniagara.com/

Blessed love Nigel.S! If it is not healthy for the community, call it ! And, this forum has been serving as a neighbourhood Watch and we are grateful to the host.Turn a blind eye to a a little leak in your boat and see what happen after a while.