This is a minor thing, but when someone knocked plants off from our front garden we reported it to the police. We didn’t expect anything but the person who took the report said ‘hmmm, we don’t normally have trouble your way but we’ll add it to the nightly route’.
Maybe just a visual presence of police at the right time is enough of a deterrence.
That disillusionment doesn’t justify failure to make a police statement. The attitude that ‘the police won’t do anything about it, so there is no point in reporting it’ is self-defeating (and dangerous). Serious stalking incidents are unlikely to be random occurrences. If enough women bravely step forward and report such incidents, the police will have a number of statements ‘on record’. Whether or not they act on those statements to prevent a crime is unknown, but at least with sufficient evidence in front of them, they can consider their options under stalking laws. And we really don’t know how many potential incidents have been prevented via solid reporting and police intervention.
And let’s not forget technology. There are over 9,000 CCTV cameras at train stations & in trains, as well as street CCTV cams. Why do you think so many offenders are caught so quickly after perpetrating crimes these days? Preventative responses from the police can tap into this resource, however, it is still imperative for members of the public to step forward and assist the police by providing intel.
For the record, I am not defending the police, however, I still feel that it is incumbent upon members of the public to report these types of stalking incidents. Not doing so is enabling further and potentially escalated incidents to occur.
The AVO is purely about creating a paper trail. Even then its mostly useless because you ring 000 to get the Police and they don’t come or they come three days later. Too late.
@JohnRain well put response. But like I said to Deckham, I have an incredibly clouded view from a decade working in licensed premises where report after report after report went ignored until “might” became “did”.
I totally get that but I think you’ll find that the game has changed somewhat (in the last 5 or so years)
Cheers and sorry to hear about your despondency.
BTW, are you familiar with the East Area Rapist case in the States? One of the worst cases I have ever come across. Old tech & human error aside, the police bungled that case due to interagency rivalries and refusal to go public and use the media to their advantage early doors. This was back in the 70s/80s, though.
Policing has improved a hell of a lot in recent times. Throw in tech and ever increasing media involvement (and pressure via social media, etc) and I still believe that reporting these types of matters to the police is a better option than doing nothing.
We don’t live in Utopia ! - You can’t coerce women/men to report possible stalking offences because it makes some feel good - Lets leave it up to the individual.
Possibly the most ridiculous comment I have ever read on Blitz. Who mentioned anything about ‘coerce’?
‘Some feel good’ - WTF are you talking about?
‘Leave it up to the individual’. What individual? To do what? Where is this Utopia you are referring to?
Deliberate troll.
Another woman murdered in Perth today. Quiet street, neighbours heard nothing. This is a deeply disturbing issue and it doesn’t appear to be improving. The number of women murdered is appalling. l have no idea about what is to done, to improve the situation for women.
You know - although that is a perfectly fine position to take based on your experiences - it doesn’t address - at all - why it would not be a good idea for @jonovdp to report the fact that his female friend gets followed home from a tram stop to her home on several occasions to the local authorities. Does it? Apart from perhaps some minor inconvenience in having to go all the way to a police station and take some time to make the report. Such a drag, I know.
That comment came straight out of your ■■■■, I reckon.
There’s also ethnically semitic, muslim palestinians.
(As well as ethnically arab jews over the border)
But majority of palestinians are arab.
Wasn’t putting forth that it was a bad idea per se, just wasted effort. Like playing Candy Crush.
I agree that Candy Crush is a bit of a waste of time. And I’ll take the reference as a casual jest, as I’m certain that you are not weighing up the time and effort spent on a stupid game to the seriousness of this particular situation.
Phone in it even.
Meet her at the tram stop and flog him?
As some would have worked out already I’ve spent a lot of my career working closely with police.
People often talk about the police have to solve crimes, police need to catch the bad guy etc etc. Heres the brutal reality - almost all of the time police don’t know who the perpetrators of crime are unless the community tells them. There’s investigations and evidence gathering etc that occur post that, but the percentage of crimes that rely on a member of the public initially coming forward to solve is staggering.
Law enforcement might be the police’s responsibility but community safety is absolutely everyone’s responsibility, not just police. If you see something, if you know something, anything, that might assist the police in solving a crime or preventing another one then you have a responsibility (and I would argue a civic duty) to tell police what you know.
Exactly.
And I’ll add - as a woman I’m sick of hearing men say how terrible the situation is for women but at the same time unwilling to put themselves out and do something if the situation warrants.
Enough ■■■■■■■ talk and take action. Women alone cannot change this appalling situation.
You live in fantasy land. You cant force people to report stalking or anything else. Continue throwing terms like troll when others have a different opinion.
Of course you can force people to report things. Ever heard of mandatory reporting?