ACT: Against Crime Together

Introduction

The South African Police Service is committed to creating a safe and secure environment for all people in South Africa. However, this can only be achieved if individuals and communities cooperate with the police by volunteering information on criminals and their activities, and by persons taking reasonable steps to ensure their personal safety. In partnership the police and the community can ACT - Against Crime Together, to prevent crime.

This section of our web-site is extracted from the SAPS booklet "ACT: Against Crime Together", and aims to provide practical hints that will help enhance your personal safety, to inform you of basic police procedure when you report specific crimes and to provide contact numbers that you may need in a time of crisis.

Victim Support Initiatives

When we talk about crime prevention we most often think about how to protect orselves from criminal incidents by locking up our goods, being alert to immediate danger and reporting suspicious activities. The other side of crime prevention is about building safe communities and ultiumately, a safe South Africa for all.

Crime makes us feel overwhelmed and often brings out feelings of sadness, loss, anger, anxiety, depression and sometimes the need for retribution. These are all legitimate feelings and it is important that we allow ourselves and those around us to be supported through them so that they don't begin to rule our lives and make it difficult for us to achieve the things we want to achieve.

Victim support programmes are available at most police stations in South Africa. Here volunteers offer a shoulder to cry on and practical advice about how to deal with the impact of crime. Post traumatic stress is a normal response to an abnormal event. Victim support volunteers are trained to manage post traumatic stress so that it doesn't become post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by providing simple support through the worst of the impact of the event or to refer victims for trauma counselling where necessary. For most victims of crime victim support is enough for a full recovery and there is no need for refrerral to professional trauma counselling.

One of the best ways to overcome anxieties about crime and violence is to get involved and to be a part of the solution. Victim Support initiatives are always looking for volunteers and often provide access to training programmes. The more volunteers, the less likely it is that the burden on the service will be too great. Even a few hours a week can make a real difference in your area. Ask for details at your local police station.

Connected Communities

A major impact of crime and violence is that people become isolated within their neighbourhoods. High walls, electric or barbed wire fences, boomed areas, barricades of one kind or another contribute to making people feel alone and fearful while being connected to one another is key to safety. A group of people in the street is much less vulnerable than a single person. A child walking to and from school under the supervision of an adult is much less vulnerable than a child alone. Children need caring supervision and they need to be kept busy. Elderly people alone are also very vulnerable and they often feel as though they have no purpose in our society. Drawing them in to what is happening in the neighbourhood makes it easier to take care of them and offers them opportunities to be useful and productive. Women are also less vulnerable if they are not alone.

A good way to start the ball rolling is to find out who lives in the immediate neighbourhood - who can offer what skills or resources, and who needs what help or support. The intention is to promote a system where everyone gives and everyone gets something in return. So for instance, if there is a young mother who is desperate for some time to go out and do things without her baby, an older woman with long service as a mother may offer her to take care of the baby for a few hours each week while the mother in return does some shopping for her. Someone who enjoys gardening may teach gardening skills to a group of children once a week in return for which they help with simple maintenance tasks.

 

 

 

 

 

Watch this space - more information will be added soon!






© 2012 Bluff CPF