If you build it, he will come.
This line comes from one of my favourite movies, Field of Dreams, where a mysterious voice whispers to an Iowa farmer, who interprets it to mean that he must build a baseball field, in order for his father’s hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson, to come back from the dead and play baseball. Of course being a movie, it works and in the end, everyone is happy.
For the last number of years Barrhead’s top cop Sgt. Bob Dodds has also, in not so whispering or mysterious fashion, been telling residents if they see something suspicious to report it to the RCMP.
“I can’t guarantee we will always be able to respond, but I guarantee that if you don’t call we will not come,” he has said on numerous occasions.
And it seems, people are starting to listen at least one resident did, as you read in our cover story the result is a recovered vehicle and two less bad guys are on the streets.
You see the system does work.
In early April, I was told by my colleague Rick de Vries that at the County of Barrhead ratepayers meeting more than one individual suggested that residents, especially in the rural areas, need to be more proactive in crime prevention.
Of course, I was pleased to hear this, thinking the public had taken the RCMP and our advice in making it harder for criminals by hardening their properties, or not leaving their keys inside unlocked vehicles.
Unfortunately not, what he was referring to were audience members who suggested following the lead of groups such as the Firearms for Farmers on Facebook. As their name suggests the group advocates the carrying of firearms to protect themselves and their property. In fact, if you read their mission statement states, “We will protect our belongings and family if needed. If the RCMP response time is delayed we will take matters into our own hands as we refuse to be a victim.”
This mentality is very scary to me and quite frankly for those who do end up taking these types of vigilante actions, in all likelihood, it is not going to end up well for those involved.
Quite frankly, we do not have the skills, training, experience or backup to do what the police do.
Better off to stick at what we can do, be the ears and eyes of the RCMP through groups such as Rural Crime Watch and the recently formed Barrhead and Area Regional Crime Coalition (BARCC).
These initiatives really do work and as BARCC gets more traction, examples such as the one referred to above will become the norm. Calling the RCMP in a timely matter when you see suspicious activity really can take a bite out of crime.
