SARIKEI: Each and every one of us has a role to play in crime prevention.
Technically, such responsibility is defined as ‘duty of care’, chief political secretary to the Chief Minister Abdullah Saidol said when he officiated at a crime prevention talk and launching of the Voluntary Patrol Scheme (SRS) unit of Jalan Abdul Rahman Neighbourhood Area (KRT) here last Saturday night.
Elaborating further, Abdullah said that the scope of `duty of care’ was not only confined to fighting against crime but also cover other social wrong doings.
By virtue of ‘duty of care’ we are duty-bound to step forward to assist victims of crime. The very least that we ought to do was to alert the police or those entrusted with the crime-prevention task such as the SRS unit, he said.
Failure to play such role could be considered as ignorance of one’s social obligation, hence rendering us socially guilty under the law, he added.
Abdullah also advised the SRS members to focus their watchful eyes on negative social problems in their respective areas such as family violence and child abuse.
For instance, if they hear of young children being left unattended by parents for days, they should feel duty-bound to investigate and to take appropriate action in accordance with the law.
State Unity and National Integrity director Dirwaana Azool who also spoke at the function said that the 2.0 version of SRS units were to work closely with the Police, Rela and the Civil Defence Department to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
According to him of the 67 KRTs in the division, 25 had formed their respective SRS units. He hoped the other 42 KRTs would form theirs soon. District Police chief Supt Poniman Margiman was among those invited to present talks that night.