CONTRARY to what the title here may lead you to think, this week’s rant has nothing to do with cyber crime in the terms of online gaming, hacking or illegal transactions.
Rather, this has to do with how vigilantes have taken to cyberspace to set up forums and pages on crime watch in the country.
Two such popular online forums in Sarawak are found on Facebook – the Kuching Crime Watch and Sarawak Crime Watch pages. To date, Kuching Crime Watch or KCW in short, has close to 20,000 followers.
The KCW provides alerts and updates for those who follow their page. These alerts are shared from online news portals, official police Facebook pages (like the Kuching Central Police Station’s page), and other neighbourhood watches which have also gone online.
Going pretty strong and active is the Stapok Crime Watch, and more recently, a page which alerts residents of Kampung Gita in Petra Jaya of happenings in the area, including crime.
Unlike the original definition of ‘vigilante’, these online cyber crime busters are not taking the law into their own hands.
Vigilantes often refer to a group of people who get together to solve a problem by taking the law into their own hands, because they perceive the authorities to be inadequate.
In this case of online crime watch groups, the volunteers and those who follow their alerts and postings make it a point to cooperate with the police in providing leads and tips. They share photos and videos of people up to no good, posted by residents of Kuching City. Crime and suspicious behaviour is never good news. Nonetheless, these postings are welcomed even by the police and it is heartening to note that people take the time to run through their CCTV recordings and share suspicious activities with others, through these crime watch pages.
There have also been cases where thieves are caught red-handed and turned over to the police, thanks to these online postings and the volunteers who keep the crime watch going. These online crime watch groups have also gone beyond just remaining in the virtual world by coming out to share experience with other neighbourhood watches on what to look out for, and how to respond to suspicious activities taking place in one’s area.
Just over the past week, photos of a fellow, said to be going around extorting ladies who drive alone were circulated online through these crime alert sites.
In one of the posts, said to be put up by a relative of a victim, the fellow’s modus operandi was described – he rode around on a motorcycle and flagged down ladies who were driving alone, claiming that they had knocked into him or brushed him aside with their cars, hurting him on his legs.
He would then ask for money, supposedly nothing less than RM300 to seek medical treatment.
Just a couple of days back, it was reported in the newspapers that the fellow was picked up, along with his girlfriend, by the police and placed under custody, pending investigations.
The crime watch pages online were quick to pick up on this and started circulating the news, urging those who had fallen victim to the fellow to come forward to officially file their cases with the police.
Meanwhile, the police managed to keep him in custody after he was tested positive for illegal substances.
Now, posting and sharing alerts on crime taking place is all good. But it would be of no use to anyone if those who posted these experiences and alerts do not come forward to lodge an official report with the authorities when the perpetrator is caught.
In the case of the said extortionist, the police had a reason to hold him after being tested positive for illicit drugs. Unless the victims come forward, this fellow would eventually get off and be charged only for drug abuse, when his bigger crime is actually towards those he has been accused of extorting.
The lesson here is simple. If we are keen to keep our place crime free and are all excited about sharing experiences, photos and videos online, we should also be ready to come forward to lodge official reports when we are required to.
There is no point to simply complain and post these experiences online if we do not intend to take REAL action when the perpetrators are apprehended. As for the cyber troopers who are also trooping the grounds of their neighbourhoods, they have done a good job in complementing the efforts of the police in catching thieves and hoodlums preying on the innocent.
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