THERE IS NO way that a certain level of criminality can exist without the support of the community where the criminals are based. If that was not clear instinctively, last Wednesday's main story in THE STAR would have dispelled any misconceptions.
That story detailed a number of warning systems that people in the community use to advise gunmen when the law enforcement teams are coming. Of course, the 'Red Stripe' call had already made the big screen in Third World Cop (remember the little boy calling "Red Stripe! Red Stripe!"), but although a policeman with whom THE STAR spoke remembered being blocked by a naked woman (a very interesting image) it is not funny at all.
It speaks to a web of criminal activity that the police must find very difficult to unravel, because if they are aggressive towards the warner women and children they will be accused of brutality. In fact, they are accused of brutality no matter what anyway.
It certainly gives a different perspective on the protest scenes that are customary after a person who the protesters swear never even saw a gun in a movie, much less touched or fired one, ends up as the subject of a CCN report. Because, if the people in the community will warn the gunmen about the police when they are alive, certainly they will defend their honour when they are dead.
There is a flip side to community policing and neighbourhood watches, where there is community criminality and neighbourhood lookouts for the police. If we appreciate this, we will understand the difficulties that the police face when they head out in their jeeps and cars to stand between the beasts and their prey.
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