On recent news of a few stabbings and murders in a small suburb in Sydney's South West, a privately owned entity known at this stage as Community Safety First have started the door-to-door fear appeal.
Dressed in dark blue safety vests—much like those on building sites—stitched with large circular badges on the left breast, they've gone to homes in the nearby streets of the main strip in an attempt to talk with the community. Few residents have been at home on their initial call, and those that have are subject to an overwhelming abuse of either aftershave or perfume from the callers.
The standard message of the visit boils down to them trying to figure out if the resident home owner has felt an increase in danger or fear for living in their suburb. Alarms are raised when the outside callers insist to the locals that they should be fearful of their safety given the recent spate of attacks in the news.
Interrogation of one of the spokesmen was met with a flurried huff of backstepping and attempts to cover any identifying name badging. One questions posed concerned the motives of a privately owned company doing such a canvassing of the neighbourhood.
Suspicion skyrocketed with a response not unlike that of an interviewee unsure of their actual duties and claims, "Yeah we are a private company, but we're here for the community, like Neighbourhood Watch, but not like Neighbourhood Watch."
"You should be scared" has been one departing remark heard several times and houses over across several streets.
Written on Wednesday, 20 August 2003