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ROTARY AGAINST CRIME CONFERENCE. Opening – Past District Governor Alan Barrable House Rules – Steve Margo Introduction – Derrick Willcock Precinct Web – Geoff Green Business Against Crime –Siphiwe Nzimande, CEO NOAH – Pat Sullivan, CEO. S.A. Police Reservists Tea Break Victim Support
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ROTARY AGAINST CRIME CONFERENCE • Opening – Past District Governor Alan Barrable • House Rules – Steve Margo • Introduction – Derrick Willcock • Precinct Web – Geoff Green • Business Against Crime –Siphiwe Nzimande, CEO • NOAH – Pat Sullivan, CEO. • S.A. Police Reservists • Tea Break • Victim Support • Women for Peace – Wendy Simons • Men-on-the-side-of-the-Road – Thomas Sithole • Panel Discussion
ROTARY AGAINST CRIME CONFERENCE A 20 minute introduction to the 2007 “Rotary Against Crime” Conference by Past President Derrick Willcock.
Summary • Background of Rotary • Why is Rotary interested in Crime? • What does the Rotary Public Safety Committee do? • How Bad is Crime? • Ranked Crime Statistics • Statistics - Beware • Committed to Crime Reduction • Emergency Contact Numbers • White Collar Crime • Successful Organisations • Rotary Public Safety Web Page
Background of Rotary • One of the largest and most active service clubs in the world • Was started by Paul Harris in Chicago, USA. • Motto - “Service above Self” • Collected more than R4,000,000,000 from its members for the worldwide eradication of Polio – only 4 countries left
Why is Rotary Interested in Crime? • Crime affects the poor much more than the rich. • Murders, maiming and theft severely impact the poor – no insurance cover or medical Aid. • Loss of a breadwinner affects many people, not just the immediate family. • The poor can’t afford armed response – become easy targets for criminals • The poor cannot emigrate to a first world country with a low crime rate – insufficient money and no visas.
Why is Rotary Interested in Crime? (cont.) • The rich & their well educated children can easily leave the country as visas are available • The rich can shut down their businesses – but many workers loose their jobs • However, by successfully tackling crime, the entire nation will benefit, as foreign fixed investment and previous emigrants with skills will be attracted back to our shores, meaning more money and jobs for everyone.
What Does the Public Safety Committee of Rotary Do? • Acts as a catalyst and an intermediary between the Rotary clubs and other anti-crime organisations. The committee does not do projects of its own accord. • Draws attention of the present situation to Rotary clubs, the public, and emergency service providers.
How Bad Is Crime? • The good news – incidents of reported crime has decreased, and more than 70 crime syndicates have been busted. • The bad news – many violent crimes have increased significantly
Ranked Crime Statistics • Bank Robberies up by 118% • Business Robberies up by 52.5% • Violence against farmers up by 24.8% • Residential Robberies by 24.4% • Cash in Transit Heists up by 21.9% • Drunken/drug driving up by 15.5%
Ranked Crime Statistics (cont.) • Commercial Crime up by 13.8% • Drug related Crime up by 9.4% • Truck Hijacking up by 7.6% • Illegal possession of firearms up by 6.7% • Car Hijacking up by 6% • Murders up by 3.5% Note “robberies” imply hold ups with theft, “burglaries” imply theft only.
Statistics - Beware • The decrease in reported crime can be due to the public’s lack of confidence in the Police force. • Increase in drunken driving may be due to better policing, rather than more people driving under the influence.
Committed to Crime Reduction • A recent survey quotes 63% of South Africans have done nothing about crime, although nearly 100% are “up in arms” about crime. • Everyone needs to be committed to the war against crime for the “tipping point” to be reached where crime begins to decrease. • How many people always obey traffic signs, never cheat the Receiver of Revenue, never used pirated software, etc? Or are we all becoming criminals? • Many people know who the criminals are in their communities, but they do not report them. Why?
Emergency Contact Numbers • Do you know which number to dial for the Police, Ambulance, Fire. In Johannesburg the numbers are 10111, 10177, and 011375 5911. • Do you know the Police’s crime stop 08600 10111 number or where to find it? • What happened to the promised “911” national emergency number after ten of millions have been spent by the Department of Communications?
White Collar Crime • Often put on the “back burner” because it looks relatively innocent. • But take as an example the case of a short term insurance company repudiating a legitimate claim, knowing that the claimant cannot afford a supreme court action, and the loss will causes a bankruptcy. So the claimant pays a “fee” to have the CEO of the insurance company “Hijacked”. • White Collar crime can lead to violent crime
Successful Organisations • We don’t often get the chance to hear about successful anti-crime organisations, as they don’t often make “news”, so many people do not know which to support. • Today we have chosen a number of diverse organisations, all of which have the goal of reducing crime, and which we ask individuals a well as companies to consider supporting.
Rotary Public Safety Web Page • We have an active Web page at :- www.micromation.co.za/Peace.html • Alternatively, you will be able to find additional information at :- www.invinciblevalves.com/Unite_Against_Crime_Conference.html • All the presentations here today will be loaded up on the web site.