WHO'S WATCHING YOU?

A trend among some Abbotsford communities to hit the streets and reclaim
their neighbourhoods is many things. It's commendable, it's proactive and
it's a little scary.

It's not just scary because they're going head-to-head with the criminal
element armed only with a flashlight. It's also scary from a more
philosophical standpoint.

In today's newspaper a police spokesman applauds the efforts of the
citizens in taking control of their own destiny and providing a service the
cops don't have the manpower to handle.

They are an extra set of eyes and ears on the street.

It's what we expect from the cops. They're existence is all about watching
what we're doing and keeping us on the straight and narrow.

It's what we pay them for.

However, we're not sure it's what we want our neighbours doing.

That's not to say there haven't been perfectly justifiable reasons for
these regular folks to take to the streets. They were being overrun by
hookers and drug dealers and they watched as city council failed to take
any steps to correct the problem.

They looked to the cops, but they already knew there aren't enough of them
on the streets. They're busy just keeping up with the crashes and killings
and robberies.

So, it was left to the Smiths and Joneses to take matters into their own
hands. To their credit, instead of sitting on the couching and whining
about the problem, some of your neighbours have accepted the challenge and
have made their corner of the world a little better.

But they have that position by default. They're doing it because no one
else would.

We pay people to keep an eye on things for us. We shouldn't have to turn
into snitches and cranky old men shining a flashlight into the front seat
looking for hanky panky.

Yes, the Neighbours In Action did what they had to do. The danger is in one
group establishing themselves as the defacto authority, when they actually
have no authority.

It's neighbour against neighbour out there.