Open any newspaper nowadays, all the saucy news deal with killings, armed robbery, rape, hit-and-run and what not. While a feeling of insecurity is growing among the population, the police think that it?s high time to start crusading against criminality. This is the objective of the Security Week with all the units of the Mauritian Police present at Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre (RGSC) at Bell-Village from 2nd June to 8th June for a National Awareness Campaign against Crime.

The deputy Commissioner of Police Jean Bruneau, in his speech for the official opening, insisted on the vision that the police have for making of Mauritius ?a crime-free country?. But of course, the police cannot do it alone. They need the cooperation of the public. He stressed on the fact that the Crime Prevention Unit has been active on the field for the past 20 years with 300,000 people, of whom children. The objective today is to establish ?Police Public Partnership Policing? to sensitise the whole population.

The different police departments present at RGSC were there to show the public at large their different jobs and the tools they use everyday. If today, crime has become more sophisticated there is also more sophisticated equipment and techniques to deal with it. This explains the display of equipment and distribution of free pamphlets with basic security measures and contact numbers for each unit.

«For the wrong that he has done, the criminal is responsible, but we are all responsible for the wrong that we do when treating with criminality with inadequate measures when the best ones are already known.»

?We have been trying to come with complete transparency to the public. We want the people of Mauritius to know that we are working to protect them and how we proceed, what tools we work with. This exhibition of the different police units is a way to educate people on the importance of prevention,? explained Superintendent of Police, Max Louison, who is in charge of the Police Press Office. However, this exhibition and one security week could be insufficient considering that at any time and any corner of the streets someone can be a victim of a crime? ?Prevention and precaution, that?s the only things we can do. We cannot hold someone?s hand and tell them not to kill,? comments Father Alain Romaine. He believes that ?no one is a criminal by choice. The only way to curb that is to control one?s emotions?. ?The education that encourages children from a tender age to be competitive and proceed by elimination. This is a first sign of violence.? Indeed, many people think that the fight against crime should start at school.

Harris Bacchwa, the spokesperson of the ?Federation of Managers of Private Secondary Schools, believes that the only way to see the light is when children are put into the hands of the right people and given the right training. ?Something needs to be introduced in the curriculum on the consequences of criminality worldwide and it should be introduced at the start of secondary education.? It is around that period that the child grows into adolescence and needs proper training to choose for himself that criminality is bad. ?Criminality keeps on increasing. We need to find concrete ways and means to counter this cancer in our country,? Max Louison, the Police Press Officer who deals with crime on a daily basis retorts: ?In this crusade against criminality, one will never be able to do enough. Worldwide, it has been recognized that prevention is the best weapon to decrease and fight crime.? This is why the police targets everyone, from primary school children, the youngsters, parents and people from the business sector.

Someone rightly said: ?For the wrong that he has done, the criminal is responsible, but we are all responsible for the wrong that we do when treating with criminality with inadequate measures when the best ones are already known.? Those measures are of course, prevention and taking precautions. And some taken in Quatre-Bornes, after the recent rape and assault in the same area, to clear a waste land and encourage neighbourhood watch should be emulated elsewhere to discourage evil-doers and be a warning sign that society won?t give in to criminals?

>A few precautions to take

● At school, if a stranger approaches me, I must immediately inform my teacher.

● I must not go anywhere with strangers or talk to them. If they force me, I must shout for HELP.

● I must not open the door to strangers.

● I must never go into a lift alone with a stranger.

● I must never accompany any person without my parent?s permission.