OBSERVING AND REPORTING COMMON CRIMES

                         JSS 2 CIVIC EDUCATION

                                WEEK 9

                    OBSERVING AND REPORTING COMMON CRIMES

           A crime is an illegal action or activity in the society. It is an action that is against the well being of individuals in the society. Crimes may be of two types namely:

i. PERSONAL CRIME: This is a crime against someone or crimes that results in physical or material harm to another person. This may include: assault, Kidnapping, rape, sexual assault etc.

ii. PROPERTY CRIME: These are offences against property and does not necessarily involve harm to another person’s right to use or enjoy his/ her property e.g larceny (theft), robbery (theft by force), burglary, false pretence etc.

            To curb crimes, one of the major responsibilities of a good citizen is to report crime to appropriate authorities. To achieve this, it has to be done in the right way.

          Among the ways of observing and reporting crimes are:

1. THROUGH TELEPHONE: Some special numbers have been designated by the police for citizens to make what is known as distress calls.

         Calls can be made to police in the following situations:

i. Where you are aware of a robbery incident going on somewhere.

ii. Where you notice strange movements.

iii. Where you notice a mob.

iv. Where there is a street fight.

2. BY SENDING E- MAIL: Apart from using phone, crimes could be observed and reported by sending an e-mail to appropriate security agents for their immediate intervention.

3. WRITING AN ANONYMOUS LETTER: Where an individual does not want to disclose his identity for security reasons, he could send a letter giving detail information about a crime to the police or other security agents. This will give the police a clue to arrest the criminals.

4. VISITING POLICE STATION: Sometimes, one may deem it necessary to personally see the police to report a crime.e.g, if you are robbed in your house, it is always advisable to report such cases for future references. Other cases like car snatching should be personally reported at the nearest police station instead of writing a letter or making phone calls.

5. INFORMING THE MEDIAL HOUSES: Crimes could be reported by calling media houses such as radio, television stations or newspaper houses.

6. SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK: Crimes could be reported through Facebook , Twitter, etc. This makes it easier for a good number of people to know about the crime.

              APPROPRIATE RESPONSE TO COMMON CRIMES

         When a crime is reported, the following may be some of the responses:

i. Visit to the scene of the crime by security agents.

ii. Making arrrest of suspects. This is done by security agents particularly the police.

iii. Making announcements on television or radio stations to create awareness so that more people will not fall victim.

iv. The crime must be investigated immediately in order to establish what went wrong and to Identify the person (s) responsible.

v. The crime scene condition must be well documented with all relevant physical evidences recognized.

vi. The full extent of a crime must be well determined.