How safe are you?

• Mr Kumar, 57, was stabbed in the neck in front of his wife during what is believed to have been an attempted robbery of the Henderson dairy.
  
• South Auckland liquor store owner Navtej Singh was lined up by a gunman and shot in the abdomen in a "cold and deliberate manner", a court heard today. Mr Singh, 30, was working in his liquor store, Riverton Liquor, in Manurewa when he was gunned down during an aggravated robbery on June, 7, 2008.
  
• Mr Dhaliwal, 22, died from multiple skull fractures and other head injuries while working at a Fulton Hogan construction depot in Henderson, almost two years ago.
  
• The man found dead on Mission Bay beach on the morning of May 13, 2015 has been identified as 21-year-old Manjeet Singh, an Indian national who was in Auckland while on a student visa, police said.
  
• In November 2013, Tarun Asthana, 25, was killed outside McDonald’s in downtown Auckland’s Queen St. He was returning from a night of clubbing with friends when he was punched and knocked to the ground, according to reports.
  
• In October 2009, Srikanth Rayadurgam, 23, an Auckland University of Technology (AUT) student, left his Mt Albert home, Auckland, never to be seen again.

So how safe do you exactly feel? 

The idea of introducing the above headlines from recent times is not to sensationalise or scare anyone, but just to get everyone to think about their own safety. Although these facts paint a grim picture, in reality we all know that New Zealand is a fairly safe country. We can, however, make our lives even safer by being more aware and better informed. The Indian Weekender is keen to bring this question of safety to all our readers; to hear from the community on what concerns them, and to share their experiences.

As a culture, our everyday safety is something that we do not think actively about. We carry on our everyday lives often missing the most important signs. It is important to realize that the environment around us is changing and times now may not be as safe as they were a few years ago.

Often it can also be a matter of perceptions that leads us to be lax about our approach to our own safety. The top spot possibly goes to the perception that as compared to India or other Asian countries, New Zealand is far safer and it possibly is. But, does that really mean that while here we lead our lives completely ignorant of how to keep ourselves safe? At the end of the day our safety lies in our own hands. It is by being vigilant and mindful at all times that we can avoid incidents that we might become victims of.

There are various aspects of safety and we are going to endeavor to visit as many as we can starting from personal safety, to safety of property and what to do when you find yourself in different situations that could become harmful. We start this discussion with speaking to Jessica Phuang, NZ Police Asian Liaison officer and QSM, on various aspects of safety, our perceptions, fears and some practical tips on what to do when you find yourself in the middle of a crisis.

We are aware that there is a big push to reduce crime. Tell us about some of the initiatives that the Police are running with the Asian/ Indian communities?

There are so many initiatives actually. One of our more popular programmes is that we have a group of elders we call Community Safety Ambassadors.

This started with elders regularly coming up to me wanting to do something for the community. So even though the safety of our elders is our prime concern, the Police is always willing to work with the community. So there seemed to be an opportunity there.

Once a month this group will actually go out with Police officers. At the moment, we just have the Indian and the Chinese working together. So far we have these up and running in Onehunga and Epsom. And other suburbs want to have it as well but I need to co-ordinate them properly. Otherwise, there’s no point setting up something and it dies off. At the moment, these places are working well.

On a typical day, the community constable will inform the coordinator of the group, come to the assembly point and community constable will prepare a safety message. Say for example that area has got a lot of ‘theft ex cars’, meaning people breaking into cars. So they’ll prepare flyers, normally prepared by me, we’ll print them up and on that day everyone would have beautiful reflective high-vis vests. Community constable would brief them-what is the message, how should you talk to the public, how to prevent car theft. They are equipped with the knowledge; it’s training for them. Then we have 5–6 police officers walking with 40–50 people on the streets. The shop owners really love it. Because you can imagine that although these are senior citizens, they are robust, they walk and they are so passionate and they talk to the public “don’t put your things in the car”. I think this is fantastic. And coming from seniors, people actually give them a lot of respect.

What really touches my heart is, when they finish they’ll hold my hand and say, “Thank you, Jessica. We really enjoy this; we feel really valued.” I think it’s great. Public are getting the message, they are feeling valued. At the same time, their families will know that they are working with the police and are proud of them. So it’s killing many birds with one stone. The police love them and they are like a treasure for us.

The number of break-ins and burglaries seems to be increasing. How is the police working to reduce the number of these incidents?

Personally I believe that this is not just in the city district. It’s across the board. Many departments are doing a lot of prevention work, apart from the normal operations that they do. So if you ask me how they are going to reduce, I believe everybody has a responsibility to ensure their safety as well, rather than just relying on the Police that the Police should do the job. Police will be doing everything we can for prevention. But I have been in this job for 12 years now. Personally when talking to the community, they want to know how to take responsibility to keep safe, which is fantastic. And that’s why I see the opportunity of a great partnership, the Police and community working together. It is something that I always go back to the word, ‘prevention’, take responsibility.

What should one do if they find themselves in a dangerous situation? (for example robbery)

Being an Asian myself, I understand that this is very specific to Asian communities. We may sometimes consider money more important than anything else. But when we are in New Zealand I always try and emphasise to Asian communities that life in more important. I think sometimes it’s not so much about the property, but more about morals. We want to punish the offender ourselves and take it in our hand.

This is where the danger comes in. What I normally advice people is to look after your safety first because you never know what the offender could do next. Obviously you can act in self-defence but at the same time think about your own safety. Because if you have your life, you can still make a lot of money. So if a person is in danger, think about how you can keep your life safe first rather than how can I protect my property. And this is always my message to people.

Also, there can be no straightforward answer to this because every incident is different, especially since your question is about robbery. If you can call 111 that’s fantastic; if there is an opportunity to escape, it’s fantastic. That’s why safety in our mind must be the priority. I can’t give you a straightforward answer how it should happen, but the message is clear-keep yourself safe.

You said keep yourself safe, then what about the offenders, what do we do to stop them? They’ll keep doing whatever they do. How’ll they be punished for their offences?

That’s up to the law. See, in your question itself, that’s where our morals come in. And I can appreciate because I am Asian too. Morals are very important for me as well. But having worked with the police, I have seen many people getting hurt and injured. Sometimes we also forget to think about the family members that we have. So it’s not up to us to punish the offenders. Leave that to the professionals. Of course, in danger you need to defend yourself and we encourage people to do that. But culturally we are different. For example, someone enters our house, we would beat and tie up the burglar and then call the Police and Police would come and possibly say “good job!” But that’s a cultural thing even though the law may not allow that. However in NZ, it is important to be cautious that you do not put yourself in danger, because it’s not up to us (people) to punish that offender. Let the professionals do that. Just remember to dial 111.

I agree, but we have been in touch with a few people who say that they have been victims of thefts, but they haven’t really got any satisfactory response from the Police or are not sure what actions the Police is taking against the offenders. They say that the only response they get is—are you insured, if yes, then claim the contents you lost and if not then they are just left to suffer the loss.

You post a very good question. There’s a little bit of misunderstanding there. I actually appreciate those individuals who spoke to you to actually give a call and I am happy to have a discussion with them too. Say, for example, a burglary is done, the offender has left and we don’t know who it was and victims call the police. So the crime scene attendant would attend and to establish the identity of the offenders, take fingerprints or DNA.

But I realise what you are saying and I get this a lot too that the first thing the Police ask is if they are insured. People tell me that they are not quite comfortable with that. I see what they mean, but I can explain why they ask that. It is because the offender has left already. The Police will do their job but we are also concerned about how you, as a victim, are going to carry on with your life. So first of all we would like to know, are you insured. If you are insured, then you need your life to get going while the investigation goes on. But, unfortunately, it sometimes doesn't sit right with everybody.

Again, morally, we (people) want to know, “what are you going to do to punish these people”. It’s fantastic. However, that part will be dealt with. Trust that the Police every year have arrested several people (for burglaries). They will be brought before the court and it’s unto the Judges to decide, even the police cannot decide what happens to them. So I can only continue and repeat, I have repeated this for 12 years, to our communities. The reason why the CSA ask about whether they are insured or not is, actually they because they are concerned about the victim’s well-being and help them to carry on with their lives.

What if the victim is not insured? So are those people just left to suffer with the loss?

Well, if they are not insured then unfortunately they miss out. I strongly recommend that every family, regardless of their race or ethnicity, should have some insurance—for their contents for their house. So it’s just like when you buy a house and get insured. If something happens, you know that you are covered. So the same thing with your contents.

Same for their cars too. And I find that a lot of Asian people don’t buy insurance for their vehicles, thinking no accident will happen. I think it’s important to always keep yourself safe by having insurance because sometimes you may think you drive very carefully. But what is the meaning of accident—it means that it is unforeseen. There are a lot of expensive cars out there and if you hit somebody with an expensive car, you will have to pay a lot of money, and this often doesn’t sit very well with us (people) as well.

We constantly hear that Police are understaffed? Is this correct and what's the reason for it?

Quite the contrary actually. I don’t think we are insufficient Police. But at the same time, the Police are constantly recruiting. Especially, I really appreciate our current Commissioner. The whole Police organisation is focussing at recruiting more in the five groups- the Maori, Pacific, Ethnic, Youth and Female, to represent the demographics. So we welcome people to join. In fact, I am supporting the Auckland Safety Patrol Group, which was set up by me five years ago, to support ethnic people, especially Asians, to join the Police. And at the moment, I have already got 60, who are wearing the Blue uniform already. And about nine are about to go to college, hopefully by the end of this year. So it is a very successful group and if you know anyone who wishes to join the Police, ask them to contact me.

What would you say about rights given to Police officers who patrol around? Do you support inclusion of any such law that enables the police officers handle a situation of concern with more authority?

I have been putting some thoughts into this myself. But I haven’t come to a conclusion. This is something I am still thinking about.

Many immigrants, who are on a student or work or any other temporary visa are afraid to report crimes because they might think that their visa will be on a stake if they get involved in police matters. What would you say about that?

Yes. I have also noticed that among quite a few Indian international students, who have called me. When they are victims, they actually get so scared that they think it might cause a problem for their visas. And often I would tell them, no, a victim won’t be penalised. You’ll only be penalised or looked at if you are an offender. I really encourage international students to come forward if they are in trouble. They should know that the police service in New Zealand is free of charge. We will do everything we can to help them if there is a case.

Also, there are people who are forced or threatened not to report a crime and want to solve the matter themselves internally. What would you suggest to them?

I would just like to say, come forward, there’s no need to be afraid. The worst police would say is that, I am sorry, we cannot investigate this case. It doesn’t cost you any money. Police would always look at something. The last thing I want to happen to international students is that when they feel frightened and scared and they have nowhere turn to. And that’s where I give out my mobile number to people. I go to schools (for seminars), first thing I say, take out your mobile phones, save my number under “Police Jessica”. So if you have an issue, call me. But if you have an emergency, don’t call me because I can’t send out the police cars; that's when you call 111. But you have things to ask, call me. And I can give you advice—what to do and where to go if it’s not a police matter. And if it’s a police matter, we’ll do our best to investigate if there is sufficient evidence.

Also sometimes, people would think that I’ll solve this problem myself this time and it will be fine. If it escalates, there is an option—come to the Police, it’s free.

It’s said that prevention is better than cure. What preventions would you suggest to our readers to be safe?

To be safe in their homes, my strong advice to Indian people is, don’t keep you jewellery and cash at home. Use the banks or vaults. I think there are some vault companies, where you can keep your valuables like jewellery, cash or even important documents.

Some offenders know that we Asians love to keep cash, love to keep jewellery. That’s why we can become that target. And unless we change our behaviour patterns, we will always become victims because we are seen as targets.

We will continue the second part of the story in our next issue, so do send us your concerns about safety and security at reporter@indianweekender.co.nz

If you need any help, guidance or advice, contact Jessica Phuang at 021 192 0935 or mail at Jessica.phuang@police.govt.nz

Watch safety videos at: goo.gl/z5QKwD and goo.gl/lz91S8