The resident from Oudkarspel noticed that there was a need for a kind of civilian guard. “There is quite a lot of unrest in the neighborhoods,” she tells NH. In the villages that fall under the municipality of Dijk and Waard, burglaries and young people who cause nuisance are a problem, Karin knows. “The police and boas are really understaffed. But people who walk in the neighborhood are actually the eyes and ears of the police. In addition, they know the neighborhoods very well.”
As soon as something crazy happens, the residents can best estimate the situation themselves. “Then they immediately see: that is fluff or not fluff.” In addition, the ‘ears and eyes’ also check whether there are burglary -sensitive situations in the neighborhood, for example a staircase against a house or a keys in the outside door. “But if there is clearly a suspicious situation, we must make a report.”
Restart
A few years ago, Karin had already started the initiative, but Corona often could not go outside to walk around. With a restart, Karin hopes to recruit just as an active group of volunteers as before. In Dijk and Waard, eight ‘ears and eyes’ are active at the moment, says Karin. “So we can still use enough people.”
With the call at NH helps, she wants to further expand her civilian guard. The volunteers who walk around in the neighborhoods are asked to perceive. It is best if volunteers are not to get off the perpetrators if something is wrong, but reporting it to the correct body. “In this way we make it safe together.”