Evil eye - new police tactic
Discussion
Would probably work well over here, although we would use automated cameras (of course 
)
SA crime-stoppers use 'evil eye'
By Richard Hamilton
BBC correspondent in Cape Town
Residents in the South African city of Cape Town are trying to reduce crime by staring at suspected criminals such as prostitutes and drug dealers.
Yellow Bibs members stare at suspects for up to 15 minutes
Three nights a week a group of up to 30 people from Sea Point go out, stand on the pavement and give wrongdoers "the evil eye".
Sea Point is notorious for crime and has a sleazy reputation, where groups of drug dealers can be seen lurking in alleyways and girls stand on street corners in miniskirts waiting for business.
The Yellow Bibs, as the neighbourhood group is known because of the uniforms they wear, say it only takes about 15 minutes before the people they watch start to feel uncomfortable and leave.
Shops re-open
The initiative was the brainchild of a local city councillor, JP Smith.
He is convinced that the presence of the residents has made a difference to the area since they started four months ago.
He says about 50 shops and local businesses have re-opened and criminal gangs have moved out of the area.
The prostitutes... got fed up and said they were going home to watch TV
City Councillor JP Smith
"We've drastically affected their core business, by reclaiming the streets for the residents," he says.
He hopes that more people will join the group so they can watch would be criminals every night of the week.
You might think the Yellow Bibs would be putting themselves in extreme danger, but they have a police escort and even a private security firm with them so they say they feel safe.
Unnerved
"No one has ever been physically abused although we have suffered verbal abuse from the prostitutes who have a very flowery vocabulary," says Mr Smith.
He explains how the residents' icy stares unnerved one group of sex workers recently.
"The prostitutes told me I couldn't stand there all the time," he recalls.
"I said of course, I could. They got irritated and left, but we followed them. They tried to sneak back, until they couldn't stand it anymore, so they got fed up and said they were going home to watch TV."
As well as cracking down on ladies of the night, the Yellow Bibs are also keeping a careful eye out for kerb-crawlers.
"We send the customer a picture of his car and a community service notice saying the car was seen in an area plagued by prostitution," says Mr Smith.
"If the guy's wife opens the envelope, it's not our fault!"
There you go Dibble / Gone / Street
/ gemini et al - betcha they didnt teach you this little gem in training school 
) SA crime-stoppers use 'evil eye'
By Richard Hamilton
BBC correspondent in Cape Town
Residents in the South African city of Cape Town are trying to reduce crime by staring at suspected criminals such as prostitutes and drug dealers.
Yellow Bibs members stare at suspects for up to 15 minutes
Three nights a week a group of up to 30 people from Sea Point go out, stand on the pavement and give wrongdoers "the evil eye".
Sea Point is notorious for crime and has a sleazy reputation, where groups of drug dealers can be seen lurking in alleyways and girls stand on street corners in miniskirts waiting for business.
The Yellow Bibs, as the neighbourhood group is known because of the uniforms they wear, say it only takes about 15 minutes before the people they watch start to feel uncomfortable and leave.
Shops re-open
The initiative was the brainchild of a local city councillor, JP Smith.
He is convinced that the presence of the residents has made a difference to the area since they started four months ago.
He says about 50 shops and local businesses have re-opened and criminal gangs have moved out of the area.
The prostitutes... got fed up and said they were going home to watch TV
City Councillor JP Smith
"We've drastically affected their core business, by reclaiming the streets for the residents," he says.
He hopes that more people will join the group so they can watch would be criminals every night of the week.
You might think the Yellow Bibs would be putting themselves in extreme danger, but they have a police escort and even a private security firm with them so they say they feel safe.
Unnerved
"No one has ever been physically abused although we have suffered verbal abuse from the prostitutes who have a very flowery vocabulary," says Mr Smith.
He explains how the residents' icy stares unnerved one group of sex workers recently.
"The prostitutes told me I couldn't stand there all the time," he recalls.
"I said of course, I could. They got irritated and left, but we followed them. They tried to sneak back, until they couldn't stand it anymore, so they got fed up and said they were going home to watch TV."
As well as cracking down on ladies of the night, the Yellow Bibs are also keeping a careful eye out for kerb-crawlers.
"We send the customer a picture of his car and a community service notice saying the car was seen in an area plagued by prostitution," says Mr Smith.
"If the guy's wife opens the envelope, it's not our fault!"
There you go Dibble / Gone / Street
/ gemini et al - betcha they didnt teach you this little gem in training school JMGS4 said:
Similar practice used in Germany on debtors. You can hire a guy in a tail coat and tophat who stands outside the debtors house, follows him to work, stands outside work for a couple of days. Apparently works very well!
WHAT
i thought that sort of trick was used in the 1800`s ,,, they still do this kind of thing in Germany !!!!
streetMarki said:
Similar practice used in Germany on debtors. You can hire a guy in a tail coat and tophat who stands outside the debtors house, follows him to work, stands outside work for a couple of days. Apparently works very well!
WHAT
Yup, but no signs or such saying he's a debtor.....
WRINKLY said:
Wouldn't work with one of my neighbours, one eye would be looking at you, but the other would be pointing in the general direction of Coventry. It is very disconcerting if he has a conversation with more than one person, because you never know who he's talking to!
We have a copper like that.....Did 5 years on the surveillance squad and used to do the job of two men. He could keep watch on the entrance to a building and the alley from the same vantage point..
Street
Streetcop said:
We have a copper like that.....Did 5 years on the surveillance squad and used to do the job of two men. He could keep watch on the entrance to a building and the alley from the same vantage point..
Street
I guess the only trouble with this fella is when hes talking to you you keep thinking some one is creeping up behind you
It's just old fashioned Policing. There's a rural beat man on my division, (who still routinely wears his tunic!) who stops every single non local car that passes through his village. He's as sharp as a surgeons scalpel. He can spot "wrong-uns" straight away, and never bothers decent people. Suffice to say, his rural beat suffers very little crime. Scrotes know that that he will be stood, in the centre of the vilage, keeping an eye on all that moves. At almost 7'0" tall in his custodian he cuts a pretty imposing figure.
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