Look poor to avoid getting targetted - Victoria Police to Indians

rahuldravidfan · 8th February 2010, 06:37 AM

From Times Now- Aus police's bizarre remedy for Indians- TIMESNOW.tv - Latest Breaking News, Big News Stories, News Videos

Australian officials never fail to shock with some of their comments on the race attacks down under. But, arguably in the most ridiculous statement so far, the Victoria Police Chief Commissioner has said India students must 'dress to look poor', if they don't want to be targets.

Victorian police chief Simon Overland has advised Indian students in Australia to keep a low profile and "try to look as poor as you can" to avoid attacks, drawing strong condemnation from the community which called his statement "ridiculous".

Indian students could make themselves less of a target if they do not display their expensive gadgets, Oliver told an international students' safety forum in Melbourne on Saturday (February 6).

"Don't display your iPods, don't display your valuable watch, don't display your valuable jewellery. Try to look as poor as you can," Overland was quoted as saying by 'The Age'.

The Victorian Police Chief Commissioner said students could take some steps to protect themselves.

"If you can live somewhere safer, live somewhere safer," he said. "If you can avoid public transport into high-risk
areas late at night, avoid it."

Victorian Premier John Brumby defended his top cop, saying the advice to the overseas students to avoid crime, as per Overland, was a comment about high crime areas.

"He may have been making the point that in some areas, there are higher crime rates than in others," the Premier said.

Brumby said he and the police chief condemned in the strongest possible terms "acts of violence, and particularly any violence which is racially motivated". But, the Federation of Indian Student Association (FISA) rejected Overland's remarks with its spokesperson Gautam Gupta calling the police chief's advice "ridiculous

Gupta said Indians need not look "poor" to feel safe. "What is he (Overland) saying? Indians don't have the right to be rich? And if they look rich, do they may be have to get bashed? On one hand, everyone should look poor. On the other, don't live in poor areas (where crime rate is high). I don't understand."

On Overland's remarks that taxi drivers, including Indians, had a right to feel safe no matter what their nationality was, Gupta said "it's a work place. Every work place should be safe. I think it's a ridiculous idea. It is blaming the worker. It is blaming the victim."

However, Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women's Coalition Executive Director Melba Marginson, who was the organiser of yesterday's forum, said Overland was just trying to describe few strategies to the students on how to avoid criminals' attention.

"It was in context to safety issues. Media has twisted Overland's statement. What he meant was to take some precautionary measures while travelling to a high risk area," said Marginson, who also chaired the forum

Overland told the forum yesterday that there was a disparity between perceptions and the facts about crimes against Indian people, saying Melbourne's permanent Indian population was not over-represented in crime statistics. He pointed out the crimes of robberies were happening against those students who were working as cabbies and convenient store attendants.

Overland said police were doing everything they could to stop assaults on overseas students, some of which were racially-based but most of which were robbery-related. He said crimes against Indian students were not reflected in crimes against the Indian community in general.

http://www.timesnow.tv/WORLD/Aus-pol...ow/4338004.cms

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Quite ridiculous. The Victorian Premier's brother too has aired his disagreement on this and I'm in sync with his thoughts

MaD · 8th February 2010, 07:02 AM

Yeah, saw this today, the guys right, if you don't wanna get mugged, don't show off your stuff

rahuldravidfan · 8th February 2010, 07:12 AM

^ That is really absurd. I'm sure Australia would have diplomatically taken us to task had the roles been reversed.

Highlander999 · 8th February 2010, 07:34 AM

No, it's common sense. If you wonder around flashing your iPod, iPhone etc, it doesn't matter if you are Indian, Australian or Martian, you're gonna get mugged in dodgy areas, eventually.

If the Indian students are that thick and so un-street wise that they are doing this they deserve to be mugged. Trust you to make it racial though, RDF......

mattfb · 8th February 2010, 07:42 AM

Yep, I try to avoid flashing my phone/ipod when walking around a dodgy part of the city (eg. The Dicks that smoke and hang in gangs etc, shabby people that are clearly drunk and look like they may be on drugs etc)

dutchad · 8th February 2010, 07:46 AM

I had the same problems when visiting Jamaica recently: police told me to just look black!

I wasn't happy with this at all and vented my anger towards the local paper who ran the story: Look Black in Anger!(

)

MattW · 8th February 2010, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rahuldravidfan

Gupta said Indians need not look "poor" to feel safe. "What is he (Overland) saying? Indians don't have the right to be rich? And if they look rich, do they may be have to get bashed? On one hand, everyone should look poor. On the other, don't live in poor areas (where crime rate is high). I don't understand."

Someone rich in a poor area is going to stand out and is going to be targeted by criminals. it doesn't matter if someone is Indian or not, a thief isn't going to be halfway through mugging someone, see they are an Australian and stop.

Using some common sense while out on your own late at night isn't a bad thing.

If you don't want to get robbed on the streets, buy a car. (and don't set it on fire)

Kshitiz_Indian · 8th February 2010, 08:39 AM

I think what he's saying is common sense, its just that he probably worded it wrong. Saying "Look Poor" isn't exactly right you know

Hitterman · 8th February 2010, 08:49 AM

Really an idiotic suggestion from Aussie police. How they became police?

AbBh · 8th February 2010, 09:16 AM

He should have known his words will be taken out of context by the media. But then again the police should be doing something to reduce the crime rate in high risk areas rather than advising people look poor. It is just common sense to keep a low profile in areas with high crime rate.

I don't know what action they have taken. They might be working hard behind the scenes and arresting criminals but a statement like this doesn't give the right impression.

Kshitiz_Indian · 8th February 2010, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Highlander999

No, it's common sense. If you wonder around flashing your iPod, iPhone etc, it doesn't matter if you are Indian, Australian or Martian, you're gonna get mugged in dodgy areas, eventually.

If the Indian students are that thick and so un-street wise that they are doing this they deserve to be mugged. Trust you to make it racial though, RDF......

Trust you to take it on all Indian students based on RDF's remark though Tom...

I mean yeah, the guys that probably did it were stupid, but please, I'm clear!

Simbazz · 8th February 2010, 09:38 AM

He's obviously been taken out of context. Its a simple rule for anyone, as Tom says, if you flash your EXPENSIVE thinks like iPods and watches you will get mugged. I would imagine he's said Indians because they're targeted more than others.

aus5892 · 8th February 2010, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AbBh

He should have known his words will be taken out of context by the media. But then again the police should be doing something to reduce the crime rate in high risk areas rather than advising people look poor. It is just common sense to keep a low profile in areas with high crime rate.

I don't know what action they have taken. They might be working hard behind the scenes and arresting criminals but a statement like this doesn't give the right impression.

The police can only do so much. Ultimately they are being failed by the Victorian Government which has been systematically failing the state ever since John Brumby took over. Crime is up, public transport is a mess, our natural disaster prevention plan has been a joke and no serious unforced action has been taken in any case.

Instead of putting more money into the police force and crime prevention, we're spending millions of taxpayer money on retaining no-one cares events like the Grand Prix and the Logies. And now Brumby's big solution is to focus on protecting the tourism industry by hiring Shane Warne to try and convince the Indians that it's safe to visit Melbourne.

aus5892 added 1 Minutes and 23 Seconds later...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simbazz

He's obviously been taken out of context. Its a simple rule for anyone, as Tom says, if you flash your EXPENSIVE thinks like iPods and watches you will get mugged. I would imagine he's said Indians because they're targeted more than others.

He's talking to Indians because, like it or loathe it, they're getting targeted because they're easy targets. They're in a foreign society and they don't understand how to protect themselves in the way locals do.

He's absolutely right that concealing expensive items is important. The only thing that sounds iffy is the "look poor" bit, but that's really been taken out of context. And, yes, some areas are less dangerous than others. The north-western suburbs are not where you want to be spending your time. The inner south-east is generally a safer place (although I'll admit it's more expensive than the north-west) but if you can afford it, then safety is worth the price tag.

blake · 8th February 2010, 10:44 AM

Yes, he worded it poorly, but the right meaning is there, and it is common sense really... he isn't trying to be negatively racist at all to Indians, he is simply saying what is basic knowledge; don't go flashing your expensive stuff at gangs or you will get bashed. Except, now all the Indians are coming on here and making ridiculous comments about it (Hitterman).. when he really just worded his statement poorly. There was no wrongdoing meant in his words, so stop worrying about it.

Kshitiz_Indian · 8th February 2010, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blake

Yes, he worded it poorly, but the right meaning is there, and it is common sense really... he isn't trying to be negatively racist at all to Indians, he is simply saying what is basic knowledge; don't go flashing your expensive stuff at gangs or you will get bashed. Except, now all the Indians are coming on here and making ridiculous comments about it (Hitterman).. when he really just worded his statement poorly. There was no wrongdoing meant in his words, so stop worrying about it.

I really wish you wouldn't tag all Indians under the Hitterman category blake.

If you want to mention Hitterman, name him individually.