It’s an unfortunate reality that some who consider themselves law-abiding citizens don’t readily appreciate that they too have a role in the anti-crime fight. The police can’t be left on their own in that must-win push to bring criminals to heel.

It’s essential for an orderly society that the general public fully appreciates that it’s not good enough to “see and blind, hear and deaf”.

We’re reminded of all that by the appeal from Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Wayne Josephs for people to be “vigilant” and to always inform the police of suspicious activities. His urging in the latest Sunday Observer came even as the senior policeman warned criminals — following the arrest of a man being described as among the law’s most wanted — that police will go anywhere to capture them, including exclusive gated communities.

Said ACP Josephs: “If you are at home and you see something next door that is unusual or abnormal, reach out to law enforcement specialists so that we can check it out, because you never know who is next door to you.

“This is not just in gated communities; this is anywhere in Jamaica. You have to be vigilant while you’re at home and look out for your neighbour.”

In fact, looking out for our neighbours should become a habit for all Jamaicans as we seek to build on the progress made in fighting crime over the last year. And those in upscale communities, who might be fooled into thinking they are completely safe because of hired security guards out front, should heed the advice of ACP Josephs.

“They [guards] need to have a more rigorous security check for persons going into these communities, because in some of these communities if a car turns up at the gate sometimes the security [guard] only taking the particulars of the driver, and sometimes the car has five other persons…”

In other words, the devil is often in the details. We should always dot i’s and cross t’s.

An obvious advantage for gated communities and the like is that there is already a built-in culture of cooperation among residents who, in theory at least, are all neighbours with shared security, environmental and allied interests.

Other communities in both urban and rural settings become much more challenging in terms of building that strong sense of neighbourliness. For that reason it remains essential for the constabulary and community leadership to build and nurture neighbourhood watch and related programmes.

We stand ready to be corrected, but we do get the feeling that specific emphasis on neighbourhood watches from police hierarchy may have waned in recent years. Yet, as we have said repeatedly, the enthusiasm of some police divisional commanders in partnering with communities for social upliftment in sports, education, and so forth is commendable. One such is Manchester Police Divisional head, Superintendent Carey Duncan, who is said to be actively promoting football and youth club development in that south-central parish.

No doubt these projects will always bear healthy fruit, in our view.