U Myint Aung Moe, Hlutaw representative for the Chan Mya Tharsi township constituency 2, said that teams will be formed in all seven wards under his watch.

“Kan Thar Yar ward was the first one to have an organised team cleared by the regional police chief and other authorities. We will follow up with the other 14 wards in Chan Mya Tharsi township later,” he said.

A crime prevention team was formed in Kan Thar Yar ward on April 9. It includes civilians manning road blocks and the team begins patrols at 8pm every night together with members of the police force.

“As there are many robberies in Mandalay, I discussed the formation of the teams with the administrator of Kan Thar Yar ward. When we saw that the teams could be formed in accordance with the law, we discussed how to form the crime prevention teams by discussing with the respective township administrators and police chiefs. We then went ahead and formed a team on April 9,” U Myint Aung Moe said.

This team was formed after studying the security plan of Chan Mya Tharsi township that was drawn up by the current government.

The township was divided into three parts: the eastern, the centre and western zones.

The crime prevention team will comprise ward administrators, members of the fire brigade and township officials.
“The crime rate in Chan Mya Tharsi was the highest in the area. After the formation of the team, the crime rate has fallen drastically. Most of the victims are courting couples who come out in the evenings and prefer dim locations.

They become easy prey for robbers.

“After our patrols, the number of robberies has come down,” he said.

“I want to form crime prevention teams in the whole of the Mandalay Region, not only in Chan Mya Tharsi township. The public must cooperate with us to apprehend robbers. And if potential robbers hear that the public is involved in apprehending them, the crime rate will be reduced. This will help the police in their work,” U Myint Aung Moe said.

He also said that because of the prompting from the Aung Pin Le police station, some wards are preparing to form teams.

Among the cases that the crime prevention team in Kan Thar Yar ward had solved was the arrest of a motorcyclist who had stolen a phone at the corner of 58th and Myat Lay streets on April 27.

There were other cases that the crime prevention team had also helped to prevent or managed to solve.

– Translation by Khine Thazin Han