Riitta Koivisto - Rikoksentorjuntaneuvosto

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Request of parliament Parliament asked for action: “Please tell us what a Dutch citizen can and cannot do in case of violence in the streets”. One part of the answer was information on our websites about the possibilities of a citizens arrest and about the use of excessive force, the other was the new ‘Meld Geweld’ campaign. The request was, among other things, the result of several incidents, where a person did actually interfere, but paid for this with his life (see Wikipedia for a list of victims: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinloos_geweld) or otherwise got arrested by the police for the use of excessive force. People were confused and outraged. 4 tips in 2004 So this summer we had 4 tips: • Dial 112; • Memorise the suspect; • Help the victim; • Mobilise your fellow bystanders and intervene any way you can. These were published on two different posters, postcards etc. We got 2 slightly different tv commercials (with tips 1, 2 and 4 or 1, 3 and 4) and 2 slightly different radio commercials and a ‘lesbrief’. Preliminary results of 2004 campaign The final results of the 2004 campaign are not available yet, but I can give you the results up until the first week of September: Before the campaign started we asked Dutch citizens about their experiences with street violence and how the acted in these situations: • 11% of adults (18+) had been a victim of street violence at some time; • 12% of youth (13-17) had been victim; • 24% of adults had been a witness to street violence at some time; • 20% of youth had been a witness. We also asked them what they actually did when witnessing violence. There were too few youth to draw any meaningful conclusions, but for the adults (n=98), the actions were: • 32% helped the victim; • 30% dialled 112; • 25% memorised the suspect; • 22% separated the fighters (victim and suspect); • 22% made comments to the people fighting; • 21% did nothing; • 21% gathered others to intervene; • 15% made a lot of noise (to distract the suspect); • 5% joined the fight; • 11% did something else; • 1% don’t know. At the end of August most of our citizens said they intended to act in the following way when being a witness to street violence: Adults Adults (18+) Youth (13-17) action before % intention after % intention after % Dial 112 30 77 72 Memorise suspect the 25 78 76 Help the victim 32 68 59 Mobilise others and 21 intervene 57 56 46
So if these intentions bear any relation to what these people will actually do as a witness to violence in the street, this is a very good campaign result. Main features If you ask me what would be criteria for the success of such a campaign, I would say that a very important feature is: • The fact that many people were interested in the subject of violence in the street; • The very clear and direct instructions it gives witnesses to violence. What can you do? This is what you can do! • Many people had come to feel that dialling 112 is not enough, they should be able to do more. Especially because in the precious time it takes for the police to arrive, the victim may already be dead. Testing, testing, testing For me the whole process of creating this campaign has been an eye opener. I am not a communications professional, but a policy maker. What are the factors in the creation process that make a campaign a success? I am convinced this has to do with testing your ideas and your creations. Over and over again. Be prepared to make changes, let go of ‘brilliant’ ideas that turn out not to work, be prepared to kill your darlings. Brainstorm Our first meeting was a brainstorm session with policy makers and communication professionals and the representatives of Meld Geweld. What can be done to stop violence in the street? What can we ask our fellow citizens to do? What can government ask citizens to do? How do we make sure our fellow citizens do not put themselves in danger? Several concepts and ideas emerged: • Sometimes it is possible to predict escalation of a conflict into violence. You ‘can see it coming for miles’. Maybe you can intervene even before the first blow is struck; • Making a lot of noise or doing something completely unexpected or out of character can sometimes distract a suspect. This would stop the violence; • A group of people can do more than an individual. Plus there is less of a risk in not acting alone. Several Dutch cases of ‘senseless violence’ started with someone commenting on the aggressive behaviour of a stranger towards someone else. Young people frequently go out in groups; • It is not always clear who is the victim and who is the suspect. Non-violent fight is private What do our citizens think of these ideas? We asked two groups of 8 people, one aged about 18 to 30 years old and one 30 to 50 to discuss what they might be able to do to stop the violence. Calling 112 would not help much in a direct sense, they agreed, because the violent encounters usually last just a couple of minutes; the damage will already be done once the police arrives on the scene. Making a lot of noise did appeal to some, but not to all. Intervening in a conflict to prevent escalation appealed to some of the older citizens, but the youngsters agreed that any kind of conflict, argument or row was a strictly private matter, even if it occurred in the middle of the street. So our initial idea to include intervention before a conflict would escalate into violence was the first of many to be voted off. Cartoon characters Apart from our discussion of the content of the message, there was the matter of form. The previous campaign was highly stylised and artistic; it showed a personal object, like a pair of glasses or a walkman crashing on the sidewalk as a symbol of someone being attacked and then it continued by telling the viewers in words to dial 112, etc. How to convey the message about forming a group and acting together? Two concepts were created: one with the old style (with no people in it) and another with cartoon characters. Ultimately we decided to abandon the artistic concept that was used in 2001 and 2002. We regretted this, but it just wouldn’t work. In stead we chose the cartoon characters to relay our message to the public. Actors, real people, would be an alternative, but the violence might be too realistic to be broadcast before 10 p.m. We showed the concept with our tips 4 and 5 to 20 people. It appealed to them: • When alone, yell ‘fire’ or ‘police’ or anything to distract the suspect; • When not alone, get some people together and intervene any way you can. 47
Page 1 and 2: Organisers: Seminar “Prevention c
Page 3 and 4: 3.11.2004 Seminar “Prevention cam
Page 5 and 6: Conclusions: Margus Kurm 1) kampaan
Page 7 and 8: Public polling identified a percept
Page 9 and 10: Stickers for washroom mirrors (bars
Page 11 and 12: Triin Vihalemm - Risk Prevention -
Page 13 and 14: Choices of the Communication Style
Page 15 and 16: Road Transport Board “Put Put the
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Page 19 and 20: Steen Hansen - Did We Make A Differ
Page 21 and 22: How to pr oceed Advice • How do w
Page 23 and 24: Oikeudellisten kysymysten jaos Jaok
Page 25 and 26: Puolet jaettiin niin sanottuina ilm
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Page 43 and 44: Judith Scheepstra - Know what to do
Page 45: Violence prevention program Street
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Page 55 and 56: Kampaaniakeskkonna valimine ja sõn
Page 57 and 58: Millised on kampaaniate katsumused?
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Page 67 and 68: Mida teha? või PIITS PRÄÄNIK? Te
Page 69 and 70: Maasturite aktsioon hukkunute mäle
Page 71 and 72: Viisakate Liiklejate Klubi kleepsud
Page 73 and 74: Suhtumine tee andmise meeldetuletus
Page 75 and 76: Autojuhtide käitumine vöötrajal,
Page 77 and 78: Anne Liis Ruussaar - Sotsiaalreklaa
Page 81: WORKSHOP 2: (in english) Töögrupp
Page 84 and 85: Campaigns to prevent drunk driving
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Riitta Koivisto - Rikoksentorjuntaneuvosto

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