The Police Burden !

 Two feuding crime families are at war with one another in Sydney and this has degenerated  into their homes being riddled with gun fire at night, and the police have entered this fray with a terror tactic of their own.

What criminals need to know is that the police are the biggest gang on the block and members of these crime families will experience unrelenting application of all and every law on the law books to make their lives a misery, and that can include crimes such as " J-walking " to having the distance they park their car from the kerb measured in millimetres to support a fine.

It is a tactic the police have used before to pull crime families into line.  All family members get this treatment and any activity out of doors becomes subject to surveillance and application of laws that are being specifically enforced. It quickly becomes a psychological burden that adds stress within the family unit.

Unfortunately, much police time is spent on trying to maintain peace between warring neighbours and calming domestic disputes in Sydney suburbs.  The degree of animosity that can be generated over trivial incidents is amazing and sometimes leads to ongoing violence which develops into clan feuds.

The development of social media like Facebook has taken many of these suburban disputes into the law courts.   In one instance one Balmain neighbour sued another for what she termed  " defamation " after a comment made on Facebook during a Current Affairs broadcast.   This resulted in a $ 360,000 damages decision.

This was later overturned on appeal when it was learned that the guilty party had blocked a ventilation vent between their two properties by spraying it with expanding foam.  This vent dispersed vapours from the kitchen stove and created both a fire danger, because the foam was flammable and a toxic danger because it allowed dangerous fumes to build up in the kitchen.

Intervening in domestic disputes is another activity that police hate.   They are usually never simple and often both parties resent the police presence, but they have been called by alarmed neighbour because of the yelling and screaming disturbing the peace.

In many cases, such interventions become a regular event but the injured party refuses to press charges and police leave knowing the issue is unresolved.  Sometimes the fury engendered later results to death or serious injury and the police are criticised.

Unfortunately household disputes seem likely to become more prevalent.  New homes are being shoe horned onto ever smaller blocks of land and people now live in closer proximity to their neighbours.  This sharply increases the opportunity for disputes.

At least when these disputes lead to open warfare with firearms the police have the legal powers and the numbers to take necessary action.   Those warring families in western Sydney are about to experience a police blitz that will make every waking moment very uncomfortable.