Captain Australia’s Crime Fighting Journal, Entry#43
Contemplative Captain
On wednesday night, I patrolled Kings Cross. I didnt have my videographer with me, and didnt expect to be able to provide pictures or film, but at the last minute I was able to hire a photographer through an intermediary so as to protect my secret identity.
In the next couple of days I should receive a DVD with the film that we took, and I will update my story here for you.
Kings Cross was an awful place, full of depression and emptiness, bereft of any sense of hope or direction. I met homeless people who were quite literally near death, and nobody cared to help them, or even listened to them. Even the homeless themselves didnt seem to care about their own welfare.
Likewise, drug addicts, mentally unbalanced locals, prostitutes in all shapes, sizes and colours. I found myself wondering as I walked these dark streets “How can I possibly help these people ?”
I did see real evil, I think. I’ve learned that the sex clubs along the main street of Kings Cross (Darlinghurst Road), are owned by lebanese bikey gangs. They openly collect protection money from local businesses, and run drug and prostitution rings without any notable police interference (makes me wonder/assume that the police are collecting protection money from the bikeys).
At one stage of my patrol I found myself outside one of these clubs being urged to move along by a couple of barkers (enormous lebanese men, mostly fat, but a core of muscle, classic tough-guys). I cordially declined, and then made a point of lingering for an hour or so outside the venue, discouraging their business. They became increasingly agitated (and I will note: fearful) and eventually called for one of their enforcers, warning me that “you better get out of here, Reggie is on his way”. Anyway, there was no violence, and no followup, I think they just absorbed the lost revenue, preferring to avoid a violent confrontation. But the experience did make me think about ways that I might meaningfully interfere with their operations, maybe even collect evidence compelling the authorities to follow up on criminal prosecutions.
I will think long and hard on this, it’s a challenge that I’d like to take on: in fact, I see it as core to the responsibilities that I have accepted by becoming Captain Australia.
In any case, I will be able to provide video and images from my patrol in the next few days.
