Captain Australia’s Crime Fighting Journal, Entry#22
Today I started my patrol in Hendra, a location well known for petty crime. My patrol route was a circuit of roughly 8 kilometres on foot, ending at Toombul Shopping Centre, where I have read recently that some of the merchants are having trouble with shop-lifters.
I encountered no crime on the initial patrol route, and needless to say I was quite footsore by the time I arrived at the shopping mall. I did not allow my pain to deter me (but again, if anyone knows where I can buy a pair of sturdy golden combat boots, ideally knife & flame resistant, please advise).
I met my videographer outside the mall, and we headed inside. Being adept at psychology/anthropology, I am very skilled at spotting the tell-tale signs of criminality, but after patrolling for about an hour, the shops started closing and we encountered no criminal behaviour. We met a group of three young men attempting to solicit money to sponsor a child in an overseas country – although not technically criminal, I do have to ask myself “what is charity?”, is it giving a stipend of cash to an organisation who will then hopefully pass some on after costs & logistics .. or is it taking personal responsibility for right & wrong in the world ?
Below is a brief piece of film detailing the in-store patrol portion of the day, up until the point where we were politely asked to stop filming.
After leaving the mall, I decided to do some on-the-spot training. Given that I was footsore and tired, I felt it was especially important to push myself, so I decided to focus on Parkour street running. Parkour is an extremely difficult skill to develop, and it is as much an intuitive artform as a skill. It’s about flexibility, speed, agility & foresight. It isn’t a flashy skill, it’s about subtlety of movement and form, combining with athletics and fitness. The basic goal: to move through a busy urban environment quickly and deftly: like a panther. In the videos below, I demonstrate an unplanned escape routine, moving down two flights of stairs and across uneven terrain to escape to street level. I feel that parkour is a critical skill for a crime fighter, given that all criminals are ultimately cowards, and I may at any time have to pursue a suspect. I have to be faster, smarter and fitter than they are to run them down: I will be the hunter, they will be my prey.
Obviously the video was filmed in sequence, as we have only one camera and one person filming – there’s just no way a single camera-man could keep up with someone of my skill level. But rest assured, before filming the individual sequences, I did a number of solo run-throughs. If you would like to watch it as one continuous video, click on the footage below.
