Panama Forum

BoqueteGirl
Joined 2014
Posts: 681

8 years ago

BLOCK WATCH

8 years ago

Here is a message that was posted on our "News Boquete." This is just the kind of "block watch" that every community should be doing. We all need to work together. Also some great advice, if you see someone who does not belong in your area take picture of them.

The Malientes are back in the Alto Boquete area! A Loma Colorada maliente was spotted in the area of Plaza San Francisco yesterday walking the neighborhood, Tuesday March 15. Clearly, he was a long way from home! My housekeeper lives in his neighborhood, and when she went out front to empty our garbage, they spotted each other. He was on foot. She was nervous about his presence in this area and reported it to me immediately. The assumption is that he was casing the neighborhood.

We were on our way down to David to take our housekeeper home, so we stopped at the check point at the Caldera road to tell the police. They said they'd radio to "someone" to let them know that there may be activity in the area. Be vigilant with your community watch program and keep an eye out for unfamiliar people in your neighborhood. When my husband and I returned from David, we stopped at the check point again to tell the police that my housekeeper divulged the maliente's nickname. There were different officers at the checkpoint, but they had heard the report. I told him the nickname in case that was a familiar person to the police. He said they’d really like a photo so they could identify the person.

The officer said that these malientes often ride the bus to the area.

It’s very possible that he is a "scout" for his group and will report his findings of the neighborhood back to them. So we don’t really know yet, whether he’s a thief and/or home invader, or a scout. My housekeeper said he is not a "member" of a gang because as far as she knows, they don't have official members; but that he is known to be associated with a group of malientes. Keep your cameras close to document anything which could turn out to be helpful in the future. You never know…

Create a photo file for suspicious activities/characters. Drop these photos into it for possible future reference.

Just as a confirmation side note: I have a house in Loma Colorada and we lived in that barrio for a time, so that's how I have a housekeeper from the neighborhood and other workers from there as well.

So, this morning, when one of our workers arrived, I told him about the maliente who was walking thru our Alto Boquete neighborhood yesterday. The worker's eyes got big. I told him the maliente's nickname, and he nodded knowingly. I asked if he knows who it is. He nodded. I asked if he knows the person to be a maliente, he confirmed it.

Continue to be vigilent. Watch for ANYONE unfamiliar in your neighborhood. We are the eyes and ears of the community. We can’t expect the police to be everywhere at once—that goes without saying.

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