Ok , I know the general instructions by the police are that we shouldnt try to jump in a situation when we witness a crime happening, since it may make the matters worse.
Perhaps the first call of action most of us would take is to call the police/ ambulance immediately ..
But if you see some serious thing happening right infront of you , like a man getting mugged or someone getting stabbed etc , would you jump in to save them, after calling the police ? Would you walk away once police has arrived? would you shout for help from people around so that the culprit can be detained and assault stopped , until the arrival of the police ?
But if you see some serious thing happening right infront of you , like a man getting mugged or someone getting stabbed etc , would you jump in to save them, after calling the police ? Would you walk away once police has arrived? would you shout for help from people around so that the culprit can be detained and assault stopped , until the arrival of the police ?
I cant help noticing that immediately hiding behind the dumpster and keeping your eyes closed till its all over is the option that you did not list. May I ask why?
If I was alone I would:
- call 911
- make a whole lot of noise.....yell, scream, bang something against something else......anything to attract as much attention as I could.
- grab a visibly large weapon (large stick, tire iron etc) and cautiously approach the scene so as to show the assailant that he is outnumbered.
- approach the victim if the assailant has run to see if I can offer immediate help with injuries, CPR etc.
Yes, I would try and intervene (inc physically) if someone was getting hurt..
Hopefully someone would do the same for me if I was ever in that situation..
Deeba, did you read in the news a few days ago , an elderly ex marine was mugged right outside Sainsburys , I think it was in surrey , not sure .. he was so upset he said if he was a little younger , he would have helped as much as he could if he ever saw a scene like this and was genuinely shocked that when this was happening , he asked passers by for help but people didnt stop :( .. i felt so sorry for him
^God, that's awful.. Imagine if that was one of our parents :(
There was a story in the papers yesterday about a white girl here as well who racially attacked a desi guy.. There were loads of people just standing around.. The police were called and she and her bf were arrested as they walked away but I can't understand how no-one tried to actually stop it.. This was in broad daylight..
grab a visibly large weapon (large stick, tire iron etc) and cautiously approach the scene so as to show the assailant that he is outnumbered.
A very dangerous thing to do, imo. This wouldn't work if the assailant had a gun which most criminals do these days. Even you couldn't see one, perhaps he has one hidden somewhere. If he feels intimidated, he will shoot you and anyone else who he perceives as a threat to his safety. I was watching an episode of some crime show in which the assailant shot the victim as the victim put his hand in his pocket to take out the wallet ... the assailant thought he was taking out a weapon and shot him point blank. There were 23 dollars in the wallet. So tragic. One wrong move/word and a bullet is all it takes.
this reminded me Seinfeld show episode in which Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer witnessed a fat guy being mugged. as a tourist, they watched and video taped the whole incident. they also couldn’t control their laugh…ALL three were arrested and charged under the ‘Good Samaritan Law’. lemme see if i can find the clip:…yes, i found it…enjoy!**
[Jerry remarks: “there goes the money for Lipo!!! hahahahaha”]**
Some(most) criminal are not very refined people like you all. Provided they are in no
immediate threat they can treat you with very personal grudge if you try to stop them.
So if you CANNOT take of the perpetrator by your self I say keep safe distance, get out of confided places etc. Only then try to help.
In pakistan some people come to kill other people, over family feuds, they know they are going to jail after that, stopping such individuals can get you killed almost 100%.
Also for mild cases do what munza said, make lots of noise specially if help is near.
A very dangerous thing to do, imo. This wouldn't work if the assailant had a gun which most criminals do these days. Even you couldn't see one, perhaps he has one hidden somewhere. If he feels intimidated, he will shoot you and anyone else who he perceives as a threat to his safety. I was watching an episode of some crime show in which the assailant shot the victim as the victim put his hand in his pocket to take out the wallet ... the assailant thought he was taking out a weapon and shot him point blank. There were 23 dollars in the wallet. So tragic. One wrong move/word and a bullet is all it takes.
yes...it could prove to be very dangerous.....I guess this is a decision that one would need to make upon assessment of the actual situation.
chances are that if it is a mugging and the assailant has a gun, he is likely already using it in the hold up, in which case my theory would not be very effective at all. I would simply skip that part and go for help.
Last year when i was leaving from work , i was waiting at a bus stop and saw a guy and a girl shouting loudly at one another and then as it got aggressive the guy started pulling the girl into the car .. she was resisting so hard .. he put a hand on her mouth to stop her from screaming and literally pushed her into the car ..
I thought that equated kidnapping and immediately called the police .. two calls one after another ..
a lady standing right next to that car was witnessing this as well and she moved ahead to stop the guy but he just pushed her into the middle of a main road , luckily she wasnt hurt due to the red light at the traffic signal , but had it been green light and cars rushing past , that woman would have gotten hurt very badly ...
The man went off within seconds ( with the girl ) .. I took down the car number plate as well to give to the police ..
three days later our security guy told us the police got the man and managed to get the girl out safe and sound ..
Thing is , I kept thinking of that lady who tried to help and almost got hurt in the process .. none of the males came forward to help despite this happening almost a few feet away from a very busy bus stop :(
yes Muzna, I have noticed this trend is increasing in the UK .. people just ignore you plain off ... I understand that the police is always found drilling this into our heads that we should remain out of the way of trouble .. but if dangerous weapons arent being used and one is capable of handling a man , then one should try to help ..
Karachi mai to Allah bichaye .. it looks like every other person has a weapon ! in which case its better to just move on ..
but you know somewhere deep down , Pakistan is risky business , if you see a crime happening, you cant even call the police or depend on the police to arrive on time .. and generally people are really aggressive so if you try to jump in , no guarantee what might happen :(
thats true. I really wish to help other people but there is no way, in fact if you standing nearby and you have been witnessed by those people, your a gonner for sure and believe me no one will come for help. So its better to go away and not to look back.
regarding police, there was one incident in Karachi at night near Iqura University, Defence Defense View, 13-15 people aging 16-35 all having weapons in hand looted students and near by shops and even blocked the road and went on robbing people in cars without any fear, i witnessed all that myself cause my house was in the front line and i saw it all with my family from the window, our neighbor called the police and told them everything. after 2 hours when they went away enjoying the crime, he was called back by the police asking, are they still here or gone , police came in the morning.
There are numerous TV documentaries where muggings have been staged to test the reactions of people passing by (Hidden camera). And regardless which country you do this experiment in, the vast majority of people will NOT intervene, will try to remove themselves from the situation and will not get involved.
I am not saying that this is the right reaction, but this it is the most common one. Unfortunately.
what say?
no one will come for help. So its better to go away and not to look back.
, police came in the morning.