All That is Necessary for the triumph of Evil...

[Hobbs]

...is that good men do nothing.

Now, this may be similar to another thread I posted earlier about when it becomes necessary to report a crime. However, this thread's premise is slightly different. I was reading BookBint's thread Awful when I began to think of it. Let me first say that this isn't about criticizing what she did or didn't do; I am simply using her story to illustrate my point.

So with that being said, if you were to see an actual crime in progress (such as a woman hitting her child) what would you do? Would you call out the person on their behavior, report it to someone of authority, call the police, or what?

Personally, I think surrounding people would have to tear me off of the woman's bloodied corpse, but that's just me.

[HYHYBT]

Way too many variables to give a simple answer on this, or even to say in advance exactly what would make me do what. What sort of crime? How certain am I that it *is* a crime, or even that it's what it looks like? Would it be dangerous to intervene? Etc.

[Greenday]

For my opinion, see: Boondock Saints

I don't know how some people can just watch and do nothing, but I've had to put myself in harm's way just to save people some serious harassment and such. I hate children, but I have zero tolerance for abusing kids. Something should have been done.

[blas87]

If only the Boondock Saints were real.....

[Nyoibo]

I think in that situation I'd be tempted to smack the mother upside the head and say "Not his fault, so's his mother"

If I see a crime being comitted I'll try and stop it.

[Racket_Man]

unfortunately when good DOES stand up to evil, bad thing may happen to good. this is part of the problem as evil will do things in revenge for good.... well being good and "doing the right thing".

Yes there is a personal story behind that statement, but for the moment I will leave it there as it is still unfolding.

[draggar]

3 stories:

One day I was driving into our community and I saw a kid toss a weed whacker over the fence. Unsure of what was going on I ran to our landscaper to confirm if it was his weed whacker or not. It was so I quickly call the police as he and I fished it out from under the fence (the kid tossed it over so he wouldn't have to carry it over).

The other day I saw a blue pickup truck come flying into our parking lot, screech to a halt by some scrap metal by one of the resident's trailer, toss the metal into the back, and sped off. Not knowing if it was legit or not I waited until the owner got home. Luckily, the scrap was garbage.

Last week I was walking one of my dogs and there was a dog locked in its crate outside (it had been in the heat for hours - it is in the "Things I hate" thread (Irresponsible dog owners). I quickly called the police about this.

Each instance had a different result which needed different actions. Just because it looks like a crime is taking place (yes, stealing garbage is a crime but would you really want to press it? They did dispose of it for you) doesn't mean it's something that is a crime or is something that needs police involvement.

Intervention can also get you in big trouble. We have an issue with non-residents parking in our parking lot. Let's just say that I would be in the hospital now when I intervened with this if I didn't have Zorro with me.