If you "see something, say something"...

It started in high school. I was in this sorority--Tri Delta I think it's name was--We had buttons with the name & logo, jackets, etc. One day, one of these lovely members claims she saw this black girl (we had almost no blacks in school, they were sent to inferior learning centers--that's a rant for another time). Anyway, this black girl had one of our buttons on her purse or jacket. When interrogated how she had it, she said "Pepper gave it to me." I knew her and we were friendly, but no, I did not give it to her. WELL! There was a special sorority meeting over this. I was sickened by the racism displayed, so the result was I quit.

It was effective because the incident showed me the path in life I must take that was comfortable for me. I decided I hated racism and would challenge it from now on and would never backdown. And...........I haven't.
 
I wanted to but was on a rotary on a highway and there was nowhere to pull over to park to help or call police. I saw an older man dragging a little girl by the hand and she seemed unhappy about it. She wasn't screaming but she was crying and trying to drag her feet and resist. I wondered if he had abducted her? Or was this just a family issue and I should mind my own business? As I said I couldn't just pull over on a high rotary exit ramp so I did nothing but never felt comfortable about that little girl.
 
Jace said:
Have you ever?
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Maybe not so often as I should have.

A reason was an experience I had a few years back. I saw a man walking down the street apparently minding his own business. A woman followed him and started yelling obscenities at him, without provocation I saw. Then she threw herself down on the sidewalk in front of him and started yelling for help, claiming he was beating her. She started hitting him. He did not return the blows and his best to back off, he was finally able to make an escape.

Had I not seen the first part of that I would have been tempted to intervene and help the woman. Glad I did not. It did teach me that you need to be careful to be sure you understand what is really happening and how you could actually help before intervening.

Of course I don't know what may have happened between the man and woman before the incident, she had to have had some motivation, not one I understood though.

That was before I had a cell phone. Today I would probably call the police.
 
I have done those kinds of things. Sometimes it works out well, sometimes it does not. Sometimes it works out great.

I witnessed a guy arson his car for the insurance. At the time, I did not know that was happening. I just reported the fire.

Then, they took me to the police station to identify the guy.

Not like the movies at all. They just brought me into the room with the guy right there and asked me, in front of him, if that was him.

I said yes. Definitely not a safe way to do that.

+++

I was driving home in winter. I saw some kids on a bridge drop something. It hit the windshield of the car in front of me. There was an explosion of glass...and some of that hit my windshield.

I was quite angry...

I floored my car to find those kids...because they could have easily killed the driver in front of me. I caught up to them on a local highway where the police already had them in custody. And I told the officers what I saw and identified one of the kids.

+++

My job at the time, was a driver. I was on the road most of the week. Saw all kinds of things. Reported a lot to the police.

Personally, I really don't like the feeling of "playing police officer" or whatever you would want to call it. Not something I like...at all.

And if you do that stuff enough, sooner or later you will cross a line...and a dangerous one.

You will wind up not interacting with some regular person who has done some wrong...but with a professional criminal. And if you testify against someone like that, you could easily lose your life.


So, the whole subject is quite difficult. It's not a one way street. The people you report can easily get vindictive and come after you.

To this day, I really have no clue how to resolve the issues.

+++

oh, another example. So, by the way, I am a relatively big guy. I am 6 foot and 200 lbs. One of the things that happens to big guys...is that if there is some kind of fight going on...people will directly look at you and expect you to step in and stop things. And I have done some of those things. I used to book a blues band and was the bouncer at my own shows (saved money). So, I have learned things about de-escalating situations. But still, you never know. You can be as well intended as possible and things still go horribly wrong.

So, I was at this college library, in the hallway, making photocopies. It was relatively secluded. This couple comes into the hallway. The guy is clearly a football player. Now, I am big, but this guy was bigger. Much bigger. Plus, I assume he was actively bench pressing at least 350. So, he starts to mess around with his girlfriend. Then he starts to "play wrestle" her or something. And then IT happened. And by IT...I mean, I watched as this guy turned and went into a full blown steroid rage.

He started choking her!

Now it is just the three of us in that hallway, no one else can see what is happening.

And I realize, if I don't do something...who knows, this guy is doing to kill her...or, well, at least do plenty of harm.

So, I realized, I guess, that my duty was to intercede and get the living daylights beaten out of me. And just as I started to move toward him, to see what I could do...just as soon as the rage started...it faded away. And I was spared a beating.

+++

Like, I said, I have been in some of these incidents. Still have no clue what is the right thing to do.

Maybe some professional police sources have written about this subject and have professional advice.
 
No, I’ve never had anything that I had to intervene in.

Carrying a cell phone gives the witness a chance to call for help or if need be take a video to identify the person, as long as someone else has called for help.
 
oldaunt said:
I called Social Services about my young neighbor girl afraid to go home after school til her mom got home because her father was molesting her. She was hiding out at my house every afternoon. Of course, Social Services did pretty much nothing, and that poor kid was dead a month later.
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OMG!!!!
 
One time happened while I was a city transit bus driver. I was on route with maybe 5 passengers aboard when I saw a young lady carrying an infant in an odd way. Baby wore only a diaper, she held it kind of out and tummy side up and it was completely sunburned. I told my passengers I had to stop, and I did. I helped the girl onto the bus and drove her to the nearest pediatrician's office. Then I called the police.

Turns out the girl was mentally disabled (in ancient terms: retarded). The pediatrician had the baby admitted to the hospital, and police got the girl in touch with a social worker. All my passengers were delayed, but none of them complained.
 
I was near a dumpster in my condo and saw someone drive up and drop 2 bags in the dumpster. I went over and looked into the dumpster and discovered the bags were full of rental video tapes. I recognized the boxes coming from a local rental place and called the police. I also called the manager to tell him what I had.
I ended up having to identify the person in court.
 
oldpop said:
A neighbor was beating his wife one night and I knew if I went over to intervene it would not turn out well for the hubby or me so I called the town Sheriff. The following day the bruised and battered wife caught me in my yard and cussed me out for causing her husband to be arrested. :unsure:o_O:whistle:
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You did the right thing, though. Doesn't matter at all that she got mad at you.
 
Glad to "see" (hear) so many responsible people!👍
Be proud of your actions!😉
 
Thought of something else that kind of fits here. My nephew and I were on a remote rural road and saw a police car off the road in an odd looking position. We pulled over and saw the officer slumped over in his seat.

He was barely conscious and not at all coherent. Nothing obviously wrong, no blood or anything. We were out of cell phone range but were able to get a response on his radio, and reported it. The dispatcher was pretty skeptical of our story, but she sent help anyway. We were calling on the police radio. She stuck with us on the radio, but did not have much help to offer. Reception was not good.

We tried to make him comfortable, he seemed to indicate that his belt was tight so we undid it and the top of his pants, it seemed to help. Loosened his shirt as well. It was summer in Florida and quite hot. Problem was the belt was where his gun was, we were careful not to touch the gun or unholster it.

It took help at least half and hour to arrive, in the meantime we just tried to make him comfortable. Gave him what water he would drink. He never was able to speak or show much coherence.

When the police and ambulance finally arrived we knew it might look suspicious so we got out of the car and held our hands in plain sight. The officers pretty quickly saw that we were innocent helpers and so let us go.

Never did find out what was wrong or what happened to the policeman. Not sure we got thanked, but they had more important things to worry about.

So I guess that is kind of acting, but we did not put ourselves at any real risk.
 
It wasn't long after 9-11 that I saw a group of men with turbans looking around a gas station and all I could think was that they were terrorists looking for gas to create an explosion. I called the FBI and the person I spoke to became amused. After having had time to think about it I felt pretty stupid but better safe then sorry.
 
Jace said:
How did it go?

Effective?

What were the results?
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It seems to easily go in either direction; that is, it proves to be either very helpful, or not helpful, or even harmful; and either effective or not at all productive or positive. And sometimes surprisingly negative.

And the actual results seem to be very unpredictable, as to which of those will occur, is my personal conclusion from my own experiences and from my observations.

But yes, I have done it many times, in hopes of a positive result.
Rarely if ever, did the results resemble any that I had guessed they might.
 
oldpop said:
A neighbor was beating his wife one night and I knew if I went over to intervene it would not turn out well for the hubby or me so I called the town Sheriff. The following day the bruised and battered wife caught me in my yard and cussed me out for causing her husband to be arrested. :unsure:o_O:whistle:
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Quite common. You caused the wife's meal ticket to be taken away.
 
oldaunt said:
I called Social Services about my young neighbor girl afraid to go home after school til her mom got home because her father was molesting her. She was hiding out at my house every afternoon. Of course, Social Services did pretty much nothing, and that poor kid was dead a month later.
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That must have been tough for you. And her mom too. 😢
 
Several years ago, I was working in the gallery one afternoon when in walked a man with a little girl. They walked around until they were out of my sight at the back of the gallery. As I went to see if there was anything I could help him with, I heard wailing. He was beating the little girl. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

I said, "What are you doing?" Stop beating that child! " He ignored me. I felt like intervening but thought better of it. In no way could I have handled a physical altercation with this guy. Then I yelled, "I'm calling the police," and literally ran to the phone. He picked up the child and ran out of the gallery. The police came, but by that time, it was too late. There wasn't much they could do about it. I gave them a description of the man and the little girl, just in case the guy was still around town. I thought about that incident for a long time and the feeling of being powerless to stop him.

Bella ✌️
 
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