Are you obligated to report a crime or intervene if you witness it? Reporting crimes is a civic duty for every american and can help save lives. Reporting a crime could save lives. Every minute that passes, the chance of a crime victim getting help, or the criminal being caught, lessans. In the article, Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police”, Martin Gansberg explains, “It was 3:50 by the time the police received their first call, from a man who was a neighbor of Miss Genovese. In two minutes they were on the scene.” In this article it tells a story of a woman who was murdered outside of her home, and how many neighbors heard the altercation but decided not to call the police. If someone who heard her being stabbed the first time would have called the police, there would have been a higher chance of her surviving. Even if the neighbors did not physically see the murder happening, many heard the disturbance. Witnessing or hearing a disturbance calls for you to report it to the authorities. A couple told the police, “We thought it was just a lovers quarrel.” Even if there was uncertainty, calling the police to be safe is crucial in today's age with crime. …show more content…
One problem with this concept of it being a civic duty, is that some Americans don't care enough about the well being of fellow citizens to intervene. A witness of Miss genovese murder told police, ““I was tired”, he said without emotion, “I went back to bed.””. We need to look out for our neighbors and their safety, even when it is not convenient. It is important that citizens always have their ears and hearts open to helping others. Horace Mann, who served in the Massachusetts State legislature, once said, “Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves”. When we lose the desire to help others, we start to truly lose the meaning of being an American and
If an individual is familiar with their surrounding “they are more likely to help” (Altruism and Helping Behavior. Print). In the essay, the authors state “the scene of the crime, the streets, in middle class society “represents all the vulgar and perilous in life” (Milgram, Stanley, and Paul Hollander. Paralyzed Witnesses: The Murder They Heard. Print.). In society, the streets, especially at night, represents the dangerous and negative sides of society due to the crimes and chaos that occur on the streets (gangs, drive-by shootings, robberies, murders, large crowds walking, etc.). The crimes and dangers of the streets cause many people to fear being on the streets alone which leads to external conflicts. When the murder was occurring, the witnesses’ attitudes of the streets prevented them from calling the police due to the fear of the streets and since the witnesses were middle-class, they believed that Genovese was poor, a criminal, or someone who has nothing else to do and was expecting for the=is to eventually
Murder on a Sunday morning is a documentary of an unfortunate mishap with the legal justice system that happens one of many times. In Jacksonville, Florida the year of 2001, May 8th there was a horrific scenery at Ramada hotel. A women named Mary Ann Stevens and her husband were tourists, while leaving their room early Sunday morning around 9AM a gunshot fatally killed Mary Ann and ended the couple’s vacation. When cops arrived at the scene and investigated they took notes on what the suspect looked like from the husband, “ The suspect is skinny black male dark shorts unknown shirt on foot running south bound…. Fishlike hat on.”- cop at the scene. When the cops were driving around they’ve spotted an African American
I think that community service is something that everyone should do. Some people only do community service because they need the hours for school or an extracurricular activity, but when you something nice for another person, it not only makes you feel 100 times better about yourself, it also, whether you know it or not, improves another person's life. Being able to give to another person without expecting anything in return is the best quality that a person can have because the 21st century is a time where a portion of people have what they want at their fingertips. What some people don't realize is that not everyone has the blessings of living the life that they have, that is why I try so hard to give back to the community. I personally do community service a lot, and seeing the faces of the people that I have helped means so much to me because I know deep down that I have done something that required me to put others needs before my own. I get that feeling when I help out in the special needs class at my school. I feel complete when the students give me hugs and thank me for my help. That feeling motivates me and makes me a happier person. Even when all I can do for another person is make them smile, I feel like I have done something important that has helped someone more than I
In order for the police to successfully prevent crimes, public cooperation is needed. Various community policing programs have been implemented and it is important to discuss the benefits and limitations of these programs. Community policing allows the community to be actively involved and become a partner in promoting safety. This partnership increases trust of police officers and helps citizens understand that the police are on their side and want to improve their quality of life (Ferreira, 1996). The role of the police officers goes beyond that of a “crime fighter” and expands to multiple roles including that of a victim-centered
The first thing to do in this situation would be to call the police, this way even though you are not directly interfering in the attack you are still giving some help to the victim without exposing yourself to danger. The value of community is present here, if someone is screaming for help on the street even though you might not have all the information about what is going on you might get some sense that something that is not right is happening and go help.
We as a society have acted upon our obligations in the past, such as during World War 2, yet the occasional dose of action is not what we are supposed to desire as humans. We can not say “I will help these people who are being abused today, yet these people yesterday are on their own.”. Moral obligation is not something so fickle as we wish to make it seem. Although the proposal I have left you with is tough to chew on, it is the right principle to act upon if we are to improve human life and live morally good lives.
Base on this reading the Kitty Genovese case, it is sad how know one report this incident to the police it is said that thirty-eight witnesses, supposedly heard the attack and know what was happening. It is hard to have a side in the Good Samaritan Law, because helping other it has to be to the person not a obligation to do so, because it can be harsh to those who don’t want to help because probably they are afraid for revenge of the criminal. This is why not all the people have the strange to help some one because they are afraid or they had been in a position that something bad happens to them. I don’t agree that they need to be punished someone that don’t report the moment of the incident and someone die. But in my case I would do it I
The potential issue for a person that has failed to report a crime that he or she has witnessed is not considered illegal, but
The article called “social experiment: know thy neighbor”, author Peter Lovenheim argues that we need to make meaningful relationship with our neighbor in order to making a healthy civil society through sharing experiences and helping each other and especially for emergency situation. Even though the neighbor may provide beneficial to our lives, but I disagree with peter’s opinion because each of the examples and explanation of benefits are not appropriated to rebuild a healthy community with neighbors. First of all, people have to call 911 rather than get help from the neighbor if they have emergency situation. This is because emergency responders are professional with emergency situation and have more experience to figure out the problems legally and
For example, according to Loudon, “For the most part the witnesses, couching in darkened windows like watchers of a late show, looked on until the play was passed their view. Then they went back to bed…” (Wrainright). This insinuates that none of Kitty’s neighbors contacted the police or did anything else to help in the situation until the next morning. If one of the neighbors would have just stood up for Kitty, or even called the police before the murderer returned to finish the job, then she may not have died. In addition, after the incident, one of the witnesses went on to say, “There are people over there who saw everything… And there hasn’t been a peep out of them yet. Not one peep” (Wainright). The reason for this may be that the people are scared to be the first to come and give statements to the police after not having done anything to stop the murder. The witnesses may also be feeling guilty or ashamed after realizing that they had just stood by as their fellow neighbor was killed. It is for this reason that it is so imperative that people not be pressured into conforming, because now all of the witnesses will have to carry the guilt of having not helped for the rest of their lives. Lastly, other witnesses admitted to not wanting to get involved, in the event that they may be taken in as a possible suspect or
The article describes a scene in Cleveland, Ohio where Cleveland police responds to an emergency call of multiple gunshots being fired and possible victims being wounded. Officers arrive at the scene of the crime only find that the victim was hit and was driving away from the scene. Nevertheless, the victim is found a few blocks away with multiple gunshot wounds, later
...voluntary is not a moral duty, but it is an owed duty. On the other hand, the obligation to the involuntary is a definite moral duty; it must be done (119). An individual can make a difference with just a smile, a kind word, or even a hot meal. The homeless are human after all, and they do have feelings.
This crime took place at different time era, where domestic violence, wasn’t brought to the attention of the courts and the public. In article written by Find law, “Domestic violence became an increasingly popular issue in the 1970s and 1980s. As awareness for violence between intimate partners grew, so did criticism on the manner in which police were responding to the issue. Many believe that police don 't take domestic violence calls seriously because police intervention would be inappropriate in what some may deem a family matter
We have already established that for the police to be involved, the crime has to be committed. Once the crime is committed, someone has to report about the crime being committed and when the report has been made, the police begin its job and starts investigating that report to determine if a crime have been committed. O...
When any person has been injured or killed or significant property damage has been sustained, emergency personnel need to be called. Request that a police report be completed on the incident and obtain a copy of this report. In addition, be sure to get the names of the responding officers.