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I'm also very surprised at peoples responses to this. If I have a serious crime committed to me I'm not going to confront a potentially dangerous individual. It

I'm also very surprised at peoples responses to this. If I have a serious crime committed to me I'm not going to confront a potentially dangerous individual. It simply isn't worth the risk. Why put yourself and your family at risk just for the chance of securing some kind of respect from a criminal?

dannypgh 13y ago
I think part of this disconnect has to do with the kinds of crimes that people actually end up in prison for. One of the largest single sources of arrests and convictions are the drug war -- I will not call the police if I see someone buying, selling, or using drugs. A lot of people on the other hand, will call the police because they see something "suspicious" and that suspicious behavior might not even be illegal. In addition, lots of crimes occur with context, and sometimes the context muddles what true justice would be. If you don't know the context behind what you're seeing, it's easy to think the police will help when the reality may be anything but. If people are stealing because they or their loved ones are hungry, are the police really the best option? People seem to be more content to call the police than they are to take difficult steps to try to ensure that people are fed and cared for, and that's a problem. I want to live in a world where people are able to have good relationships with their neighbors, to know how they're life is going, and be able to offer support for them if they need it -- and all of those should be easier and come more natural than calling police on their neighbors to externalize the problem. I could see someone hassling someone else, but for all I know they're stepping up to someone who has consistently attacked or harmed them or their loved ones. At some point - seeing someone who is being sexually assaulted, seeing people who are surviving domestic abuse, etc. - I do believe there's a moral imperative to help the person who is being victimized and if calling the police is the best way to do that then by all means. But in my view these crimes are the small minority of crimes that fill the jails and prisons, or that the police get called about. Anyhow. Obviously there are times when I think everyone is best served by calling the police. If I had to choose between "see something, say something [to armed police who will then involve themselves with violence]" and "stop snitching" my preference would be stop snitching. Things are often more nuanced than either allows, however. If it's a stolen wallet or bicycle I'm not going to call the police (unless necessary to get a report for insurance purposes) and it's not my job to play detective and find the perpetrators. I do believe that the police usually make bad situations worse, but that doesn't mean I don't believe there are bad situations where they can help.

dannypgh 13y ago

I think part of this disconnect has to do with the kinds of crimes that people actually end up in prison for. One of the largest single sources of arrests and convictions are the drug war -- I will not call the police if I see someone buying, selling, or using drugs. A lot of people on the other hand, will call the police because they see something "suspicious" and that suspicious behavior might not even be illegal. In addition, lots of crimes occur with context, and sometimes the context muddles what true justice would be. If you don't know the context behind what you're seeing, it's easy to think the police will help when the reality may be anything but. If people are stealing because they or their loved ones are hungry, are the police really the best option? People seem to be more content to call the police than they are to take difficult steps to try to ensure that people are fed and cared for, and that's a problem. I want to live in a world where people are able to have good relationships with their neighbors, to know how they're life is going, and be able to offer support for them if they need it -- and all of those should be easier and come more natural than calling police on their neighbors to externalize the problem. I could see someone hassling someone else, but for all I know they're stepping up to someone who has consistently attacked or harmed them or their loved ones. At some point - seeing someone who is being sexually assaulted, seeing people who are surviving domestic abuse, etc. - I do believe there's a moral imperative to help the person who is being victimized and if calling the police is the best way to do that then by all means. But in my view these crimes are the small minority of crimes that fill the jails and prisons, or that the police get called about. Anyhow. Obviously there are times when I think everyone is best served by calling the police. If I had to choose between "see something, say something [to armed police who will then involve themselves with violence]" and "stop snitching" my preference would be stop snitching. Things are often more nuanced than either allows, however. If it's a stolen wallet or bicycle I'm not going to call the police (unless necessary to get a report for insurance purposes) and it's not my job to play detective and find the perpetrators. I do believe that the police usually make bad situations worse, but that doesn't mean I don't believe there are bad situations where they can help.