Called the police yesterday
- Thread starter GojuBrian
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DHJenkins
Member
I'm pretty sure traffic accidents aren't illegal, or there would be alot more arrests made at accident scenes. Anything beyond an accident, and there'll be trouble.
As a reminder, in this case, nobody actually hit anything.
That must be a Houston thing (unless he was cutting through the mall parking lot).
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71Commander
Member
GoJuBrian.
You have no duty as a citizen to warn the police about the crimes or another person, unless you are the victim. What is your intent or purpose of the call. To save the public at large from harm
Hell, the police do not have that responsibility.
You have no duty as a citizen to warn the police about the crimes or another person, unless you are the victim. What is your intent or purpose of the call. To save the public at large from harm
Hell, the police do not have that responsibility.DHJenkins
Member
Just out of curiosity, if you saw someone breaking into your neighbors house, would you call the police?
Sam1911
Moderator Emeritus
While technically correct, you seem to be faulting him more for caring for the well-being of his fellow man and doing a very minor thing to assist public safety (notifying the police about a reckless driver, and someone threatening others with violence) than you are about his potentially serious errors in contributing to the situation.
You don't have to buy into the whole "Sheepdog" goofyness to believe that you have some level of personal ethical responsibility to call the police when you see a dangerous and potentially violent/deadly act happening or threatening to happen.
You aren't trampling his rights -- the police will decide how to handle the situation. You don't have to risk your own neck -- this can be done from a distance, and even as you are departing the premesis. But few people would feel no obligation to alert law enforcement if they thought that someone was about to injure or kill another person.
Don't ride him down for what he did right!
-Sam
71Commander
Member
The point is that the OP was compelled to do it as a "Duty as a citizen."
We have no such duty. We do things that our moral make-up dictate to be correct.
We have no such duty. We do things that our moral make-up dictate to be correct.
Sam1911
Moderator Emeritus
O.k. Point made.
But for some reason you seem to have cast that decision in a negative light. As though he shouldn't have notified the police.
If his moral make-up dicateted that he had a responsibility to try to assist law enforcement to protect the public from harm -- and he had not endangered his own well-being to do so -- then he made the right choice. No?
Actually, re-reading this points out an error. The police (usually) do have a duty "to serve and protect" (or similar language) the public at large. What the Supreme Court has held is that they don't have a responsibility to provide protection for individual members of the public.
But they certainly are charged with maintaining the public peace and safety.
Now, the average citizen does not have that duty, and in most cases, has no responsibility to render aid or assistence. However, you simply cannot fault a citizen for making a small contribution to public safety. He doesn't overstep his bounds, he doesn't infringe on the rights of another. What's your beef with what he did?
-Sam
71Commander
Member
To put an end to this.
I'm not faulting him for doing it. I find disturbing the premise that one would have a duty to do it. Hence the reference to "Starship Troopers"
"Why do you want to join the Army?"
"So I can be a Citizen."
I'm not faulting him for doing it. I find disturbing the premise that one would have a duty to do it. Hence the reference to "Starship Troopers"
"Why do you want to join the Army?"
"So I can be a Citizen."
GojuBrian
Member
If I hd known my sttement would hve you so fuzzled I would have just restted it for clarity.
Not a 'duty' EXACTLY, but the right to do what is right. I believe I did what was right aside from backing up and making eye contact, that was my bad.
Not a 'duty' EXACTLY, but the right to do what is right. I believe I did what was right aside from backing up and making eye contact, that was my bad.
back when i worked at QuikTrip(a corporate gas station) there was a 15 year old kid who ran into the building itself. He took the parent's truck while they were vacationing. :banghead: cops came and everything. the kid's uncle picked him up, and get this, he got NO tickets. no citations because it was private property that he crashed on. It wasn't a big crash, but its noticeable when you see a toyota tundra over a curb sitting on top of some 24 packs of water outside. lucky kid, and lucky me that day for not getting ran over by a giant truck of death
71Commander
Member
I can agree with this.
GojuBrian
Member
Well then we're all good now!
mgkdrgn
Member
My car was hit in a fast food parking lot. The guy who hit me was uncooperative to say the least. I called the police and they said they wouldn't do anything since it was private property. They wouldn't even send a car out.
A week later I saw a LEO busting some high school kids for smoking pot in that same parking lot. I guess they get to pick and choose what laws they'll enforce on private property.
They can (and do) pick and choose what they care to enforce no matter where they are. They have no legal duty to protect you or your property no matter where you are.
Erik M
Member
Long story short my wal-mart manager asked to go for a ride in my Trans Am and I cut a few donuts which got the attention of the city police. My manager told him that we were on the clock and he was on private propery. I was not issued a citation.
Fixed your quote.
Fixed your quote.
Oldtrader3
Member
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- 84
Where I live, not only is the County Sheriff "Unavailable", unless someone is dead, but most of the violations on shopping center, private property are actually day-visitor-aliens! Not only are they usually from Canada but most are also "aliens" in Canada, because they are from Hong Kong or the Indian sub-continent. They have no concept of how to drive, why to drive, who to hit, how to turn-on their turn-signal, or sometimes how to avoid hitting someone! I believe that Canada will give any adult alien a Canada Resident Card and a Driver's License from a Cracker-Jacks box!
Hopefully the guy will think before driving so fast, hopefully he won't ever hit an kill a child. Hopefully he will realize people are watching an may use their cell phones...but my question is how is any of this gun related.....?.......?......Oh, thats right, he was looking for ammo at wally world.
Bottom line if a guy is out of control in a Walmart parking lot; driving aggressively, freaking out emotionally and you ignore him because you think "gee he isn't breaking the law" you are irresponsible and a coward. I'm not saying confront him aggressively or "draw on him" (obviously), but a simple call to the police is in order.
All it takes is for things to escalate- imagine the guy runs down a toddler or a family while road raging in the parking lot, or he kills his gf in a domestic violence fury... and later everyone would be asking "why didn't someone call the cops?" when it was obvious he was freaking out in a public place.
* Sure, the police may only show up and issue him a warning, or they may not even follow up if he flees- but the "head in the sand" mentality is what is rotting our society.
DHJenkins
Member
I called the police once on a woman next to me in a drive through teller lane. She caught my attention by driving her car very slowly forward & backward a foot at a time about a half dozen times. I had no idea what what was going on until I saw her face. She looked absolutely hammered, and that was before she finally decided to try to reach out and get a deposit slip.
She still hadn't managed to get her car close enough to what holds the slips so she opened her door and had it not been for her seatbelt, she would have face planted on the pavement.
A few tries and about 5 minutes later, she decided it wasn't worth the effort, so she finally drove off. I'd already called the cops when I saw her reach for the slip the first time, and pulled out of the teller lane and parked my truck so I could watch. She got lost in the parking lot (it was a mall parking lot, which was empty) and couldn't find her way to the street, so the police had plenty of time to show up. It was kind of entertaining to watch her drive around trying to figure out how to get back out onto the street (which was closed). It was like one of those robots that bumps into something and then turns around and tries a different direction.
There's no doubt in my mind that if she had gotten back on the street she could have done some real damage to herself and/or others, but I'm sure someone out there has a problem with what I did.
She still hadn't managed to get her car close enough to what holds the slips so she opened her door and had it not been for her seatbelt, she would have face planted on the pavement.
A few tries and about 5 minutes later, she decided it wasn't worth the effort, so she finally drove off. I'd already called the cops when I saw her reach for the slip the first time, and pulled out of the teller lane and parked my truck so I could watch. She got lost in the parking lot (it was a mall parking lot, which was empty) and couldn't find her way to the street, so the police had plenty of time to show up. It was kind of entertaining to watch her drive around trying to figure out how to get back out onto the street (which was closed). It was like one of those robots that bumps into something and then turns around and tries a different direction.
There's no doubt in my mind that if she had gotten back on the street she could have done some real damage to herself and/or others, but I'm sure someone out there has a problem with what I did.
LightningJoe
Member
Well, you tried. As you have discovered from this thread, you will receive no thanks. If you feel you did the right thing by showing the guy there was some public opprobrium associated with this behavior and by notifying the authorities, then that's it.
Ragnar Danneskjold
Member
OP, I'm sorry some people find your concern for the good of society something to be ridiculed. I personally think that if the average person decided that not letting thugs and punks do what they want to the rest of us really was his problem, we would all be better off. Bad guys do what they do because they know that virtually nobody who isn't wearing a badge will lift a finger to oppose them. I'd like to see what would happen to the world if that changed.
NO Sir at least not in the state of Missouri where you live scottaschultz .
I have a friend who is a ST. Louis County Police office and he told me years ago that it all depends on the municipality , according to State Law if a Muny wants to pass an ordanance making speeding and running stop signs on private property illegal they may and they can and will enforce them just as if they were on a public roadway only difference is you will not receive any points against your license for it .
Just because a place is private property doesn't mean you can do what you please if it did there would be no Laws keeping people from parking in fire lanes or handicapped parking and Cities make tons of $$ ticketing and towing cars for these two things alone .
The person who was spoken of in the original post could have been arrested had the OP been willing to testify to what he observed for Public endangerment and being a public Nussance here in Missouri , with possable other charges had an employee or manager of the Store observed him doing something and given the police a statement .
Police will write all kinds of borderline citations because they know most people especially if they know they were doing something they shouldn't have been will usually Plead Guilty and get it over with .
Faitmaker
Member
@DHJenkins - Traffic accidents are usually caused by *doing* something illegal which is why MOST people get *cited* at accidents (not arrested) Also, someone else commented that *they* were hit which is where this portion of the thread came from.
@71Commander - There is no *legal* duty. Many people, myself included, believe that part of our social contract is having a duty to be mindful of the community. It only takes one citizen to ignore something they could have reported or stopped. If they don't, others may suffer. If you witness something and fail to report or do something about it, you are undeserving of your community and have failed the social contract you agreed to when you became part of that community. My opinion but there it is. You are right that it is a moral and ethical thing. "Honor" and "duty" does extend beyond that which is legally required.
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