What would you do? Seriously, what would you do?

[axxeman01]

ABC has this "thing", not sure if it's a program or not, but I found a few clips on youtube about this thing they do, going out and setting up what I will call various challenges, and filming the whole thing.

Below is a clip of a hispanic male being beaten by three white men. It's for illustration purposes, it could be any race being beaten by any other race, or someone being robbed, etc.

You are walking by, what do you do? Leave false bravado at home, the statistics say that most people do nothing (reminds me of my favorite quote which is rightly/wrongly attributed to Edmund Burke "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

So... what would you do? Be honest. If you wouldn't intervene, why not? Are you scared? Scared they may turn on you or pull a weapon? Something else? This video, while an afterthought, is one of the reasons I want to learn martial arts. So give it a watch (warning, it starts a bit slow, but the best part is the last part).

Just looking to inspire a bit of thought. I know I would probably be scared as hell, I only hope that I would intervene but I certainly cannot say with certainty that I would and that makes me a bit sad. - Chris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru1F2...eature=related

[Taffi Abernathy]

There are various means of intervention including calling the police. This reminds me of the young girl last year who went to her prom and was repeatedly raped while many people just watched and did nothing to intervene. Sometimes people don't intervene because of "role diffusion," namely, everyone stands around assuming someone else will call the police, get help, etc. Meanwhile, no one does anything because each has wrongly assumed someone else has. It may be easy to speculate about what we might do from the comfort and safety of our homes, but one never knows until confronted with this situation. I'm wondering who out there may have been involved in an incident and would be willing to discuss their experience?

[dalip]

This notion was championed by a theatre practitioner named Augusto Boal in south America...was labelled "invisible theatre"...

I worked with a company that used this in the Uk..has to be set up well and confronts people about many things.

We used to set these up on the underground in the UK...

All carefully prepared for all eventualities...girl getting attacked...no one responds....at the end the company left the carriage with the parting comment : thank you..you have all been spectators of invisible theatre...we hope you can take something from your interactions today. Good afternoon.

[Safetrends]

The best you can do in any suitation is call 911, and tell the 911 person someone is dying or dead and trust me patrol cars will arrive ASAP. You do not need to get involved just report what you see without giving your name.

Remember the most important thing you can give to a 911 person is the five W's:

Who is it as in a really description of the OFFENDER(S).
What is going on, knife, beating, rape, etc.
Where is it, LOCATION, at be very specific as the bar, 7 11, bus stop, alley, and cross streets.
When time is it occuring, which would be "RIGHT NOW"
Why as an example the offenders calling him "GAY".

[Pep04]

Honestly, I would not get involved. Growing up and living in a big city like Miami, you see a lot of crap go down over the years.

I too am totally on board with David. Call 911 and get out quick. If the perp sees you or thinks you are calling the police, he will go for you. If he has a gun or knife, then you are in serious trouble.

I don't even pull over when I see someone broken down unless I have someone else in the car with me. There have been plenty of muggings that have occurred that way. A little old lady stands by her car in a 100 degree August. When you stop to help her, 2 guys with guns jump out from the bushes to rob you blind. There have been killings as well.

So, no. Knowing what I know, I would not get involved. And just to note, my guess is that 99.99999% of people that commit these types of crimes are wimpy little b*tches. But, you have to assume they are armed. If guns were out of the question, then I might. But I am genuinely scared of gun totting thugs that have no scruples.

[Mike B]

If a situation like that were REALLY happening right in front of me, I WOULD intervene.
IF they had a gun, forget it.
Either way, I would definitely call 911 first.

[PeteNYC13]

A guy was beating "his girl" on the streets of NYC a few years ago... late at night in front of our building. I made enough noise so that he knew we were there but was safely at a distance. My wife called 911 and no joke within 20-25 seconds there were two marked cars and a plain clothes unit on the curb with the guy face down on the cement.

I felt we did the right thing but to this day, I wish I was able to stop him without waiting those extra few seconds (and any extra abuse she took) - but, you never know what weapon the guy has on him or what drug he is on.

-Pete

[Safetrends]

Originally Posted by PeteNYC13

A guy was beating "his girl" on the streets of NYC a few years ago... late at night in front of our building. I made enough noise so that he knew we were there but was safely at a distance. My wife called 911 and no joke within 20-25 seconds there were two marked cars and a plain clothes unit on the curb with the guy face down on the cement.

I felt we did the right thing but to this day, I wish I was able to stop him without waiting those extra few seconds (and any extra abuse she took) - but, you never know what weapon the guy has on him or what drug he is on. I was in my short and a t-shirt, nothing to even defend myself if needed.

-Pete

Pete you did great, remember your safety first, you need to remember your family needs you home and safe and that guy could have injured you.

As a law enforcement officer in the 1980's I was really happy if I found someone who just told me what happened so I can start somewhere without using his name.

As I said before call 911 and watch the suitation, call it in and you do not have to give your name.

[Dr.Brian]

About 15 years ago I was walking with my girlfriend in LA and came across a small older man being wailed on by a huge guy who was probably 40. It was early evening, still a little light out, a few blocks off a major bar/rest/shopping area. There was no traffic on the side street and no one else nearby. They were across the street and came flying, literally, out of a Pizza joint. I yelled, in my best interpretation of Hulk Hogan, something along the lines of "Hey, stop that! WTF are you doing!" He looked up and eyeballed me. I yelled for him to leave that old man alone. The guy tried to get up and he slammed him down again and continued to yell at him and kicked him again. I yelled again, "God Damn it, leave that guy alone" and moved, cautiously off the sidewalk and into the street. He looked up and eyeballed me again, yelling something about him being a drunk and throwing up in his restaurant. He had him by the collar and was shaking him. So here I am on a strange side street a few blocks off a well traveled place that I feel comfortable, but pretty much alone and no cell phone.
I puffed myself up, moved 1/2 way across the street, and again channeling my inner Hulk Hogan, I said "Listen up Mother F'er if you hit that old man one more time I'm going to throw your fat a$$ through your plate glass window."
Well that really got his attention. I was a pretty fit 6'2" 190 lbs, so no lightweight. But, he was around 6 feet but probably closer to 300 lbs, fat yes but broad as a barn. I could have been in some serious trouble.
He apparently didn't like his odds anymore and backed down cursing at me and the guy, and bitching about him throwing up. I told the old dude (60+ 150 lbs) that he better get out of there. I didn't have to tell him twice. I went back to the other side of the street and the big dude went back into his shop, continuing to yell at the old dude. You bet your backside I was looking over my shoulder as we went on our way, and we took a different street back to the car.
I was an athlete in college, so I had some "swagger", enough to probably make the big guy think that I could walk the walk. It's always good to be tall too. In reality I was NOT looking forward to sparring with an older guy that probably had close to 100 lbs on me. BUT, I was so genuinely incensed to see some little old guy getting destroyed by some huge dumb bastard, I was not going to let that happen.
Now, I have a lot to lose, 1 on 3 is not good odds. I might yell something, as I'm calling 911, but I'm not likely to get much more involved than that. Odds are one has a weapon as well. If I thought that they were going to beat him to death, I might be more likely to get more involved. Any visible weapons, no way.
Well, that's my tale. My GF was freaking out and would not have been much help, all 5'6 110 lbs of her. She could have run for help though, in her heels.

[keschete]

Originally Posted by axxeman01

ABC has this "thing", not sure if it's a program or not, but I found a few clips on youtube about this thing they do, going out and setting up what I will call various challenges, and filming the whole thing.
]

The show is called "What would you do?" with John Quinones....it is a really good show. They make sure that people don't do anything crazy, but film different "moral dilemmas" that are performed by actors and see what bystanders will do. They are careful so things do not get out of hand.

This series shows up every season and usually has 2 or 3 episodes. They address domestic abuse, drunk driving, racism, crime, and many other topics to see how bystanders react and then they have a psychologist or other expert analyze why people do what they do.

Its a good show.

[Mockingbird]

Call 911. If they see me and get angry or something along those lines and begin to pose a threat to me I can defend myself. (I've been boxing and taking Muay Thai for 6 years)
Really the safest thing to do is call the polic and don't get involved though.

[swissautopro]

My son and I were out on our hunting property over the weekend and he was telling me about this show. The episode he told me about was in regard to a physically abusive spouse/boyfriend ... something like that. Anyway, we had this very discussion. I have to say, as two guys who abhor violence, particularly against women and children, in addition to the fact that I was an on-call volunteer for a battered women's shelter for many years, we would step in.

In a case like the one described by the OP, I would step in. I have done it before, and I would do it again. It's not fun, and there is serious risk, but I just couldn't walk away from something like that.

[Brunotheboxer]

I used to know this guy that once got involved. His name was Vin.

[BarkMaster]

There are some situations where I would probably intervene and others where I would not: it totally depends on the circumstances... a dead hero is of no use to my family.

For instance, if I am with my wife and/or child, I would remove us all from the scene as quickly as possible and then call 911.

Also depends on the surroundings, number/age/size of people around, weapons involved, etc.

It's really hard to say without being faced with that (which I have not).