"Mock Muggings" proposed to test public reaction to crime.
Discussion
Should prove interesting reading if they go ahead with it. We were discussing a couple of months ago ways of combating the fear/not-my-problem problems of petty crime, and engaging society to be more self-policing. I wonder if this could bear fruit. It strikes me that crime is still such a rarity in this country that I'd probably be too shellshocked to be much use as a witness, but I'll bet if I'd seen a few bag snathings/whatever, I'd have a slightly more useful attitude to the next one's I witnessed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8244997.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8244997.stm
Sociologists found the answer to this decades ago:
The more crowded the street, the less willing passers-by are to intervene. They all assume someone else will do something.
The less crowded the street, the more willing passers-by are to intervene. They realise that there's no one else around to do so.
The more crowded the street, the less willing passers-by are to intervene. They all assume someone else will do something.
The less crowded the street, the more willing passers-by are to intervene. They realise that there's no one else around to do so.
tted.Brother D said:
Genius... So what happens if during one of these staged 'muggings' someone wades in with a lump of 2x4 and proceeds to disable the 'attacker'...
If I ever "have" to intervene when a mugging is in progress, I might be attacking from the rear and might deliver a stamp kick to the middle of the back or might do a nice low kick to the side of the knee or might hit the mugger over the head with the aforementioned 2x4. For entertainment value, I might even do a flying side kick to the back of the mugger's head or I might do a flying elbow down on the mugger's skull. Quite simply, I don't want the mugger to be sticking a knife in me so you definitely won't see me stepping in front of the mugger and you definitely won't hear me saying, "Please don't mug the little old lady." I might be quite happy for the mugger to be in a wheelchair, though. I might also not bother stopping to give my details to the police.
Have the organisers thought about this?
(That said, I might actually stand aside and use my first aid training to help the victim.)
Edited by ShadownINja on Wednesday 9th September 10:59
I heard this on Radio 4 this morning and although I had concerns about how this might work - the spokesperson for the charity clarified their position.
This is not something that they are actively promoting - it is something that seems to have come about as part of a public consulation.
There was someone on from another (more established) charity (I forget who) who said that doing this has inherent risks (someone wading in with a 2x4 for example) as well as the fact that someone who has been mugged witnessing this might have a panic attack or suffer flashback.
This is not something that they are actively promoting - it is something that seems to have come about as part of a public consulation.
There was someone on from another (more established) charity (I forget who) who said that doing this has inherent risks (someone wading in with a 2x4 for example) as well as the fact that someone who has been mugged witnessing this might have a panic attack or suffer flashback.
james_tigerwoods said:
There was someone on from another (more established) charity (I forget who) who said that doing this has inherent risks (someone wading in with a 2x4 for example) as well as the fact that someone who has been mugged witnessing this might have a panic attack or suffer flashback.
One can only presume that they would have some form of medical emergency response vehicle on standby for such an occurrence.Justayellowbadge said:
james_tigerwoods said:
There was someone on from another (more established) charity (I forget who) who said that doing this has inherent risks (someone wading in with a 2x4 for example) as well as the fact that someone who has been mugged witnessing this might have a panic attack or suffer flashback.
One can only presume that they would have some form of medical emergency response vehicle on standby for such an occurrence.IL_JDM said:
There was an experiment a fair while ago, where peoples reactions were measured dependant on the cry for help.
More people came to help if you shouted "fire" than if you did "rape".
I've heard this. Thing is, if a woman shouts "fire" and the people who turn up see her being raped, do they back off?More people came to help if you shouted "fire" than if you did "rape".
jmorgan said:
Oh great, now people might think its a set up and walk away anyway. The real ones that is.
Well, the point is that they tend to walk away, anyway. Either for fear of being knifed or because it's SEP. If they were more pragmatic they could be a useful witness, and if we could overcome the above mentioned tendency for people in groups to wait for someone else to make a move via improved awareness, it could have some merit as social education. I'd imagine that both the Mugger and Mugged will be actors. Out of curiosity; has anyone ever witnessed/intervened in a mugging/purse snatching/whatever? Closest I've come to being a have-a-go-hero was grassing up a shoplifter, but even then it was pretty blatant. If I saw someone bag-snatch, I'd probably be a bit too dumbstruck initially to make a decision on any action.
glazbagun said:
Out of curiosity; has anyone ever witnessed/intervened in a mugging/purse snatching/whatever? Closest I've come to being a have-a-go-hero was grassing up a shoplifter, but even then it was pretty blatant. If I saw someone bag-snatch, I'd probably be a bit too dumbstruck initially to make a decision on any action.
Yes.A chappy in Dudley was walking behind a woman and I noticed him starting at her bag which was loose off her shoulder so I kept my eye on him. Unsurprisingly he grabbed it and tried to make a run for it......unfortunately for him I was a 17stone winger playing semi-pro rugby at the time and so he had the mother of all tackles bring him to the ground with a bit of a thud
He managed to get up and staggered off while I retrieved the ladies belongings
I would have restrained him but worried he might have a knife or that I'd be arrested by plod for impeding an innocent criminal if and when they turned up. The lady was thankful and we exchanged details in case I had any crap about assault and she'd back me up
Another incident was on a train where I had to look after an old couple been assaulted by a chav group.....worst I suffered there was filthy looks from the other commuters for speaking up against the "yoof"
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