Recently, one of my “worst fears” (I have a few) were
realized. A potential emergency was erupting outside. Two individuals, who were
probably both mentally ill and under the influence of narcotics, were wandering
around the complex screaming at each other and third persons that might or
might not have actually existed. It was mildly annoying right up until they
started walking up the lawn for my neighbors’ and I.
It appeared to me that they were going to walk up to my
door, as they appeared lost and agitated trying to find whoever they were
looking for. No one wants to be the person whose home is mistaken for a drug
dealer or friend or relative of someone who is not playing with a full deck.
Playing real-life “Dave’s not here man,” with a pissed off nutcase or junkie who
wants inside now is not fun,
especially if all you’re holding is a bath towel.
Had things gone pear-shaped, I would have had less than 30 seconds before NRS 200.120
might have applied. Being buck naked and shower fresh, I had to jump into
clothing, grab my gun, and call 911. I’m not this
guy (NSFW). My neighbor, who hadn’t been in the shower, came out and ran
off the couple, who continued to wander the area, but a little quieter this time.
Frankly, I don’t get paid to deal with that stuff anymore.
I really don’t like having to call 911. Being ex-law
enforcement, I obviously have no compunction about informing the police about a
situation, even if my call record at headquarters makes me look like the
neighborhood busybody. Part of me wonders if I’ve gotten soft; the “let the
cops deal with it” response seems to be a recurring theme among ex- or retired
law enforcement. Within five minutes of my call, the police had arrived and
corralled the free-range weirdos.
Back in 1964, New Yorker Kitty Genovese
was murdered outside an apartment complex while 36-38 neighbors did nothing
about it after hearing her screams, or so the story goes. The details are a
little more complex; it was a cold winter morning when windows would be closed,
most were asleep at 2 AM, and all but two of the witnesses saw/heard enough to
know what was going on. Most mistook it as a domestic violence incident, not
something to call the police over back then. Police did not respond as they
viewed it as unimportant.
The rest didn’t want to get involved, or didn’t care,
depending on the version of the story. Taking the apocryphal story at face
value, it does tell us something about our human nature, which is that often
people don’t get involved, assuming that others are calling the police, are
better able to deal with the situation, or feel it’s none of their business.
Some are just afraid. Why the responses in psychological testing are real, the
Genovese story was badly exaggerated.
The real story tells us more about how important critical
information of the nature of the incident is. In the real Genovese story, only
one man yelled at the attacker, which scared him off for a few minutes, before
he returned again to deliver the fatal wounds. This “good Samaritan” thought it
was domestic violence as well and let it alone when the man left. Only two
people called police who failed to respond, deeming it domestic violence (not a
priority in the enlightened early ‘60s).
That cold early morning in 1964, no one really knew that
Kitty was being stabbed to death. No one had a full picture of the actual
events. What I learned in chatting with my next door neighbors is that this schizo-fest
had been going on for twenty minutes. They caught bits and pieces as the wild
weirdos roamed around our development. My neighbors only saw part of what was
going on, assuming it was non-violent domestic or the morons were just lost and
irritated (as it turned out to be). When they approached our homes was when my
neighbor went out to deal with the situation. Our interpretations of the
situation differed because of different observations.
In my experience, seeing what was likely mental illness and
drugs, the last thing I wanted was to yell and become a target myself. Not for
a confrontation, not for an attempted burglary, not for later retaliation. Even
if I would be in my legal rights to shoot, should it come to it, I’d rather
not. Let the guys with vests, Tasers, pepper spray, batons, and lots of lawyers
and insurance deal with it. I’ve seen people shout back at unmedicated
schizophrenics in crisis or couples in domestic arguments and I’ve seen the
do-gooder become the target for violence or mistake the aggressor for the victim.
Each course of action is a personal choice, but both require
awareness and knowledge. No two person’s experiences will be the same, both in
the moment of crisis and their life experience, or they approach to dealing
with situations, but being unprepared is always dangerous. What if my neighbor
hadn’t been monitoring these people and known they were unlikely to pose a
threat to him? What if he was not mentally and physically prepared for a
confrontation as he is and the situation escalated? What if I charged out and
decided to “preempt” a burglary? Information matters.
Most disturbingly, no one else I’m aware of got involved,
which is where the
bystander effect comes into play. I was the only one to call 911. There have
to be at least a dozen families or people home just on the street side of me
where I first saw these fine, toothless and upstanding members of our community.
Again, only two of us did anything. Perhaps it is a little like the truth of
the Genovese story; no one knew fully what was going on or perceived danger
except us two. Perhaps the loud hum of air conditioning and the noise of TV,
etc. made the situation invisible to the other neighbors behind their closed
blinds and curtains.
Imagine if they had come to my door and I had been a bit
longer in the shower. Next thing I know, there’s pounding at the door and I’m
naked and wet. Situational awareness
is vitally important at home. Home should be the one place where you can be in
Code White, but being totally obvious to the outside world is a bad thing.
Imagine if I ignored what was going on and they came to the door? That 30
seconds just dropped to zero. That’s why people home carry.
Home carry is a personal choice, just like a person’s choice
to intervene. By nature, I’m a reserved person. I’d rather not get involved if I
don’t have to. My neighbor is more outgoing and more aggressive, not minding
getting down if necessary. Everyone is different. Had they simply been loud, I
probably would have said something too, if they didn’t move on. He also had a
different perspective, which is vitally important. He saw idiots yelling at
each other and being loud; I saw a potentially violent situation.
Not everyone is going to be a tall, strong man confident of
ourselves in times of conflict like my neighbor and I. The police aren’t always
going to have a slow night and literally just minutes away. You may not have
the full picture and you may not have any warning. All you can do is be
prepared to defend your home at a second’s notice. One thing is for sure; when you ignore trouble outside out of fear of dealing with it or calling the police, that's when you neighborhood starts to turn into a craphole.
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