I will remember what the cops have done in the past working for the gov being just glorified tax collectors at the barrel of a gun.
For someone in his posts seems to be such a stallwart of the individual and of individual rights, you sure do pass judgment on the individual--and in this case also exact your own form of punishment via inaction--based upon the percieved acts of OTHERS
similar to him.
I view everyone as individuals with their own freewill. I do not cast aspersions and judgments upon others based upon whatever class, group, or profession of which they may be apart, particularly when actions resulting from said judgment are in the realm of life and death.
I'm sorry some people have had such a bad expeirience with jack-booted thugs--who by they way, are forced to carry out orders issued by their superiors that have been adjudicated legal by Constitutional tribunals.
In MA, likely backup is only a few minutes away and they will also react to what they see upon arrival!
My personal take on this all depends on PRECISE CIRCUMSTANCES involved and can't be generalized.
Agreed. I work in a town in the eastern part of the state where, becuase of the way the roads are laid out combined with the density of the population and overnight manning posture, my backup could easily be 15 minutes out. Even if you happen to be one of 12 cops on the road in a town that's 4 square miles, if everyone else is tied up on other stuff, backup is still a ways out--and all that assuming you can get to your radio to yell for help while you're rolling around with the d-bag.
I know of a few situations where citizens have helped out and it has been most certainly appreciated. About 15 years ago, one of my colleauges in my department stopped a driver he suspected was intoxicated. The driver--who was loaded on PCP--got out and THREW him, an officer easily 220 lbs. PLUS, over the roof of the stopped car. A passing motorist who happened to see this stopped and the two of them were able to handle the guy until others arrived. Had it not been for the motorist, my department might very well have another name on the D.C. Memorial.
Any decision you make will indeed be completely fact-specific. Safe to say however, if you see some guy beating the ever-loving bejesus out of a cop at roadside, I doubt you have anything to worry about.
The thing that pisses me off is that I blame this not on spinelessness, but on the fact we live in a state where our elected officials have gone on record as prefering to "discourage people from self-help". This has created this atmosphere of "not my problem" and "I don't wanna get involved".
And for those who say you have no duty to help--legally, you're 100% correct. But morally, you couldn't be more wrong.