Should people who witness a crime face jail for failing to report it?
California police now say as many as 20 people were present at the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a high school homecoming dance last weekend. 10 people were involved in an assault in a back alley at the school that went on for more than two-and-a-half hours. 10 people stood around and watched without calling 9-1-1 to report it. Police say some witnesses took photos, while others laughed.
California law makes it illegal not to report a crime against a child, but the cutoff is 14-years-old. Since the victim in this case is 15, cops say they can't arrest the spectators.
Experts say the reason crimes aren't reported could be a social phenomenon known as "the bystander effect" that means the larger the number of people involved in any situation, the less will get done...
One famous case happened in New York in the 1960s - where people watched or heard a serial killer rape, rob and murder a woman named Kitty Genovese. At the time, one witness said: "I didn't want to be involved."
My question to you: Should people who witness a crime, like the gang rape of a 15-year-old California girl, face jail for failing to report it?
via cnn's cafferty files
California law makes it illegal not to report a crime against a child, but the cutoff is 14-years-old. Since the victim in this case is 15, cops say they can't arrest the spectators.
Experts say the reason crimes aren't reported could be a social phenomenon known as "the bystander effect" that means the larger the number of people involved in any situation, the less will get done...
One famous case happened in New York in the 1960s - where people watched or heard a serial killer rape, rob and murder a woman named Kitty Genovese. At the time, one witness said: "I didn't want to be involved."
My question to you: Should people who witness a crime, like the gang rape of a 15-year-old California girl, face jail for failing to report it?
via cnn's cafferty files
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Aubree on -
You don't need a law to tell you that you should report something this brutal, your heart should just tell you that, and obviously these people ignored that, so they would have ignored a law, too.
That being said, seeing it and not reporting it is one thing... but actively taking part and actually ENJOYING it (laughing, taking pictures, etc.) I think makes you part of the crime itself. If you take pictures while someone kills someone you can be charged as an accomplice, even if you didn't take part in the actual crime, I think the same rule should apply here.
My heart breaks for the girl, it must have been so horrible knowing that no one was helping you.
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