ME, I try to "exit" the area and call 911 on my out (lol).

I live in A low income housing project been here for 36yrs
I have learned that you
SEE NOTHING
HEAR NOTHING
SAY NOTHING

Rosie, I totally understand.

I lived in the "ghetto" for 14 years and thank goodness was able to move this year.

I remember nights of "gun shots" and after awhile I was able to go back to sleep - but it took years to be able to do this.

And I stayed on the floor just in case any shots came through my window.

I guess I would want someone to call "911" if I needed help.....

I NEVER get involved, but will call if I can do it without anyone seeing me do this. I love my life and not about to get killed over some "drug" deal gone bad.

Depending on the circumstances:

• Call the Police with a detailed description of the situation and persons involved
• Intervine myself and hold the perps 'till the Police show up
  
• Intervene; Then go - leave the Police and other emergency services to sort out the mess, making sure that there is little chance of any 'comeback' on me

Ian, you are my kind of person as so many people will not even call 911.

I am timid, so I will call 911 if I can do it without being "shot" at (lol)

But rather not get involved or let the criminals know I called.

I guess I saw too much in the "ghetto" where I lived for 14 years....... There were so many "bad" cops that patrolled my hood.

That's a reasonable attitude to have considering the corruption angle. When I Lived in the Zona Rosa area of Mexico City back in the '70s there was a lot of corruption in the local police too. I was lucky that, as Dad worked for the British Embassy, I had diplomatic immunity that trumped local police powers.

So when I stood up for the 'little guy' and the local animals it meant that the corrupt cop, the main weapon against outside interference used by the gangs, could not be used. Closest I ever got to being a superhero (heh heh)

Now in the UK we have less of a problem with police corruption but it means I have to be more circumspect in stamping on the bad guys. I'll always remember when I worked as visiting Pagan Chaplain for the local prisons and the Security Manager in the high security one asked if I had any concerns about working there

"Yes" I replied "I have used my right of Citizens Arrest a few times over the years and am worried I might run into some of them in here"

"What sort of people and charges"? He asked

"Well, two burglars, eight shoplifters, several vandals, three people running away from the police..." The list was quite long and even included a couple of litter louts.

The look on his face- wish I'd had a camera

Ian, you are BRAVE. There is no way I would be going into those prisons if I was in your shoes (lol).

Thanks for the "chuckle"

Well, once they're 'inside' you have to reform them otherwise prisons are little more than warehouses or Universities of Crime.
Prison Chaplains in the UK do get quite a lot of respect from the inmates particularly with spiritual paths such as Paganism with its' perceived power.

It was also nice to work in a positive multifaith environment with all the different paths doing their best to help the inmates and staff.

Do you still do this?

Sadly not, the local paper ran a scare story that was picked up internationally and the Pagan Federation withdrew their support. The Prison system was happy to have me back but couldn't do so without the PFs support. I was able to do this job for several years and hope I helped people on the path to non-criminality when they were released.

Some of this is in my Bellaonline bio here:

BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

I almost always call 911 if I see something going on. Shortly after I left my abuser, i was walking home from the corner store and a guy was standing over this lady who was crying and holding her face as she laid on the ground. I slowed and asked her if she was ok, he swung around and said she's ok. I said I asked HER if SHE is ok. He didn't know what to say, I guess a woman never stood up to him before. My apartment buidling was less then a block away. I called the police and watched her from my porch. She was able to get up and walk away from him. He was screaming and screaming at her. I eventually went to court over it as a witness. She didn't show up to the hearing but because of me being there he went to jail. I don't know what happened to her afterwards.

Definitely summon help, but only after removing myself to a safe distance. I get people not wanting to be physically involved for their own safety, but I don't see why people who could safely call for help don't. The Kitty Genovese story always made me angry and sad. Any one of her neighbors might have saved her life with a simple phone call from the privacy and safety of their home.

I have not really seen any crimes and I live in Tampa, FL.

Definitely a call to 911....most likely from a safe place.

What else I would do....depends on the circumstances and the adrenalin in my system at the time.

ps...BRAVO Ninja and Jeannette!!

Got lost in Tampa trying to find the beach (eventually went to Clearwater0. Even the backstreets seemed very quiet

I get involved and not necessarily from a distance, but I�ve always had more guts than brains.

If I hear/see a child being abused, I make the appropriate phone call. I've never seen a seriously dangerous situation involving children, but I'd grab a baseball bat and jump in for a kid.
If an adult is being injured I intervene unless they all look like drug dealers/addicts, then I see nothing. That�s a loaded statement because of course you can�t always tell �but you know what I mean. Sometimes it�s obvious what the deal is.

I�ve stepped in between domestic violence more than once.

When I was in college I had this great third floor apartment across from the college. I had lived there about a year when drug dealers moved into the apt directly across the street. My great place turned into a nightmare with people coming and going all hours of the night.
Calling the cops was useless so I started video taping all the cars coming and going from my front living room window. I knew that the police couldn�t use that as evidence but I wanted it anyway. It only took a week for me to start opening the window so they could all see the camera on them. At some point cars began just pulling up out front and laying on the horn for someone to run out to them. I guess they wanted to speed up the process of buying. It was the last straw for me. I took the video camera down onto the street and walked up to their license plates with it. From that day on, every time a car pulled up in front of their place I walked down three flights with a huge video camera resting on my shoulder ( back in the eighties they looked like the ones used to film movies) and I�d march right up to their rear plate with it and then would wave at the driver and smile.

People told me I was nuts and that I was going to get killed. The drug dealers moved out about 6 weeks later. It�s hard to do business with a nutty blond filming all of your customers.

Crime makes me feel outraged and I am compelled to take action even if it�s risky. Perhaps I�d rather be dead then to feel like a helpless victim. I�m not saying that it�s a good attitude to have, but it�s mine.

I'm sensitive to my surroundings in the first place. So I kind of have a plan A.) B.) C.) and i've a few reasons for that and I live in a low income housing project too.

What took 7.5 years to afford (for me anyway) in terms of a "nice" apartment, went down hill in less than 1 month when they moved a chicago ghetto into apartment buildings and subsidized (sp) the 2/bed, 2 bath, fireplace, balcony, walk-in closets...white carpeting, dishwasher and laundry machine inside.

I now live in a similar place and I'm not keen on the "victim system" but this is a low income housing project and I'm in it and it's similar to the above scenario. The first situation I worked my A$$ off to get to, this one, you just walk in and say 'm pregnant, I can't, etc....and it's given to you. I'm told it wasn't always like this, it was like the place I had to work for and it is pretty and I'm greatful.

But, because of my first situation, i now take pictures, write down license plates andkeep them in a back up file "should" something happen and my husband knows what to do.

I've come to realize, being afraid is what they want. So I will dial 911 or be the one that dies trying. Without your fear they have nothing and the reasons for entitlement go well beyond not only this century but the next one to come.

Elleise, that�s EXACTLY right. The criminals �want� you to be too intimidated and afraid to speak up. They are counting on it.

Murder is a really serious crime and most people aren�t going to resort to that.

I was never even threatened for doing what I did. TV has us all convinced that if we don�t hide in our holes like timid little moles that we�ll end up dead. It really isn�t true.


I am so sensitive that I cannot bear to watch the news, and yet I am a lion when confronted with injustice in every day life. Being a passive observer is the ultimate pain for me, and that is why I act. It has nothing to do with bravery or courage. It is merely pain avoidance.

After having my window shot at
And living where i do
I am more inclined to keep my shades down
I love how every one would get involved
I did
And at 63yrs old i can't run like i use to
Because the gangs here will chase you
And if they don't get you they will get some one in your family
I don't want to sound like a coward
But i learned the hard way
Now
I see nothing, Just keep my shades down

This happens when the people involved know it was you that called the cops etc. The art is to make sure that a/ you leave no trace. & b/ any trace you may leave leads back to more criminals.
That way you let the gangs pick on each other
In Chinese strategy this is called "Sit across the river and watch the tigers fight."

Rosie, I don't blame you for keeping to yourself, and I don't think anyone would. You have to protect yourself and your family first, which is why I would never physically intervene in a crime in progress. Although I'm a little gal, so I couldn't do a whole lot of good anyway. The best I could hope to do is a short physical attack that allowed me just enough time to escape-don't know that that would help another person.

Ian, good strategy and definitely the way to go. Let them sort it out, hopefully that will solve the entire problem for your neighborhood.

That's a sensible attitude to have, but even a short attack can have devastating effects. When I lived in Mexico City back in the '70s self defence skills were needed nearly every day and one of the first things I learned from the Bruce Tegner books was the hop out the way and stamp on the side of the knee. Highly effective and little effort required.

I soon found I could adapt it to help other sentient beings (usually animals) being attacked by groups by 'duck hunting'. That is moving in behind the group, and stamping on the top of the calm of the rearmost one, grab him under the jaw to stop any noise and the hair on the top of the head at the same time. Step back, rotating his head until his head nose was uppermost. Then move to the side at the same time releasing the hair and placing that hand on his forehead. Then 'fire' his head down at the pavement by straightening my arms in one move -like bouncing a basketball. Then move on and repeat until the rest of the group became aware of me

I once 'took out' four of a six strong gang before the last two realized what had happened, they decided the odds were not in their favour and ran off!

There are also martial arts such as Wing Chung which are designed around science rather than strength that are reasonably quick to learn and highly effective.

Rosie, what I would do because like you I used to live in the ghetto for 14 years up until January 2010 - call in stuff anonymously making sure to "block" my number as they have caller id on the 911 system. This way I could see the action through my blinds (making sure my apartment was in total darkness). The sad part is if we don't get involved, they will shoot you just because they can and may be aiming at someone else. I don't even trust the neighborhood watch they had, the apartment manager or the police. I ALWAYS did things on my own and other than my daughter and God, no one knew what I was doing. And God protected me - never got robbed or broken into the 14 years I was there. If the gang is not nipped, they move in more members and soon they OWN the complex. Sad, but true and I saw it over the years at that complex. But I would only concentrate on what was MY area, not into meddling or trying to be no hero. And with taking the city bus after my car got old, made it more "critical" for me to be able to come home and leave home safely. I ALWAYS said hello to EVERYONE, not trying to be friends, but I used this to watch and observe. I stopped hanging outside on my porch as things got really bad as the years went by. Again, due to people not getting involved and the gangs taking over. Stay safe Rosie You are doing what you need to be doing for you and that is what counts. There will be others like Ian who are BRAVER than we are. And I am glad there are folks like that. I just call in info (lol). I guess I am the "office support" and they are the "workers".....

That last word should actually read 'calf' as in bottom half of the leg.

It is usually harder to stamp out crime on your own doorstep than when encountering it when outside your own area. There you do have to be discreet unless you have an edge such as diplomatic immunity, being co-ordinator of the Neighbourhood Watch, or something similar. Without that all you can do is observe and report anonymously - preferably using cut-outs such as "crimestoppers".

Hi Ian:

I don't care what security I may get, even the White House can't protect the presidents if someone wants to hurt them (lol).

Some folks are mean't to get involved physically and some like me, anonymously. I love my life too much to risk it or be stressed out about which "security" person is not really one.

As usual, enjoy your feedback.

Angela

I think I'd call the police from a safe distance, but here's what a LOL (little old lady, as Herb Caen used to call them in the San Francisco Chron) did.

LOL foils jewellery store robbery

She sees this gang smashing a jewellery store window with sledgehammers. But she's armed with a superior weapon: a handbag! She lays into them with the bag. Three of them try to escape in panic on a scooter and fall over. Whereupon she whacks them again.

A friend of mine commented "Notice none of the blokes approaches them until she's got them on the ground..."

Thanks for your suggestion ....

but without your help no one can help to any body

Edited to remove link to commercial website. Please review TOS re:external links here. Thanks, Donna