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03/20/2006 Archived Entry: "Why bother"

I am becoming more and more jaded. I have a definitive lack of faith in the law enforcement in this area.
I understand that there are laws out there and I believe in many of the laws and a few I disagree with and there are some beyond comprehension.

I am not so accepting of hearing how cops have their hands tied. I know that there are some limits but law enforcement still has many avenues available to it that normal citizens do not.

Today as I was driving into Delray Beach to pick up my wife from her job, since her car is in the shop. I came to the intersection that leads toward where she works. The intersection gets crowded with traffic during rush hour. As traffic came to a halt I had notice the occupants of a car in front of me rush out and suddenly attack the occupant of another car that was traveling in the opposite direction. Two women rushed this woman sitting in the other car and started hitting her and trying to pull her out of the car. She tried to drive off but traffic was so congested there was nowhere she could really go. I was on the phone with 911 as soon as the beatings began. I step out and yelled for the women to stop. I was not going to step into the middle of it. As soon as traffic started to flow the victim took off with the flow of traffic. The women in the car in front of me got back in their car and started to drive off. I followed still giving tag numbers and car descriptions to 911. When the 911 operator told me that since the fight had broken up and the victim hadn't contacted the police there was nothing she would do.

I was furious. Here I was trying to do the right thing and do it in real time and still the police won't do squat. I had followed the car up till the point that I needed to make a right to pick up my wife I had given the police more than enough information and been on the phone with them for long enough that they could have had an officer in my area. Oh, did I mention the police station is less than a mile away from where all of this happened. Also all of the other cars there and all of the neighbors who rushed out during the commotion and how many people called the police? Just one person, me. So while this is a failing of law enforcement, it is also a failing of the community, who are more than happy to watch a train wreck but forget actually making a difference by reporting the assault.

I picked up my wife and turned around and went to the police station looking to file some type of a report with Internal Affairs. After being told there was no complaint document, I was told I could speak with the sergeant in charge. So I did. I got the standard response of no victim, no crime. Basically because there were no guns or blood or injured third parties bleeding on the ground the cops really couldn't do anything.

Now I haven't read the specific laws that would pertain to assault and to prosecution allowances. I don't plan on it right now. I understand the concept of burden of proof. I understand the need for proper investigation procedure. I agree with innocent until proven guilty. I don't agree with cops who play politics instead of doing what they were designed to do. Protect the citizens of their community.

You want to know why crimes aren't reported because the following happens when you do:
1. There is a great likelihood that the police will do nothing, and you have wasted your time.
2. You will have to be a witness and that will mean you miss work and have your life inconvinced and basically waste your time.
3. The District Attorney will at the last moment drop charges and you will have wasted your time.

I am expected to show up for jury duty and waste my time. I am expected to do the right thing and report crimes and waste my time. The police officer was very happy that I had called 911 and done the right thing, but I wonder why he didn't go after the the the women in the car when he had enough information to at least bring them in for questioning. Maybe it was a waste of his time.