Why The Cops Won't Help You When You're Getting Stabbed
CrackedCited 4× on HN, 2018–2021
commentary · general · evergreen · 2018–2021 on HN
A Cracked video about the experience of intervening in a violent stabbing attack and the lack of police protection afterwards.
HN uses it as a pointer for the claim that US police have no legal duty to protect individuals.
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4 comments from Hacker News
Related: the video "Why The Cops Won't Help You When You're Getting Stabbed" ▶ this video TL;DW: In the US, the police owes you no protection. See link
This argument is based on the false premise that the state will 'force' the labor of a police officer (or others) to protect your rights. It does not. See Lozito vs. NYC - an individual was attacked by a drug addict with a knife. In front of 2 cops. They did nothing until the victim subdued the attacker. They then did not try to render aid to the victim. When Lozito sued, the judge dismissed saying the police have no duty to protect anyone. ▶ this video Many marginalized communities realize the state is not there to help or serve them. If your experience is different - it is most likely that it is more of a happy coincidence that the state's interests and your personal interests are temporarily in alignment. There is no guarantees that this will continue for any length of time.
>With this, police will soon stop intervening to stop crimes from happening They already do this and are legally protected to do so. [0][1] The TL;DR is: the police is not legally required to help you, protect you, or take any action, really. Honestly, Lozito v. NYC makes me wonder what exactly the police is required to do, if anything. I'm certain that individual city's City Attorney's office decide this in their contract(s) with the police, but those provisions are unlikely to be directly related to the day-to-day job of officers AFAIK. [0] Lozito v. New York City [1] ▶ this video
Consider this story about a man stabbed on the NYC subway and the police who locked themselves in the train cabin whilst a bystander provided first aid [0]. [0] ▶ this video