Police brutality: would you intervene?

[Jedoro]

I'd get my phone out and start recording, because two men with guns > one man with a gun, and I'd inform them that they're being recorded now. If I had a buddy, I'd get 'em to call 911 and report the situation, hopefully get some other officers to at least save the suspect's life. If I did feel the need to intervene, I'd approach their car from behind and grab the shotgun/rifle up front, because if I'm gonna be outnumbered, I may as well have the bigger gun.

 

[370999]

I would try to intervene. Not as in throwing myself at one of them swinging my fists, that's stupid as the blood is probably up, but rather anything to try and get these guys to calm down and stop beating your man.

Really though it depends on the situation.

 

[A.A.K]

I would instinctively fight the police officers.

What they're doing is wrong. I guess my brain considers it a moral equalizer.

 

[Erttheking]

This is one of those "depends on the situation" things.

 

[Kae]

I know myself, I'm pretty stupid when it comes to situations like these, I'd either start yelling at the policemen to stop or just start fighting them altogether, I've never been one to consider the consequences of my actions, so it's not really surprising, besides I have been stopped from punching a soldier before, so I'd doubt the uniform would stop me.
[sub]EDIT: To be fair I also feel like I'm invincible most of the time, so that may have something to do with it.[/sub]

 

[thethird0611]

Im pretty sure alot of the answers here arent 100% correct, that includes mine. To many confounding variables that conflict with social desirability.

My own personal answer? I dont fully know. Id probably call more officers to the scene to stop them.

Most people wont directly get involved because of a few factors. The 'authority' factor; because they are officers, you shouldn't intervene. The 'life preservation' factor; If you get involved, you'll most likely get hurt. The last one I can see is the 'bystander effect'; Meaning if there's multiple people there, your less likely to intervene.

Also, until you see someone in the situation, because of social desirability, you probably wont get a good answer.

 

[Joccaren]

In the UK they don't. Also, if you live in the USA you likely have access to guns anyway.

The odds could easily be balanced out with a solid melee weapon with decent reach.

Also, this is about a life or death situation. The handcuffed person will die if you don't intervene.

Well, I would have gone with simply filming it until you said life or death. As stupid as it might sound, in theory I'll always choose my own life to end instead of someone else's. Life or death, I'd hate myself for the rest of my life if I did not try to help someone. Of course, fear could get in the way, but if it came down to it, I'd probably film some, upload quickly, then find a nearby sharp object and attempt to disable them. Try to take one by surprise. Odds are I'll end up dead. Hopefully I'll have injured the officers enough that they decide to run off rather than continue their assault.
Unrealistic? Sure. But it would be against everything I stand for not to try.

 

[iseko]

story: A policeman got stabbed. The perp was out of jail before the officer was out of the hospital. Another policeman got stabbed by same perp. Again the perp was out of jail before that officer was out of the hospital.

True story about my country. Our legal system is F'ed up. And this story is a little background for my answer. And there are thousands of stories like that. In our capitol they are not even arresting people anymore for A) carrying an illegal weapon B) stealing a car C) selling drugs. No, the idea now is that they kindly ask the gentleman to report to the nearest police station. I could give you links but they are in dutch (the country is belgium).

Answer: It depends. If I see a guy getting beaten the shit out of him. And he looks like one of those guys who would do something like stabbing a police officer. Or anyone for that matter. And yes you can easily tell by the way they look if they would do something like that. Don't tell me you can't because you can. I'd say: give the officers a medal. If they don't put them in jail, the least they can do is put them in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives.

On the other hand. Another story: Police officers were standing on a parking lot to do speed checks. The owner of that parking lot (store owner) had a son who died because of speeding checks. The flash of the camera surprised him and as a result he had a fatal accident. The father was a 56 year old man. He asked the police to get of his property (his right). The officers beat the living daylight out of him. Cuffed him, maced him, asked for reinforcements to beat on him some more.

Sadly this is also a true story. In this scenario I think the electric chair comes to mind.

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

I'd find something sharp and kill the policemen before they could kill the innocent. Hey, I always wanted to be an assassin that fought for truth and justice, may as well start there.

 

[Reginald]

If the police are likely to kill or severely injure a man, I'd definitely step in, try to convince the officers to calm down. If that didn't work, I'd try physical means. Being injured, facing fines, or being put away for a while wouldn't bother me in the slightest if I saved a life, or stopped someone from becoming a vegetable. And, if I died, at least I'd die doing the right thing. Sure, I could be selfish, or cowardly, and stay out of it, but my conscience, principals, and my honour won't allow that. I could film the officers, but let's be frank, the sort of copper who would beat a man to within an inch of his life wouldn't hesitate to confiscate and destroy evidence of his wrongdoing. And by the time I send the video to a contact, it'll be to late to do anything about the victim.

Of course, if I the guy getting beaten did something really, really awful, I could possibly turn a blind eye.

 

[Saulkar]

Depends on the circumstances.


Ohh-h-h-h fuck yes-s-s-s-s!

*ORGASM*

 

[JochemHippie]

Film it and send it to the press. They love juicy stories.


Atleast then you can get to him, probably ruin his career. Instead of going to the pen yourself for assaulting a officer.

 

[Quaxar]

Depends on the circumstances.


Ohh-h-h-h fuck yes-s-s-s-s!

*ORGASM*

So... a fan runs over the field where he isn't allowed to be, gets subdued, he gets four rather soft punches with a baton (compared to what you actually can do with these) probably because he's resisting arrest, maybe he's even biting/hitting and suddenly everybody turns against them?
What a fine move from these players indeed...

 

[Starik20X6]

If I'm out and about, there's a high chance I have my helmet, gloves and armoured riding jacket with me, so yeah, I'd intervene. Provided the circumstances were like the OP in that the person had done nothing wrong.

 

[Phasmal]

I'd have to just film it, I'm a petite woman who wouldn't really match up to two police officers- so that kind of rules out physically intervening.
And also shout and get more people to come and see- more witnesses and all that.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Well, I'm supposed to film it and all...but if the police are going to beat someone up for no good reason, they probably aren't going to overlook beating up people filming them.

 

[Padwolf]

I would film it and then report it. If I went in there and tried to stop it I would probably cause more trouble for the victim and myself. However, if the victim is mouthing off and being an arse, then I will just walk on and do nothing.

 

[twistedmic]

Depends on the circumstances.


Ohh-h-h-h fuck yes-s-s-s-s!

*ORGASM*

What's wrong with you, and everyone else who 'loves' this video, that you think it's okay or admirable to attack someone doing their job? Those police officers (if they are cops instead of stadium security) could easily and quickly been murdered by the mob, esspecially the one who was surrounded by ten or more people punching and kicking him.