OldMarksman
Staff
If I see someone beating an unarmed woman or kicking an unconscious guy on the ground then I'm doing something about it.
OK.
Two or three years ago a business associate of mine witnessed a neighbor striking his/her spouse with a shovel. The spouse was on the ground, apparently defenseless.
My business associate called 911. He undoubtedly felt, as I would, that he was morally obliged to do so.
The "victim" survived. The neighbors--the whole family, three generations-- then attempted to poison my friend's dogs, threatened his wife, and destroyed his lawn, and my friend had to move. Don't expect to be called a hero.
That's one reason LEOs hate domestic disturbance calls.
And that's just what that scene of someone being harmed wrongly could turn out to be.
Earlier, David Armstrong said "Personally I teach intervene when it will not put you in great danger or when the intervention will not make the problem worse, and using deadly force only when you or your family/friends are in danger of death or great harm. The legal ramifications are too great to ignore or disregard when you intervene, and there are lots of really questionable problems out there that can backfire in a minute and you end up doing time."
That is consistent with all of the qalified advice I have ever seen or heard on the subject.
I do not mean this to sound unkind, but I believe he has a whole lot more knowledge and experience than most of the people who have contributed to this thread.
I have thought a lot about what he said, and I think it's excellent advice.
Some former policeman I know won't even draw to defend friends--or so they say. Lack of morality? No. They simply understand the potential consequences.
I'm fine in leaving the person's motive between them and God as long as they stop a rape/murder/kidnapping etc.
That sounds great. But where the potential consequences come in is when what you have stopped turns out not to have been a "rape/murder/kidnapping etc.". Things are not always as they appear.
Injure one spouse or brother in what turns out to have been a most brutal domestic altercation and see how long it takes for both of them to sign a complaint and file suit against you. Stop one degenerate thug from beating another and see what it gets you. Intervene when a parent is trying to help a daughter who is in the dangerous throes of a grand mal seizure and consider the consequences, legal and moral. And remember, unless you are a sworn officer, you're entirely on your own!