hlmcfa:
This is a topic that has come up before, and I've taken some flack on it in the past. But hey, since you asked, my reasoning is two-fold.
- First, jumping into a situation that you don't fully understand is an excellent way to get killed, injured, or imprisoned. That fight that has been described could be a mugging. It could be a violent felon being taken into custody. It could a mugging victim who has just turned the tables on his attacker. It could be a setup designed to draw you into an ambush. You don't know for sure, and in not knowing it's safer to call the cops and let them sort things out.
- Second, and I know this is going to sound a bit harsh, but why should I risk my life and my freedom to defend someone who was too irresponsible to do it themselves? Leaving out the obvious cases of people who are genuinely unable to see to their own defense, the phrase, "There are no victims, only voluenteers." is very much true. If an able-bodied person is not willing to take a few basic measures for their own security, I have little sympathy for them.
In general, I see to myself, my family, and my friends in roughly that order. I'll call for help, I'll be a good witness, but that's it. That's all I would ask from others.
- Chris