15:35 Someone asked me why I'd boycott the store, my point was that since I don't own any Apple products, I have no reason to go any Apple stores. My teen does, and thus has occasion to go to Apple stores with a question or for service.

Anonymous wrote:Ok all this dickering about what constitutes a 911 or non-emergency line call proves that most of the idiots on DCUM would have been sitting there twiddling their thumbs or arguing with one another about what the appropriate line to call would have been. Someone in the store would have suggested calling 911 and one of you would have jumped in, "Noises from the other side of the wall are not a life threatening emergency, you're wasting resources, go look up the non-emergency line!!"

Not a logical conclusion. Clearly the thread got off track, but most of the "idiots" here have already said that what the Apple employees heard was suspicious enough to call 911.

It doesn't mean that most people are so stupid that we would phone 911 for something that clearly was NOT an emergency, such as a man hitting a dog in a convertible. I do not believe that you are actually incapable of discerning the distinction. I think you have misidentified the "idiot."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The idea that 911 is only for life threatening emergencies is wrong. How do I know it? The MoCo police say so:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/POL/districts/MSB/communications/911/pdf_files/911_Brochure.pdf

Strangely enough, they don't suggest calling 911 if you see a car that has broken down, or even if you see a man strike a dog.

IMHO, "Immediate fear for your personal safety or safety of others" covers both events, if occurring in an area of heavy, fast-moving traffic.

Ok all this dickering about what constitutes a 911 or non-emergency line call proves that most of the idiots on DCUM would have been sitting there twiddling their thumbs or arguing with one another about what the appropriate line to call would have been. Someone in the store would have suggested calling 911 and one of you would have jumped in, "Noises from the other side of the wall are not a life threatening emergency, you're wasting resources, go look up the non-emergency line!!"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The idea that 911 is only for life threatening emergencies is wrong. How do I know it? The MoCo police say so:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/POL/districts/MSB/communications/911/pdf_files/911_Brochure.pdf

Strangely enough, they don't suggest calling 911 if you see a car that has broken down, or even if you see a man strike a dog.

So . . . what do you recommend when you see a a car broken down/overheated/not running in the middle of the interstate?

Anonymous wrote:The idea that 911 is only for life threatening emergencies is wrong. How do I know it? The MoCo police say so:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/POL/districts/MSB/communications/911/pdf_files/911_Brochure.pdf

When to call 9-1-1
For emergencies only….below are some examples of when
to call 9-1-1
• Any life threatening situation
(fights, weapons, personal injury auto collision)
• Sexual assault that is in progress or just occurred
• Immediate fear for your personal safety or safety
of others
• Serious crime in progress
(robbery, burglary, assault)
• Any serious medical problem
• Any type of fire

Anonymous wrote:The idea that 911 is only for life threatening emergencies is wrong. How do I know it? The MoCo police say so:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/POL/districts/MSB/communications/911/pdf_files/911_Brochure.pdf

Strangely enough, they don't suggest calling 911 if you see a car that has broken down, or even if you see a man strike a dog.

The idea that 911 is only for life threatening emergencies is wrong. How do I know it? The MoCo police say so:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/POL/districts/MSB/communications/911/pdf_files/911_Brochure.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

If your car overheats while you're driving on the interstate in heavy traffic and stalls in rush hour traffic, what would you consider an appropriate response from other drivers? Nothing?

Oh, right. The only two choices are do nothing or call 911.

22:00 - Exactly. If no ones health is at risk, that is a different story. But using the non emergency number too much can lead to fines in some areas!

If someones health/life is at risk, by all means do the right thing.

Every police officer i've ever known has said that to report a crime or someone who needs help, you dial 911. If your car is stolen, you call 911 even though nobody's life is in danger. If you see a theft taking place, same deal. 911 tiers its calls and is responsible for prioritizing a true emergency vs. a "can wait" situation vs. non-police matter, and should be sufficiently staffed to handle all types of calls to make sure someone gets the help they need. PP who calls 911 for an overheated car or a woman who appears to need help is okay in my book. Better safe than sorry - what if you could have helped and didn't? Everyone thinks "oh, everyone has cell phones, etc." But they might not always.

Anonymous wrote:In the Kitty Genovese murder, the police were contacted during the attack. Many people heard something, but did not understand what was going on. The police did not make it there quickly enough to save her. Her initial injuries were severe and she may not have survived even if the police responded more quickly.

The "38 people heard or witnessed the attack and did nothing" is simply a myth.

Wow, your Wikipedia skills are great! Is this were you get all your facts?

The story us MUCH more complicated than you were able to cut and paste in a paltry 5 sentences. There was a lot that went wrong with humanity on that one.

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It's freaking me out that employees heard what they heard and did not call the police. I'd read reports that they heard noises, but did not appreciate until yesterday that they could hear actual words, and that it was obvious from what they were hearing that something was really, really wrong.

I thought the exact same thing! What. In the fuck were these two people thinking? How difficult would it have been to dial 911 -- even if you're not that sure, maybe it was a joke, maybe they're just moving heavy furniture ....

This guy and this chick are the embodiment of what is wrong with the 'earbuds glued permanently into my ear canal, eyes down on a flickering screen 115% of the time' generation that has been "brought up on technology." Which of course is fostered by their employer, but does go beyond that. (ie, you can be oblivious to the bus about to run you over because you're staring at a text on your Droid, not iPhone).

No need to engage, ever, with your surroundings or reach out.

ITA, and I like how you've stated it. I'm so sick of Gen Y people constantly staring at their gadgets and plugged into their iPods. Something egregious happens right in front of them and they don't even blink an eye. I was walking in CH the other day when an old Latino woman fell down on the street. She was lying on the sidewalk and three young people just walked by her. I scrambled to go help her and raise her up. She was so glad of the assistance, and thanked me over and over. I'm not saying this to brag on myself, but WTH is wrong with the people that passed her? I'm 41, FWIW.

Just curious what her ethnicity has to do with your anecdote?

Nothing, really. I noticed it b/c she thanked me profusely in Spanish over and over. I understood all her words and fortunately it gave me an opportunity to use my Spanish.

Then you should know it is latinA.

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I read this article and was thinking the same thing...what harm would it have done to call 911? I couldn't stop thinking about Jayna again after I read about that testimony...how could you hear words and sounds like that and not intervene in some way? It was haunting me last night when I went to bed...I guess I'm not the only one. That poor girl. Someone heard her asking for help. And they didn't do anything. I wonder if these employees are struggling with that.

I don't know if this makes it better or worse, but my read on the article was that there was a struggle and screams and (presumably Jayna) was heard pleading with the attacker "let's talk about this, what are you doing, etc" but then there was a silence, then later, a different woman (presumably Brittany) was saying "god please help me, please help me."

So to me, that actually seems like yeah, something pretty f8'd up went down over there. Harder to imagine someone not calling. But I don't think, to be fair, at any point they heard Jayna screaming for help. Then again, thank god, I wasn't there. And maybe I'm misreading the article.

No, this is how I read it, too. They thought some fight was going on, but Jayna didn't call for help. She was pleading with her killer, but what they heard her say was hardly asking someone else to intervene. Maybe they should have. I hope I would have - I have called the police many times for suspicious cars, and even a baby riding without a car seat on I-66. But I don't think any one of us can claim we KNOW we would have called 911 in that situation. We all have the benefit of hindsight.

Unless someone physically restrained me, I do know that I would have called 911 if I heard anyone screaming, along with the other sounds they've described. I've called 911 for less--when I thought someone was having car trouble, a woman walking along the interstate with a blanket wrapped around her and clearly muttering to herself, a man in a convertible hitting his dog, etc.

You really call the police on people regarding those things? You would annoy me.

Wow, you sound really awful. You scare me.

I call the police when I see someone in any kind of danger or potential danger. It's my civic duty to watch out for people who may not be able to help themselves. Better safe than sorry.

I am the poster who said it would annoy me, because like someone else has mentioned, that is not the time to call 911, it is the time to call the non emergency number. Thank you, and you can go back to being scared now, as I go back to being awful because I do not tie up 911's lines for non life threatening issues.

I'm the poster who said I've made those calls. They WERE life-threatening because they were occurring on or alongside city interstates when people were driving. Feel free to be annoyed; I'll keep calling when I see those types of situations. The woman with the blanket was clearly either mentally ill or under the influence of something.

Life threatening? Car trouble? So, if your car overheated on 495, you would call 911? Really?

Life threatening? Someone hitting a dog? 911? I love dogs; I have a dog. I would not dream of wasting my and my fellow taxpayers money by phoning 911 about someone hitting their dog.

The only one that is even borderline is the woman on the side of the interstate, but even that could have been solved calling the non-emergency number and letting the police determine whether it was more important than other calls.

If your car overheats while you're driving on the interstate in heavy traffic and stalls in rush hour traffic, what would you consider an appropriate response from other drivers? Nothing?

I don't live in the DC area, so I guess it's different. In the two cities where I've lived over the past 25 years, there have been newspaper articles with the police advising us to call 911 for potential traffic-related incidents. Most people don't know the police phone numbers for individual counties and cities.