How to Be A Good Victim

Finishing up some reading that I will be posting on soon, but I came across this in my work feed:

NYPD unions say bill would blindfold officers, "It will ban cops from identifying a suspect's age, gender, color or disability" — or risk being sued for profiling"

I have to say that this is disappointing on many levels, even the idea that someone should withhold information that could lead to the arrest of an assailant or criminal due to accusations of racism or, when that charge is leveled at law enforcement, "profiling."

My take:

Every victim or witness should make every effort to give as complete and accurate a description as possible of everything that was involved in the commission of a crime. If it's early evening, and you see three guys in light blue shirts and faded jeans breaking into a business across the street with a white Ford F-150 parked out back, describe exactly what you saw. Those are the facts! If you happen to notice that all three are Hispanic males wearing light blue shirts with faded jeans, one is approximately 5-foot, four inches, the other two about average height, and one had a red bandana in his back pocket, and there was a white F-150 running with NJ plate XXXXXX, then that's what you should report.

In a previous life, I did some part-time police dispatching (rather amateurishly, in fact), and was trained to get from victims, then provide to my officers all descriptors that could identify a perpetrator, so I did. If you don't the chances of them getting the wrong guy (whoops, I just profiled!) go way up, and it could be you that becomes a victim, and the real criminal may never get caught.

So how do you be a good victim?
What should you provide if you witness, or are the victim of a crime? Everything. Some suggestions:

First of all, when you call 9-1-1 (in the US), make sure you give you number, in case you get disconnected, and your location. Not every dispatch center can obtain that information all of the time - systems fail, and can be inaccurate.

Of the subject (as accurate as you can, and tell the authorities if it's a guess or estimate):

• Sex
• Race/ethnicity
• Age
• Height
• Weight
• Build
• Hair color (or baldness)
• Facial hair
• Any distinguishing scars, marks, or tattoos
• Head covering/hat
• Shirt type and color
• Pants type and color
• Shoes
• Anything else that could narrow it down, like missing teeth/eyes, limps, language, etc.

Of the situation and environment:

• Where did the crime occur? 
• What happened? Be succinct, but complete.
• Is the danger still present? Is there a person there with a knife/gun or other weapon? Is the fight still going on?
• How many people are involved?
• What time did it happen?
• Which way did they go?
• What kind of vehicle were they driving? Did you get a plate number?

Please don't think I am making light of, or minimizing racial profiling. I am not. All factors must be included in reporting a crime, both to protect the innocent, and to catch criminals.

Disagree? Agree? Please tell me what you think, and why in the comments.

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Should You Care About Your Styles Politics?

Just what are you talking about? Politics in Martial Arts?

I’ve meant to comment on this for a while, but have stayed out of the fray, as I usually do. Dojo Rat recently had two posts (Alex Gillis; “A Killing Art” and Alex Gillis on The Future of Tae Kwon Do) on a book by Alex Gillis, “A Killing Art, the Untold Story of Tae Kwon Do.” Striking Thoughts has now weighed in as well. The gist of the matter is that:

Response to Elias on the bin Laden Killing post

The offending subject matter!

Should a martial arts site comment on politics? Maybe not. Several commenters in the past have been upset by it. But this one does, and it’s no secret that it happens. I invite debate, as long as it’s not gratuitous insults and relevant to the topic at hand. I will respect the opinions of anyone whose opinions are shared with respect and respond in kind. Most of you also know that, I would probably be considered right of center, I respect and link to several excellent blogs that rant and opine from the left perspective, and I consider us friends – good friends in the martial arts, as a matter of fact. So bear in mind that I will, occasionally, go there, but also pledge to try not to. In this case, what I regularly post about (martial arts, self-defense, law enforcement, and military matters, making fun of my training partners hitting me, and the like) is intertwined with politics, as going over a border and taking out a terrorist leader is inherently political. So just grin and bear it, and feel free to unsubscribe or just yell at me here in the comments, or on our Facebook page.

Politics Post of the Day – watch the video

Hilarious!

del.icio.us Tags: Chuck Norris,vote,NRA

Folks need to chill out about politics - UPDATE

At this point, the fact of the matter is that it doesn't matter whether all of the facts in this story are true (it has yet to be  fully investigated), what matters is that we all realize that:

1. Whoever wins the election will be president on January 20, and there will be a peaceful transfer of power per our tradition
2. No matter who wins, we all win by accepting that victory, rallying behind whomever is elected, and if we have disagreements, express them at the ballot box, in the media (including blogs), and in public forums. Peaceful conversation and sharing of ideas, respectfully
3. We are all Americans. What makes our country great is that we have the right to express ourselves politically without fear of reprisal from the government. When that right is taken from any of us, we all lose.
4. There are diverse political viewpoints in this country, but we should all assume (unless personally convinced otherwise) that the motives of others are as pure as ours. Don't assume you know another's motivations or morals.
5. If you don't have enough control of yourself that you become unhinged and/or violent at any disagreement, seek professional help.
6. Criminals need to be punished.
   

Freedom is precious, and we all need to stand up, and stand together for the rule of law, and common decency.

--

Nathan 

UPDATE: If you are going to reply to this post with a comment attacking someone across the political aisle, don't expect to get approved. I won't have this site be used in that manner. Read the post, think, then respond if you like.

UPDATE, Friday, 10/24/08: Turns out to be a hoax. To which I say,  please apply point #6 above. Anyone who makes a false report like that needs to be prosecuted. It doesn't invalidate the points made above, it reinforces them.

At a news conference this afternoon, officials said they believe that Todd's injuries were self-inflicted.
Police investigating the report said Todd's story began to unravel early on and they administered a polygraph test.

Investigators asked Todd to return to the police station today for more questioning and to help them release a composite sketch of the suspect.

When she did, police say she admitted that she made the whole thing up and that it snowballed out of control.

Todd told investigators today that she "just wanted to tell the truth" – adding that she was neither robbed, nor attacked.

Technorati Tags: Pittsburgh political attack,2008 Election,Presidential politics

Works and Days: Ten Things a Candidate Might Promise

I've avoided politics on this blog for over four years, as a matter of policy, but I have to agree with all of these points by Victor Davis Hanson (abridged):

What we want to hear.

The budget: "...we need a candidate not only to outline a balanced budget, but one of surplus that will pay down the debt as well, and by spending cuts rather than tax increases."

Immigration: "For now simply reduce the number of illegal arrivals to zero—through border fencing, more patrolling and manpower, employer sanctions, and stern negotiations with Mexico. Then as we squabble and fight, the number of foreign nationals or those not assimilated will begin to shrink in a variety of ways—once it is not growing. "

Iraq: "Explain Iraq in blunt terms—that the first war against Saddam was won, but the second, more important one against radical Islam is still being won in the heart of the caliphate. ...A viable prosperous free Iraq is the worst nightmare of al Qaeda—but why and how needs to articulated daily."

Race: "No more “conversations on race” but simply an end to identity politics. Americans are worn out with racial tribalism."

Taxes: "Some simplification of the tax code. Americans can’t figure out their taxes. When in their 50s some of them finally make good money, more than 50% go to taxes while they are demonized as “the wealthy”—even as the mega-wealthy either pay on “income” as capital gains at 20%, or are so embedded in corporations that their expenses are taken care of as business deductions."

Fuel: "We don’t need to be “energy independent”—as opposed to cutting our appetite for imported oil by 5-6 million barrels per day. Would it help if someone said, “Ok, either drill in Anwar, or cut sales of SUVs by 10% per year,” or “Drill off the coast and build nuclear power plants, or have gas at over $5 a gallon—your choice”?"

Colleges: "How universities have been able to up their tuitions consistently above the rate of inflation, while exploiting part-time, poorly paid contractual faculty, and masquerading all the while as liberal institutions are among the great mysteries of the modern age."

Health Care: "Simply mandate, as in the case of car insurance, that everyone buy catastrophic health care plans, and use health saving accounts for everything else."

Infrastructure: "The objections to government spending revolve around redistribution, not construction. We need a slash in entitlements and more investment in bigger, better, and more roads, rails, and airports."

National Security: Talk honesty about terror and national security. Why can’t a candidate say—“We will monitor what we think are terrorist calls routed through the US. So do you think this is right, or an abject violation of your privacy?” And instead of “Close Down Gitmo!”, one might say, “We prefer to have about 400 Padilla-like trials instead”. Or we could say, “No water boarding and we will take our chances that what damage a terrorist might do is overshadowed by the damage we will do to our reputation.” I don’t think Americans quite know what they want, but they are very tired of being told the question is black/white, win/lose rather than a mess where each answer poses another question. Treat us like adults, and let the public back a candidate who apprises them of the costs and benefits and risks, instead of either mouthing “police state!” or “a nuke will go off!”

Technorati Tags: Politics,Obama,Hilary Clinton,McCain,budget,immigration,Iraq,racial politics,tax reform,oil,biofuel,tuition,health care,national security,terrorism,Gitmo

Defining Terms is Key to Debate

One of the many benefits of a forum, whether a town hall meeting, or an Internet version of the same, such as the excellent FightingArts.com Forum or the Convocation of Combat Arts (full disclosure: I am the administrator of CoCA), is the ability to share thoughts and ideas. A major part of that interactivity is that your ideas may be challenged on their merits, and debated to your heart's content. The very act of presenting a case, and arguing it exposes your ideas to new perspectives, which may sometimes even change your mind.

One such recent debate (on what is considered a "martial art") at CoCA reinforced the importance of defining terms. The CoCA debate in question was long, and well-argued, but left much to be desired in that many of the participant were arguing the same point, just using different terms.

A better example at another forum (I can't recall where at this point) was related to the subject of "rolling." The person who posted the beginning of the thread was asking about the difference between how styles teach rolling, and some who practiced BJJ or MMA started on their philosophy of grappling in practice or competition (rolling for them), while others were, in the same thread, debating things like posting the back foot or not while rolling (for them, ukemi, or breakfalls or somersaults). You can imagine how hilarious it was when someone let this go on for a couple of days, then calmly posted brief definitions of what "rolling" mean to the respective parties, and the debate cooled considerably.

The same can happen in discussions of anything, be it politics, parenting, religion, or, most importantly, martial arts! To that end, let's try to explain exactly what we mean. Know what I mean?

Politics of a Patriot: Semper Fido

I know this isn't a politics blog, but you gotta read this!