Police in the Community
On March 13, 1964 Kitty Genovese was murdered in Kew Garden, New York (FindingDulcinea Staff, 2010). The murder was a subject of controversy after a sensational article made the headline in the New York Times. This story led to a research on human behaviour about ways in which they respond to crime and other important information. The story written in the article indicated that Kitty was attacked twice at intervals of about ten minutes. Different people saw her being attacked the first time and none of them offered their help or even called the police. The second time, Kitty was stabbed and raped before she finally died. This case was shocking to many because 38 witnesses were interviewed, but only one of them called the police, but it was too late to save Kitty.
In this crime, apathy is brought out in different ways. During the attack that took close to thirty minutes, about 38 law abiding citizens watched the crime happen without reacting to the situation (Bostonboomer, 2009). During the first attack, one man who was watching from his bedroom window shouted “leave that girl alone” and that is when the attacker escaped giving time for Kitty to escape (FindingDulcinea Staff, 2010). The attacker Winston Mosley ran away and drove off after about ten minutes Mosley came back and Stabbed Kitty to death then raped her as he watched her die. When interviewed, a lady was asked why she did not call the police and she answered that she was simply tired and had to go back to bed.
According to Bostonboomer (2009) the possibility that Kitty was a lesbian could be a reason as to why her neighbours were not responsive to her cries for help. In 1964, declaring that he was a lesbian was viewed as a crime and one could be treated as a social misfit. This could have been the reason why all those who witnessed the crime saw it happen without responding by either calling the police or offering their help. If only the police had been called in time, then the crime would have been prevented because the attacker would not make it to the scene of the crime to finally stab Kitty to death.
The residents of Kew Gardens were neighbours to Kitty yet they did not want to be involved in the crime for fear of being victimized or being a victim of the crime. As explored by Bostonboomer (2009) most of them confessed that they did not want to get involved, most of them said they were not sure of what they saw or what they heard so they had nothing to report. The probability of a person being a victim of the crime was very low because the attacker was scared when someone shouted from his bedroom window. Therefore, though all the witnesses to the crime except Greta Schwartz were scared of being involved they knew the chances were very slim. One lady confessed that she asked her husband not to call the police because she did not want him to get involved. Since the crime occurred close to a bar that had previous rowdy activities, it could have been possible that the eye and ear witnesses assumed that it was just a fight between two drunken people. Others admitted that they witnessed the crime but due to the high level of drunken people in that area and given the time the attack occurred, they were afraid of calling the police and making a report that could possibly be unreal. It was also a possibility that the people who witnessed the crime were afraid of being attacked if they provided information to the police or went to offer their help to Kitty.
In addition, the New York Police Department demanded that when one made a call to report a crime, it was necessary for them to leave their names and any other form of information that could be used to identify them. This could have prevented many of the witnesses from calling the police. Furthermore, there was a possibility that the police could ignore the call if one called to report fighting or screaming especially in an area that had several bars (Bostonboomer, 2009).
Traditional policing is an act looking for crime. Through this way, crime is prevented by the presence of police on patrol. This method of deterring crime is not commonly used because it is not an effective way of addressing the needs of all communities. It is not possible for the police to be in areas where crimes take place and prevent their occurrence before it could occur. Community policing was introduced as an alternative where members of the community can provide information about a crime by calling the police to offer their assistance. In 1964, when the murder of Kitty Genovese took place, traditional policing was more prominent and police officers were required to patrol high crime areas to deter crime from taking place. The Area seemed like a high crime area and the presence of the police in that area would have prevented the occurrence of the crime.
Finally, the murder of Kitty Genovese that took place in Kew Gardens, New York is very controversial and due to the high number of witnesses and the article that made the headlines in the New York Times two weeks later it was impossible to know how the events of that fateful night occurred and the reasons why those who witnessed the crime did not call the police. Others lacked interest and concern while others were afraid of being victims of the crime.
Reference
Bostonboomer, A. (2009). The Case: A Fascinating Intersection of True Crime, Psychology and Media Misinformation. August 02, 2009. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/a-fascinating-intersection-of-true-crime-psychology-and-media-misinformation/” http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/a-fascinating-intersection-of-true-crime-psychology-and-media-misinformation/
FindingDulcinea Staff. (2010). On this Day Kitty Genovese Killed as Neighbours Looked on. March 13, 2010. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/March-April-08/On-this-Day–NYC-Woman-Killed-as-Neighbors-Look-On.html” http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/March-April-08/On-this-Day–NYC-Woman-Killed-as-Neighbors-Look-On.html
