Call P.D.?

[boltbender]

Question: BG pulls a knife, demands money & watch. You produce firearm. BG runs off. Would you call PD?

 

[earlthegoat2]

Yes, as I was chasing down the BG to give the PD the most accurate description and location of said BG. Of course I can get away with this since I am the PD.

 

[Nick5182]

I would. I'd report exactly what happened and the actions that I took, not only to report the attempted robbery, but (in the rare case it may happen) you don't want the BG calling the police and saying some psycho fitting your description pulled a gun on him for no reason.

 

[ObsidianOne]

Yes, absolutely.

 

[Erik]

Yes, and would argue there is an ethical (if not legal) duty to do so.

 

[Shadow 7D]

No duty to report, but it's better to tell your side, before the BG calls and says that some dude just pulled a gun on HIM

 

[boltbender]

Oh, and of course You're Carrying legally. Or on the other hand, as we have in Maine "cOMPEtING HARM CLAUSE" This was described to me at a gun primer class as: You're doing something illegal, however, your motivation and outcome are such that the the law will " wink at the the transgression". As an example: You are drunk, you drive someone to the hospital, and save their life. You're off the hook.

 

[armoredman]

Absolutely. Always contact PD and file a report.

 

[John Locke]

As I mentioned in the other thread, at least in WA it is a gross misdemeanor not to report a violent crime, or an attempt at such, which a robbery is. I'm sure other states have similar statutes.

 

[Deanimator]

Absolutely you call the police. I don't want some degenerate calling the police and claiming that I threatened him with a gun for no reason.

In addition, there's always the chance, no matter how slight, that he might actually be apprehended and be prevented from committing more crimes, at least for the time he's in custody.

 

[DontBurnMyFlag]

Even if some people are worried that they may get in trouble or worried that their weapons may be confiscated for investigation of a crime, it is very prudent that you report the crime.

If a good lookout of the suspect is broadcasted to the police and those attempted robbery reports are made public, it is a very good possibility that your report would have warned a potential victim and therefore saved a life or property.

I personally couldnt sleep at night if i knew my lack of report got someone killed or hurt. Just my two cents.

 

[wishin]

Absolutely would report.

As I mentioned in the other thread, at least in WA it is a gross misdemeanor not to report a violent crime, or an attempt at such, which a robbery is. I'm sure other states have similar statutes.

The Supreme Court has not completely abandoned the duty to report criminal activity. In Roberts v. United States, 445 U.S. 552, 100 S. Ct. 1358, 63 L. Ed. 2d 622 (1980), the High Court held that a court can increase a criminal defendant's sentence if the defendant refuses to cooperate with government officials investigating a related crime. Also, a journalist who has knowledge of a crime may be compelled to reveal the source of that knowledge (Branzburg v. Hayes).

The federal misprision of felony statute remains on the books, but the crime rarely has been prosecuted. On the state level, most states have either abolished or refused to enact misprision of felony laws. South Carolina is the only state that has prosecuted the misprision of a felony.

In State v. Carson, 262 S.E.2d 918, 274 S.C. 316 (1980), Isaac E. Carson, the EYEWITNESS to a murder, refused to give law enforcement authorities information regarding the murder because he feared for his life if he cooperated with authorities. Carson was prosecuted and convicted of misprision of felony and sentenced to three years in prison.

The prosecution of Carson was based on the COMMON LAW. South Carolina did not have a misprision of felony statute. Instead the prosecution relied on title 14, chapter 1, section 50, of the Code of Laws of South Carolina. Under this statute the common law of England continues in effect in South Carolina. On appeal by Carson, the Supreme Court of South Carolina affirmed the conviction. According to the court, the prosecution was valid because misprision of felony was a crime at common law in England and because the South Carolina legislature had not taken steps to repeal the common-law crime of misprision of felony.

The crime of misprision of felony is similar to the crime of acting as an ACCESSORY after the fact because both crimes involve some affirmative act to conceal a crime. Two basic differences are that the crime of misprision is committed even if the defendant does not give aid to the criminal and misprision is committed only if the underlying crime is completed.



Read more: Misprision - Further Readings - Crime, Felony, Law, Court, Duty, and Statute http://law.jrank.org/pages/8605/Misprision.html#ixzz1Akn70ReY

 

[Unistat]

No duty to report, but it's better to tell your side, before the BG calls and says that some dude just pulled a gun on HIM

Yes because I hate thieves and more so because of this^

 

[jbh13]

You never know, the PD might get the BG doing something else to someone else and they'll add it to their charges.

 

[sonick808]

definitely call the PD

 

[mljdeckard]

I started a thread on this some time ago. If your gun comes out, do you need to call the police, period? I think you do, for a few reasons.

First of all, just because he didn't hurt YOU, doesn't mean that you are his first victim. It is very possible that the police have been looking for this mugger for a while, and they have a map on the wall with the locations of his strikes. If you can help them by putting another pin in their map, you increase the chances they will get him before he threatens another life.

Second, you have just committed a violent act. You pointed your gun at someone. This is a CRIME, UNLESS you provide justification for the act. If a witness who only saw half of the exchange, or even THE BAD GUY calls the police first, then you will be explaining why you thought it was necessary to pull a gun on someone, but you didn't think it was necessary to call the police. Remember, the first one to call the police is the victim. Make sure it's you and not someone else.

There is also the factor of whether or not you were trying to conceal your actions. Criminals don't report what they do to the police. Innocent victims do. Don't leave any gray area for the police to fumble through.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Yes. I'd call the Police.

I know of one case where the bad guys (local boys) went to the Police first. The last I heard the man (from work) was facing trial and was likely to lose.