Stop snitchin'

[Hog1]

do the people that enforce this sort of thing have Russian accents?

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by Hog1

do the people that enforce this sort of thing have Russian accents?

No. They have automatic weapons, a will to kill and an army of addicted eyes that would turn in their own mother for a fix.

The whole thing is drug related. At least in Baltimore.

For all those who said "I would turn'em in" just know this - last year in November 2005 a woman and her five children died after their house was firebombed b/c she had been reporting drug activity in front of her house.

An older article detailing the issues:
Baltimore struggles to battle witness intimidation - The Boston Globe

(the legislation discussed in this article failed - I don't remember why)

This one relates to juror intimidation:
Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office

Q&A with a writer who did a story on it:
Viewers to a Kill

Don't get me wrong, the only way to break the cycle is to stand up to the criminals. But it is easy for me to say that when I live in a neighborhood that believes that to be true. In the problem areas, you take not only your life into your hands but also those of your kids.

Not sure what I would do if I were to come home to threats - probably move out quickly. For some, however, that is not an option. The only places they have to go are still within reach of the criminals. It's easy to be brave for yourself - not so easy when it involves your kids, parents or other loved ones.

[mooby]

It's pretty prevalent where I live too, just not in my neighborhood. When I was in school last year, a lot of thugs would wear Stop Snitchin t-shirts all the time, and I've talked to a few of my gangster friends about it and they all def. support it. One of them said they'd f up their own mother if she snitched, that's how big of a deal it is. Because they have that kind of mentality I don't f with them, if I see something happen I pretend like I didn't see it happen just because I know they'd be able to find me and that's when the safety of my family comes into play. It's an f'd up way of life but that's the way they handle it.

[MTK]

I haven't heard of this but I think we could use a stop bitching campaign around here.

[dmek25]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I haven't heard of this but I think we could use a stop bitching campaign around here.

put summo to work on the t shirts, pronto

[BDBohnzie]

Stop Bitchin'. That's a good one. Just like any other campaign, you'll raise a few bucks, but it wont' be effective...look at the Just Say No campaign...

[theBIGC_1982]

I moved down from Boston last summer. It was big up there - stop snitchin' t-shirts and all. There's a resurgence of kids killing kids.

I saw an interesting post (I think in a blog) defining snitching. You see a murder and report it - not snitching. You participate in a murder and report it to reduce your sentence - snitching.

[firstdown]

The bad part is that the neighbor hoods which need to fight crimes the most are the one's that this is big in.

[skinsfan_nn]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I haven't heard of this but I think we could use a stop bitching campaign around here.

Now your on to something!

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I haven't heard of this but I think we could use a stop bitching campaign around here.

I'll design the T-shirts...lol!

[mheisig]

This isn't unique to any one city.

9 times out of 10 any crime I worked in the projects, nobody saw a thing. You could quite literally have a trail of blood or a body in someone's front yard, the person would claim they were sitting on their porch all day long and tell you they saw nothing.

Unbelievable, really. People not willing to help the people who are trying to help them.

[Hog1]

I don't think (at least based on this thread) it's so much a matter of not wanting to help, as afraid to help for fear of retribution on themselves and their families. THAT is a tough call.
Sadly the cops may want to help. No witness, no problem. No witness, because they fear for their safety. Our justice system may have to evolve to deal with and other threats we are unaccustomed to.

Inserts

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

I would never rat out a friend for doing something, but I'll rat out a stranger any day. And I personally think that people who engage in witness intimidation should be given very, very, very lengthy jail sentences. It's pretty sad that some segments of our society have embraced that kind of crap.