So I just watched a very intense video on, of all places, eBaumsworld.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/robbery.html
For those of you with dial-up, etc.. the video is taken from an jewelry store surveillance camera in the east end of London. It shows a man entering the store, messing around for a little while, and then trying to run off with the jewelry. However, the owner has locked the door and the (potential) thief is unable to escape. The next few minutes is filled with tons of screaming and violence as the would-be thief attempts to leave the store. However, this video raised a TON of questions for me, and I'm not really sure how I feel about it anymore. I strongly urge you to watch the video, as it adds a huge sense of.. WTF?!? to the situation.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/robbery.html
When I first watched the video, I became incredibly angry watching this obviously strong colored man beating on what appeared to be old owners (50+ year old men and women) and trying to gouge their eyes out-- even threatening to kill them if they didn't unlock the door. I got so irate that I felt if I were in a situation like that, even being a relatively strict pacifist, I would not have hesitated to blundgeon the man with my fists, feet, blunt objects, point objects or whatever I could get my hands on until I rendered them unconcious or even dead, if necessary. The video seems so incredibly violent that I think it gets beyond a point of "solving with words."
HOWEVER, after further thinking about why I was so angry and why my "Protector" instinct had kicked in, I realized that these owners almost brought this violence upon themselves. Not only did they almost bait the burglar in, by showing him more and more jewelry after they knew his intentions (the gloves, hello?!?!?) Its as if they were TRYING to get him to steal. Furthermore, they locked the door with the jeweler inside. Both of these actions seem to be vigilante justice, and I cannot approve. I feel especially sorry for the other customer who tried to escape but was unable to because the owner had locked him in. Is there no laws in England about unlawfully detaining someone? He could have potentially put that other customer into a very violent confrontation.
Even more, late into the video you see that the owner is able to lock both the inside and outside doors remotely. Why didn't he initially lock the burglar in that little area, rather than locking him INSIDE? It seems silly, and again, vigalante. Police officers are there for a reason -- even if they didn't arrive on time, it hardly feels like your duty to enforce that type of justice.
And at the end of the video, the narrator mentions that the thief has been "detained indefinitely" by her Majesty or something similar -- do they also not have a fair and speedy trial clause in the UK? His crime is heinous and the video shows it, but detained "indefinitely" ? And finally -- his defense is criminal insanity. Do you believe this is a legitimate defense? Ever?
Let me know what you guys think, because I can't -- yet-- make up my mind.