You're sitting on
the bus or subway and you notice a fellow patron being harassed.
Perhaps they are being subjected to upsetting comments or even
threats -- what would you do? Sooner or later, we will all have to
make a judgment call about getting involved on behalf of a stranger.
The initial
reaction is likely to be shock, and it may be difficult -- but not
impossible -- to react appropriately. Principally, that means
knowing how to get help. Of course, in a possibly violent situation
it's natural to want to be discrete when notifying the authorities.
Unfortunately, we
all can be tempted to ignore someone in need -- fear has a way of
guiding our actions. And yet if we find ourselves in a culture that
doesn't care, everyone suffers.
The consequences of
silence are serious. A young man and an 11-year old girl were shot
in November 2004 on a TTC bus. The perpetrators were apparently
talking about killing people until a 24-year old man asked them to
stop their behaviour. The violence escalated and today the man has a
bullet lodged inside his body.
The young girl --
who came forward recently to talk to the media about the incident --
still has impaired vision from a bullet wound above her right eye.
Police report that very few of the approximately 40 people on that
bus have come forward with information.
Similarly, friends,
acquaintances and family members of the unknown assailants may be
withholding the truth from authorities. Fear, residual shock and
even shame are keeping lips sealed. Some courage will unseal them.
Last year, I
received an email from the mother of another young man who wanted to
know what to do after witnessing a fellow rider being abused with
racist comments. I didn't know what advice to give for such a
scenario, except to notify a TTC employee.
Pressing the yellow
alarm strip on a subway train, or contacting the driver of a surface
vehicle can bring various levels of response. But if it's unclear
how serious the situation is? What would it take for you to act?
TTC staff are not
required to get involved directly, but they must "observe and
report," according to the TTC's Linda Fice, superintendent of system
security. She says "Generally, we always tell customers that they
can use the security (notification methods) available, and they
should also report these kinds of things to either subway operators
or station collectors, or any TTC employee.
"Depending on how
the situation is assessed by Transit Control, they'll either send a
route supervisor, or some TTC supervisor, or special constables, or
police, or all -- depending on what the emergency is."
And yet some crimes
require an immediate response --
suppose an incident
becomes quickly violent? A cellular phone call to 911 might help --
except underground. There is no easy set of answers, but
anticipating how we would react may save someone's life. Coming up:
Will more cameras make us safer?