An Easy Mistake To Make... I Guess.

I was on the phones again all night tonight. And I found a common theme among a bunch of people who called up. A lot of them seemed to think it was a good idea to beat their chest and talk about how they were going to hurt other people 'if they try it again' - sometimes as extreme as stabbing them in response to a punch.

Now, people, this is something that is known as a Bad Idea. Because when you say it on the phone on 000, you are being taped. When the person answering the phone says the call is recorded, you are being taped. And when you express the intention to kill someone - even if it's in response to provocation - you do Serious Harm to your defense in a possible murder trial.

True, if you're doing it only in response to provocation, it's probable you'll be able to escape a life sentence. You won't escape jail, though, unless you get sent to a mental institution. (I guess it could be argued that anyone stupid enough to announce their intention to kill someone when they're being taped might as well be clinically insane.) Self-defense is a valid defense against a murder charge, but there are some catches. The big one, the one that is really important, is that they need to be trying to kill you (or someone close to you, I guess).

Fair enough, if there's bad blood between you, a case could be made that the reason they were found dead at your hands was that you killed them in self-defense. However, if you're on record as stating your intention to kill someone regardless of the extremity of their actions - that blows a big hole in your defense. A big, going to jail to become someone's bitch kind of hole.

The other one is the concept of 'commensurate show of force'. In plain terms, self-defense needs to be a reasonable response in the circumstances. If someone punches you in the face and you shoot them in theirs, you're out of luck. Pulling a gun against a knife can be valid, but you'd need to establish the circumstances pretty well. ("He looked really threatening in my scope, officer...")

The law is pretty strict when it comes to self-defense. An example of this that came from my Mobil armed robbery course - if you were being held up, pulled a gun out from behind the counter and shot the guy who was holding you up and killed him - self-defense. However, if you gave him the money and shot him as he was leaving... murder (again, maybe not first-degree, but still murder). Once you're out of clear danger from someone, you cannot claim self-defense.

I guess this is just another note in my campaign to allow us to blow up the phones of stupid people. But that's still a long way off. Curse human rights. :(

On another note, I had a really ominous email at work. The acting inspector was asking me to come see them about it, copies had been sent to a number of places, a big note 'to be placed on employee's file' on it, so I was kind of nervous to check the attached file.

It was a 'well done'. A nice lady (yes, we do get nice callers, it's just that the annoying ones are the ones who get the rants) who I'd helped out had called back to thank me. I can't really go into more details, unfortunately (curse professional confidentiality!) but it really chuffed me. Coming as it did near the end of my shift, it restored my battered faith in humanity. Somewhat.

Though I swear people in general still don't know how to enjoy themselves.