I don't get this at all ...
The US police - at least some places it seems - are armed with guns, but have to ask for special trained officers to get a beanbag shotgun or Taser ...? Wow, I'm speechless.
Mind you, I'm not really talking here about shooting and killing a teen armed with a pair of scissors - strange and senseless as it may be.
What I do find really weird is that they are not provided with less lethal options. Double wow.
Story:
A limited number of nonlethal weapons in the county Police Department arsenal may have led to the fatal shooting of a mentally ill teenager who threatened officers with scissors, a newly released report shows.
The 251-page police report on the May 14 shooting of Justin James Fisher, released last week after a Maryland Public Information Act request by The Capital, reveals new details of the case.
Anne Arundel police have since increased the number of beanbag shotguns issued to officers and are considering buying Tasers - plans that were already in the works before the fatal shooting.
Fifteen minutes before officers shot Mr. Fisher, the report shows, an officer radioed to ask whether someone could bring a beanbag shotgun to the scene so officers wouldn't have to kill him.
But no special-operations officers - the only ones who carried beanbag shotguns at the time - were on duty that midnight shift, the report shows.
Source
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Use the door!
A woman was rescued by a co-worker after she was held at knifepoint by a masked man outside a hardware supply on on Friday evening, Redding police said.
Judith Schmidt, 19, was heading to her car in the store's parking lot after work when an unidentified man grabbed her, held a knife to her throat and forced her into the passenger seat, she said Saturday. Co-worker Theodore Lidgett, 59, had just gotten into his car, which was parked beside Schmidt's, when he saw the assault taking place about 9:20 p.m.
"I heard her scream and when I looked over, I saw a flash of light on the knife," Lidgett said.
Despite the assailant's warning to "get the bleep out of here," Lidgett pulled Schmidt out the passenger-side door. The man then came after Lidgett, who slammed him with the car door a few times.
"I was trying to keep that knife away," Lidgett said. "It was about 9 inches long."
Schmidt suffered a cut to her lower left leg. Lidgett was not injured.
Source
Judith Schmidt, 19, was heading to her car in the store's parking lot after work when an unidentified man grabbed her, held a knife to her throat and forced her into the passenger seat, she said Saturday. Co-worker Theodore Lidgett, 59, had just gotten into his car, which was parked beside Schmidt's, when he saw the assault taking place about 9:20 p.m.
"I heard her scream and when I looked over, I saw a flash of light on the knife," Lidgett said.
Despite the assailant's warning to "get the bleep out of here," Lidgett pulled Schmidt out the passenger-side door. The man then came after Lidgett, who slammed him with the car door a few times.
"I was trying to keep that knife away," Lidgett said. "It was about 9 inches long."
Schmidt suffered a cut to her lower left leg. Lidgett was not injured.
Source
Monday, February 26, 2007
Illegal cabs
I would not at all suggest this woman asked for it - that would be both grossly unfair and really insensitive. Still, going alone into a car with a total strangers at 3 am in the morning, probably both tired and a little (if not a lot) tipsy ...?
It amazes me that everyone seems to think this is just something they hear about - the "This only happens to others" syndrome.
Norway -- At around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, this woman decided to take an illegal taxi home after a night on town.
The 23-year-old female is taken to another place than the address given to the driver.
According to police, the driver takes his passenger to the new Opera construction site in Oslo where he attempts to rape her.
After fighting back hard the woman manage to escape the ordeal.
It amazes me that everyone seems to think this is just something they hear about - the "This only happens to others" syndrome.
Norway -- At around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, this woman decided to take an illegal taxi home after a night on town.
The 23-year-old female is taken to another place than the address given to the driver.
According to police, the driver takes his passenger to the new Opera construction site in Oslo where he attempts to rape her.
After fighting back hard the woman manage to escape the ordeal.
(Un)happy slapping
UK -- A gang of teenagers attacked a man in a suspected happy-slapping incident in a busy shopping area.
But the incident turned against the youths as the man fought back and knocked one of them unconscious.
Two of the gang of eight 16 and 17- year-olds had to be taken to hospital and were later arrested.
31-year-old Curtis Mulcare from Brighton said he had been determined not to let the "gang of chavs" get away with attacking him.
The former amateur boxer, said: "I can't believe they attacked me. I'm a big bloke and I wouldn't have thought I was an obvious victim but they've just got no respect for anyone. They thought it was going to be happyslapping but it didn't end up too happy for them."
Source
But the incident turned against the youths as the man fought back and knocked one of them unconscious.
Two of the gang of eight 16 and 17- year-olds had to be taken to hospital and were later arrested.
31-year-old Curtis Mulcare from Brighton said he had been determined not to let the "gang of chavs" get away with attacking him.
The former amateur boxer, said: "I can't believe they attacked me. I'm a big bloke and I wouldn't have thought I was an obvious victim but they've just got no respect for anyone. They thought it was going to be happyslapping but it didn't end up too happy for them."
Source
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Attempted rapist killed
India -- The Delhi High Court today acquitted a 30-year-old woman sentenced to life for killing her molester, holding that her act amounted to self-defence and not murder.
It was held that Simmi, a resident of Daryaganj was only trying to protect herself and did not "intend" to murder her assailant.
A Sessions Court had in September 21, 2006 sentenced Simmi to life imprisonment on finding her guilty of bludgeoning her atacker, identified as a vagabond, to death with a heavy stone in the early hours of April 22, 2004.
In her appeal, Simmi, through her counsel, contended that Mastana had attempted to rape her under the influence of alcohol. She had "pushed him away" in self-defence and he had fallen on a stone, fatally injuring himself on the head.
source
It was held that Simmi, a resident of Daryaganj was only trying to protect herself and did not "intend" to murder her assailant.
A Sessions Court had in September 21, 2006 sentenced Simmi to life imprisonment on finding her guilty of bludgeoning her atacker, identified as a vagabond, to death with a heavy stone in the early hours of April 22, 2004.
In her appeal, Simmi, through her counsel, contended that Mastana had attempted to rape her under the influence of alcohol. She had "pushed him away" in self-defence and he had fallen on a stone, fatally injuring himself on the head.
source
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Hazards at work, 28
I'm willing to bet that this perpetrator tailgated his intended victim. If you start to look at how employees use the doors when they enter back-rooms etc., it is easy to see how this is possible. It is scarily simple when someone is unaware!
A 20-year-old man was charged Saturday with attempted rape in an attack in the backroom of a K-Mart store.
Jackson County prosecutors accused Wilbert L. Hutchinson of following the victim, an employee, into the backroom then hitting and choking her.
According to court records, a security guard spotted Hutchinson as he followed the employee into the backroom and decided to check on the situation. When he arrived, he spotted Hutchinson choking the woman with both hands and trying to pull her pants down.
The security guard used a choke hold to get Hutchinson off the woman.
Source
A 20-year-old man was charged Saturday with attempted rape in an attack in the backroom of a K-Mart store.
Jackson County prosecutors accused Wilbert L. Hutchinson of following the victim, an employee, into the backroom then hitting and choking her.
According to court records, a security guard spotted Hutchinson as he followed the employee into the backroom and decided to check on the situation. When he arrived, he spotted Hutchinson choking the woman with both hands and trying to pull her pants down.
The security guard used a choke hold to get Hutchinson off the woman.
Source
Friday, February 23, 2007
Welsh school violence
UK -- Police are called into Welsh schools at least 16 times every day in term time to deal with reported crimes.
And in the past year, they have included serious allegations of rape, indecent assault, grievous bodily harm and possession of weapons and drugs.
Figures released to Wales on Sunday under the Freedom of Information Act showed cops went to schools on at least 3,169 occasions last year.
The true figure will be higher, possibly double the number, because two forces refused to provide figures, namely South Wales Police, the largest in the country and Gwent.
North Wales Police recorded a total of 2,384 reports of crimes in schools in their area last year, with the most common being criminal damage, burglary and theft.
The smaller Dyfed-Powys Police recorded 785 occasions they went into schools. They broke the numbers down crime by crime, revealing that last year they had to deal with reports of six rapes, four indecent assaults, eight incidents of GBH, 29 of cannabis possession, 76 of actual bodily harm and 46 assaults.
Along with these, they had countless reports of other crimes, including harassment, thefts and robberies.
Source
And in the past year, they have included serious allegations of rape, indecent assault, grievous bodily harm and possession of weapons and drugs.
Figures released to Wales on Sunday under the Freedom of Information Act showed cops went to schools on at least 3,169 occasions last year.
The true figure will be higher, possibly double the number, because two forces refused to provide figures, namely South Wales Police, the largest in the country and Gwent.
North Wales Police recorded a total of 2,384 reports of crimes in schools in their area last year, with the most common being criminal damage, burglary and theft.
The smaller Dyfed-Powys Police recorded 785 occasions they went into schools. They broke the numbers down crime by crime, revealing that last year they had to deal with reports of six rapes, four indecent assaults, eight incidents of GBH, 29 of cannabis possession, 76 of actual bodily harm and 46 assaults.
Along with these, they had countless reports of other crimes, including harassment, thefts and robberies.
Source
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Hazards at work, 27
The streets of Los Angeles are becoming more dangerous for city traffic officers.
Appalled by a growing increase in assaults against the 550 civilian employees who write parking tickets and direct traffic, city officials Monday endorsed state legislation to increase penalties for attackers.
Last week in Hollywood, for example, someone took a baseball bat to the windshield of a traffic enforcement officer's vehicle. Three other cars had their tires slashed. And one officer was pulled from his car and beaten with fists after an alleged assailant did not like the answer to a question he asked.
"This is just an indication of the intense violence our guys experience out there," said Jimmy Price, the city's chief of parking enforcement. "These kinds of situations traumatize our employees and make them reluctant to engage in their activities when they are in the field."
The number of assaults on traffic officers has increased steadily over the last five years, Price told a City Council panel.
Source
Appalled by a growing increase in assaults against the 550 civilian employees who write parking tickets and direct traffic, city officials Monday endorsed state legislation to increase penalties for attackers.
Last week in Hollywood, for example, someone took a baseball bat to the windshield of a traffic enforcement officer's vehicle. Three other cars had their tires slashed. And one officer was pulled from his car and beaten with fists after an alleged assailant did not like the answer to a question he asked.
"This is just an indication of the intense violence our guys experience out there," said Jimmy Price, the city's chief of parking enforcement. "These kinds of situations traumatize our employees and make them reluctant to engage in their activities when they are in the field."
The number of assaults on traffic officers has increased steadily over the last five years, Price told a City Council panel.
Source
The second ordeal
In short: Read this story! It is about the need to come forward, and the - sometimes enormous - pressure that a victim/witness may face in a court of law.
Story:
A traumatised victim of a child-molesting teacher told last night of her second ordeal - helping bring him to justice.
The woman, now in her 40s, said giving evidence in court brought back the full horror of the abuse.
Fighting back tears, the woman told how her cross-examination by the defence barrister had left her feeling "isolated, violated and bullied".
She said: "The experience of being a witness, cross-examined in a very challenging and adversarial manner by the defending barrister, has had a significant impact on me. His attempts to discredit me and my occupation, has reopened old wounds and hurts."
During the trial, the defending barrister accused her of inventing the allegations because of an infatuation with him, and she broke down several times.
Source
Story:
A traumatised victim of a child-molesting teacher told last night of her second ordeal - helping bring him to justice.
The woman, now in her 40s, said giving evidence in court brought back the full horror of the abuse.
Fighting back tears, the woman told how her cross-examination by the defence barrister had left her feeling "isolated, violated and bullied".
She said: "The experience of being a witness, cross-examined in a very challenging and adversarial manner by the defending barrister, has had a significant impact on me. His attempts to discredit me and my occupation, has reopened old wounds and hurts."
During the trial, the defending barrister accused her of inventing the allegations because of an infatuation with him, and she broke down several times.
Source
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Hazards at work, 26
A recent attack on a nurse at Marquette Branch Prison suggests officials are classifying dangerous criminals as low-risk to save money, a union leader said.
State police are investigating reports that a 57-year-old rapist assaulted the female nurse on Saturday during an examination for abdominal pain.
The prisoner choked the nurse and threatened her with a razor blade he had concealed in his mouth.
The woman fought back and knocked a phone off the hook, setting off an alarm. Corrections officers subdued the inmate.
The man was assigned to the prison's minimum-security Trusty Division, despite six criminal sexual conduct convictions.
Source
State police are investigating reports that a 57-year-old rapist assaulted the female nurse on Saturday during an examination for abdominal pain.
The prisoner choked the nurse and threatened her with a razor blade he had concealed in his mouth.
The woman fought back and knocked a phone off the hook, setting off an alarm. Corrections officers subdued the inmate.
The man was assigned to the prison's minimum-security Trusty Division, despite six criminal sexual conduct convictions.
Source
Monday, February 19, 2007
No push-over
An 82-year-old Seattle man whose walking stick was damaged when he struck a younger man who witnesses say had doused him with lighter fluid is getting a replacement cane from the Seattle Police Officers' Guild.
Gus Jones responded to the January 31 attack by smacking his assailant with his cane. Police say the attacker then ran over to two women, doused them with lighter fluid and lit a match, singeing their coats and one woman's hair. The women were not seriously injured.
The older man survived the ordeal with just a cut to his ring finger. His cane, however, was bent in the attack and rendered unusable.
"Maybe if he didn't take the action he did, more people could've been hurt," a police spokesman said. "He was going to fight back -- he wasn't going to be a passive victim."
Source
Gus Jones responded to the January 31 attack by smacking his assailant with his cane. Police say the attacker then ran over to two women, doused them with lighter fluid and lit a match, singeing their coats and one woman's hair. The women were not seriously injured.
The older man survived the ordeal with just a cut to his ring finger. His cane, however, was bent in the attack and rendered unusable.
"Maybe if he didn't take the action he did, more people could've been hurt," a police spokesman said. "He was going to fight back -- he wasn't going to be a passive victim."
Source
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Hazards at work, 25
India -- The State may claim to have a lion’s share in the national cotton industry, but those who make the ginning wheels run are being subjected to atrocities by unit owners and labour contractors. For thousands of tribal labourers from Rajasthan, who flock to the cotton ginning mills in Gujarat, the situation is only getting worse.
Sixteen-year-old Meena (name changed) from Dungarpur in Rajasthan escaped a rape attempt in the Neminath Cotton Mill in Shekhpur village, Surendranagar district. Her colleagues who came from villages in Dungarpur district were forced to flee without getting paid for their work. There are allegations of harassment, physical assault and sexual harassment against the mill contractor.
Sudhir Katiyar, executive member of Dakshini Rajasthan Majdoor Union (DRMU) said that since November, this was the third case of atrocity against the Rajasthani tribal labourers in the cotton ginning mills of Gujarat. "While the cases of atrocities are rampant, these people are also exploited by mill owners in a big way," Katiyar said, adding that cases of accidents are also very common in these mills. "Apart from number of cases of loss of limbs, as many as four deaths due to accidents in these mills have been reported from Kadi in the last one month alone," he said.
Source
Sixteen-year-old Meena (name changed) from Dungarpur in Rajasthan escaped a rape attempt in the Neminath Cotton Mill in Shekhpur village, Surendranagar district. Her colleagues who came from villages in Dungarpur district were forced to flee without getting paid for their work. There are allegations of harassment, physical assault and sexual harassment against the mill contractor.
Sudhir Katiyar, executive member of Dakshini Rajasthan Majdoor Union (DRMU) said that since November, this was the third case of atrocity against the Rajasthani tribal labourers in the cotton ginning mills of Gujarat. "While the cases of atrocities are rampant, these people are also exploited by mill owners in a big way," Katiyar said, adding that cases of accidents are also very common in these mills. "Apart from number of cases of loss of limbs, as many as four deaths due to accidents in these mills have been reported from Kadi in the last one month alone," he said.
Source
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Not (really) assaulted
It's quite typical how many (if not most) teachers, social workers, nurses, doctors and others in similar professions tend to view some forms of verbal and physical harassment/violence as "nothing serious".
Each episode may not be that damaging, but we tend to forget two major things:
1. The sum of all the episodes may add up to be simply too much to handle.
2. If we accept the "lesser incidents", then we are opening the flood-gates for more serious situations.
This article is from 2002, but it shows what many teachers have to deal with on a daily basis. And this will continue as long as teachers are not allowed to use any form of force what-so-ever, plus being skilled in keeping control - visually, mentally, verbally, non-verbally, strategically and physically.
Story:
She has been kicked, bitten, scratched, pushed and hit - but the Doncaster primary school teacher does not consider she has been assaulted.
It is all part of the job nowadays, she says - "water off a duck's back".
Proposing the motion - which was passed unanimously - The teacher told delegates at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers conference that teachers' human rights were breached on a daily basis as they grew to accept verbal and physical attacks.
Source
Each episode may not be that damaging, but we tend to forget two major things:
1. The sum of all the episodes may add up to be simply too much to handle.
2. If we accept the "lesser incidents", then we are opening the flood-gates for more serious situations.
This article is from 2002, but it shows what many teachers have to deal with on a daily basis. And this will continue as long as teachers are not allowed to use any form of force what-so-ever, plus being skilled in keeping control - visually, mentally, verbally, non-verbally, strategically and physically.
Story:
She has been kicked, bitten, scratched, pushed and hit - but the Doncaster primary school teacher does not consider she has been assaulted.
It is all part of the job nowadays, she says - "water off a duck's back".
Proposing the motion - which was passed unanimously - The teacher told delegates at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers conference that teachers' human rights were breached on a daily basis as they grew to accept verbal and physical attacks.
Source
No "clean" fight
Australia -- A woman has told police she used a vacuum cleaner to fight off a man who tried to sexually assault her while she was sleeping in her Gold Coast home.
The 35-year-old Beenleigh woman told police a man entered her room yesterday around 2:40 a.m. and put his hand over her mouth.
She said the man ripped at her clothing during a struggle, and she tried to beat him off with the handle of a vacuum cleaner.
The offender punched the woman in the face before fleeing with her handbag.
Source
The 35-year-old Beenleigh woman told police a man entered her room yesterday around 2:40 a.m. and put his hand over her mouth.
She said the man ripped at her clothing during a struggle, and she tried to beat him off with the handle of a vacuum cleaner.
The offender punched the woman in the face before fleeing with her handbag.
Source
Friday, February 16, 2007
Loan sharking
In his brilliant book: "The Gift of Fear" - you can read more about it here - Gavin De Becker also refers to what a criminal might do or say to get to his victims.
One of those things is what he calls "Loan Sharking"; offering some kind of help or assistance in order to have the intended victim to perceive some sort of "debt". This help can be anything from carrying bags, or like in this incident, fixing a flat tyre.
Story:
It was late September, 1995, and a 22-year-old woman was leaving a shopping mall in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana. About the time she noticed she had a flat, a man approached her and offered to fix it.
The man fixed the flat and then asked the woman for a ride.
Perhaps understandably, the woman was willing to return a favor, but as she and the good Samaritan drove she realized he didn't seem to have any place to go. When the young woman refused to drive any further, the man held a screwdriver to her throat.
Luckily, she escaped and was able to flag down another motorist. The abductor took off in the woman’s car.
The good Samaritan turned screwdriver-wielding kidnapper was a man, recently arrested as a suspect in kidnapping a missing 13-year-old girl, called Kaitlin.
Kaitlin disappeared from the small community that sits between Baton Rouge and New Orleans on Thursday, February 1. She apparently vanished just after getting off her school bus.
The suspect is related to the girl by marriage and lives with his wife in a mobile home behind the girl's family residence.
Source
One of those things is what he calls "Loan Sharking"; offering some kind of help or assistance in order to have the intended victim to perceive some sort of "debt". This help can be anything from carrying bags, or like in this incident, fixing a flat tyre.
Story:
It was late September, 1995, and a 22-year-old woman was leaving a shopping mall in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana. About the time she noticed she had a flat, a man approached her and offered to fix it.
The man fixed the flat and then asked the woman for a ride.
Perhaps understandably, the woman was willing to return a favor, but as she and the good Samaritan drove she realized he didn't seem to have any place to go. When the young woman refused to drive any further, the man held a screwdriver to her throat.
Luckily, she escaped and was able to flag down another motorist. The abductor took off in the woman’s car.
The good Samaritan turned screwdriver-wielding kidnapper was a man, recently arrested as a suspect in kidnapping a missing 13-year-old girl, called Kaitlin.
Kaitlin disappeared from the small community that sits between Baton Rouge and New Orleans on Thursday, February 1. She apparently vanished just after getting off her school bus.
The suspect is related to the girl by marriage and lives with his wife in a mobile home behind the girl's family residence.
Source
Thursday, February 15, 2007
"A victim tatoo"
Put simply: Read this article in full!
Story:
Hiding pain is one thing. Erasing the scars is quite another.
The rape changed Laurel's understanding of the world. She had nightmares. The world was no longer safe. She became the archetype of a victim - the vulnerable, docile person that violent criminals hone in on.
"I had a victim tattoo on my forehead," Laurel says now.
She was assaulted again during her junior year of high school. It was at a party when she went out to a car with a boy to get more beer and he pulled out a pocket knife.
It's no surprise Laurel again was a sex crime victim, experts say. Someone sexually abused as a child is nearly five times as likely to be raped again, says Lynn Parrish of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, the nation's largest anti-sexual-assault organization.
Source
Story:
Hiding pain is one thing. Erasing the scars is quite another.
The rape changed Laurel's understanding of the world. She had nightmares. The world was no longer safe. She became the archetype of a victim - the vulnerable, docile person that violent criminals hone in on.
"I had a victim tattoo on my forehead," Laurel says now.
She was assaulted again during her junior year of high school. It was at a party when she went out to a car with a boy to get more beer and he pulled out a pocket knife.
It's no surprise Laurel again was a sex crime victim, experts say. Someone sexually abused as a child is nearly five times as likely to be raped again, says Lynn Parrish of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, the nation's largest anti-sexual-assault organization.
Source
Fake heart attack
Maine -- A convicted rapist is in custody after an elderly woman says he attacked her and tried to rape her. The attack happened Sunday night at a house in Hampden.
The woman was watching the Super Bowl when she saw a man walk through her house. When she yelled at him, the man attacked her from behind. The attacker then forced her to the bedroom.
Police say that's when the woman faked a heart attack, causing her assailant to panic and try to flee. The woman called the police and he was quickly caught while sitting idly in his vehicle on a nearby road.
In 1984, the man was charged with first degree rape in Alabama and sentenced to 15 years.
The woman was not injured in the attack. Police say her quick thinking by faking a heart attack likely kept her from being sexually assaulted.
Source
The woman was watching the Super Bowl when she saw a man walk through her house. When she yelled at him, the man attacked her from behind. The attacker then forced her to the bedroom.
Police say that's when the woman faked a heart attack, causing her assailant to panic and try to flee. The woman called the police and he was quickly caught while sitting idly in his vehicle on a nearby road.
In 1984, the man was charged with first degree rape in Alabama and sentenced to 15 years.
The woman was not injured in the attack. Police say her quick thinking by faking a heart attack likely kept her from being sexually assaulted.
Source
Restroom attack
California -- An 18-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly tried to rape a woman at knifepoint inside a restroom of a fast food restaurant, authorities said.
The incident was reported about 4:16 p.m. Friday at a McDonald's in Cabazon, the Riverside County sheriff's office said.
According to police reports, the entered the restaurant, brandished a box-cutter knife and demanded food from workers.
When he was turned away, he then allegedly followed a 23-year-old woman into the restroom, held her down and attempted to rape her.
The woman's screams alerted customers and workers who came in, stopped the suspect and detained him until police arrived.
Source
The incident was reported about 4:16 p.m. Friday at a McDonald's in Cabazon, the Riverside County sheriff's office said.
According to police reports, the entered the restaurant, brandished a box-cutter knife and demanded food from workers.
When he was turned away, he then allegedly followed a 23-year-old woman into the restroom, held her down and attempted to rape her.
The woman's screams alerted customers and workers who came in, stopped the suspect and detained him until police arrived.
Source
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Conservative costs
UK -- Violent sex attackers cost the Northern Ireland economy at least £30m-a-year.
And that figure is "only the tip of the iceberg" according to a major government paper.
'Hidden Crimes, Secret Pain' estimates that the cost to society of each rape or attempted rape at £79,000 - there were 391 such offences in 2005/6.
The costs to provide health treatment alone to the victims of rape annually top £1m.
The report adds that the figures it uses are very conservative: "It should be remembered that the recorded sexual offence statistics represent only the tip of the sexual violence iceberg."
Source
And that figure is "only the tip of the iceberg" according to a major government paper.
'Hidden Crimes, Secret Pain' estimates that the cost to society of each rape or attempted rape at £79,000 - there were 391 such offences in 2005/6.
The costs to provide health treatment alone to the victims of rape annually top £1m.
The report adds that the figures it uses are very conservative: "It should be remembered that the recorded sexual offence statistics represent only the tip of the sexual violence iceberg."
Source
Eat Snow!
Ohio -- Massillon Police are asking for help in finding a suspect in an apparent abduction attempt that occurred Tuesday afternoon.
"A 14-year-old girl told us a man grabbed her and tried to drag her off," a Massillon police spokesman said. "She said she threw snow in his face and kicked his ankle and was able to get away."
Police says the abduction attempt occurred between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The description given is of a man in his mid-40s, about 5-foot-8, medium build, probably 140 to 150 pounds.
Source
"A 14-year-old girl told us a man grabbed her and tried to drag her off," a Massillon police spokesman said. "She said she threw snow in his face and kicked his ankle and was able to get away."
Police says the abduction attempt occurred between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The description given is of a man in his mid-40s, about 5-foot-8, medium build, probably 140 to 150 pounds.
Source
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
More light
Feltham, UK -- At 2:20 p.m. Friday a woman was passing a pub on foot when a car approached and the driver asked her if she had a light.
When the woman replied "no", the suspect continued to ask questions and then grabbed her right wrist, attempting to force her into the car.
After the woman got herself free, the suspect drove off towards Hounslow.
Source
When the woman replied "no", the suspect continued to ask questions and then grabbed her right wrist, attempting to force her into the car.
After the woman got herself free, the suspect drove off towards Hounslow.
Source
Monday, February 12, 2007
Got a light?
This is a very common method of approaching, interviewing and distracting a potential victim.
If someone ask for a light, the time, distraction, some small change - anything that would potentially have you take the eyes off the subject in front of you - be aware!
Story:
UK -- A sex beast feared to have raped up to 20 women stole cigarette lighters from them as sick trophies, police believe.
The 43-year-old crack addict pounced on random victims walking in South London. He approached asking if they had a light — then attacked them at knifepoint.
Last night cops put on display the twisted predator’s haul of lighters.
Source
If someone ask for a light, the time, distraction, some small change - anything that would potentially have you take the eyes off the subject in front of you - be aware!
Story:
UK -- A sex beast feared to have raped up to 20 women stole cigarette lighters from them as sick trophies, police believe.
The 43-year-old crack addict pounced on random victims walking in South London. He approached asking if they had a light — then attacked them at knifepoint.
Last night cops put on display the twisted predator’s haul of lighters.
Source
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Hazards at work, 24
Minnesota -- A housekeeper was attacked Friday morning while making beds in a downtown hotel room, police say.
According to a Minneapolis police report, the 43-year-old woman was working when a man attacked her and attempted to rape her while she was cleaning a room.
A report said the woman engaged in a struggle with her attacker, who attempted to hold her down on a bed and hit her with an alarm clock.
The woman was able to fight off her attacker and escape with minor injuries. She was treated at a medical center.
Source
According to a Minneapolis police report, the 43-year-old woman was working when a man attacked her and attempted to rape her while she was cleaning a room.
A report said the woman engaged in a struggle with her attacker, who attempted to hold her down on a bed and hit her with an alarm clock.
The woman was able to fight off her attacker and escape with minor injuries. She was treated at a medical center.
Source
Saturday, February 10, 2007
To gain access
This is a very common method, used to gain access to a residence.
Story:
Ireland -- A man is sought by gardai (Irish police) for an attempted rape in Ferrybank, Graiguecullen on Thursday, between 11:35 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Further information suggests he may have attempted to strike before.
The woman said the man gained entry to the apartment when he claimed to be a plumber. Once inside he pretended to examine a heater before he went into the kitchen and got a knife.
He then pinned the terrified woman to the wall, threatening to kill her if she didn't take her clothes off.
The screams of the intended victim startled her attacker and he fled from the scene.
Source
Story:
Ireland -- A man is sought by gardai (Irish police) for an attempted rape in Ferrybank, Graiguecullen on Thursday, between 11:35 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Further information suggests he may have attempted to strike before.
The woman said the man gained entry to the apartment when he claimed to be a plumber. Once inside he pretended to examine a heater before he went into the kitchen and got a knife.
He then pinned the terrified woman to the wall, threatening to kill her if she didn't take her clothes off.
The screams of the intended victim startled her attacker and he fled from the scene.
Source
Friday, February 09, 2007
Common trick
This is a common ploy, used by carjackers, robbers, rapists and other criminals.
The safest advice is to think twice before stopping where the person/s in the vehicle behind you want you to pull over!
Chula Vista, California -- Police were looking for a man suspected of trying to rape a 19-year-old motorist Tuesday afternoon after she said he feigned an emergency to lure her out of her car.
The female told police she had been driving on Broadway when she noticed a car directly behind her flashing its lights. She pulled over and got out of her car, because she thought there was something wrong with it, police said.
The driver jumped out of his car as soon as she did, she said, then grabbed her and forced her into her rear seat and began fondling her. She said she struggled and pushed him out. Then she locked her doors, and he drove off, police said.
Source
The safest advice is to think twice before stopping where the person/s in the vehicle behind you want you to pull over!
Chula Vista, California -- Police were looking for a man suspected of trying to rape a 19-year-old motorist Tuesday afternoon after she said he feigned an emergency to lure her out of her car.
The female told police she had been driving on Broadway when she noticed a car directly behind her flashing its lights. She pulled over and got out of her car, because she thought there was something wrong with it, police said.
The driver jumped out of his car as soon as she did, she said, then grabbed her and forced her into her rear seat and began fondling her. She said she struggled and pushed him out. Then she locked her doors, and he drove off, police said.
Source
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Another push-in
Kansas -- In Shawnee, an attack happened at 7:25 a.m. at an Apartment complex as a woman was going outside to warm up her car. When she opened her apartment door the man pushed his way inside.
The two struggled, toppling furniture, before the man pinned her. During the melee he said he wanted to have sex with her.
The woman broke free, grabbed a telephone, locked herself in the bathroom and yelled she was calling police. The man had fled when officers arrived.
Source
The two struggled, toppling furniture, before the man pinned her. During the melee he said he wanted to have sex with her.
The woman broke free, grabbed a telephone, locked herself in the bathroom and yelled she was calling police. The man had fled when officers arrived.
Source
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
No sugar-cane
...This was the real thing - strong cane-fu :-)
I sincerely hope this intruder got a headache that will lasts a long time.
Story:
Pennsylvania -- In Derry Township a 70-year-old woman fought off an intruder with her cane.
The woman says several nights ago a strange man broke through her screen door and made his way through her front door.
The elderly woman came face-to-face with the would-be robber in her doorway.
What happened next, he probably did not expect. The intended victim hit him in the head with her metal cane. The suspect took off after being hit. The woman was not hurt.
Source
I sincerely hope this intruder got a headache that will lasts a long time.
Story:
Pennsylvania -- In Derry Township a 70-year-old woman fought off an intruder with her cane.
The woman says several nights ago a strange man broke through her screen door and made his way through her front door.
The elderly woman came face-to-face with the would-be robber in her doorway.
What happened next, he probably did not expect. The intended victim hit him in the head with her metal cane. The suspect took off after being hit. The woman was not hurt.
Source
Monday, February 05, 2007
Push-in
This is a classical attempt at something commonly called a "push-in".
Story:
Virginia -- A man started following a 21-year-old University of Virginia student as she walked home from a party, a Charlottesville police spokesman said.
"When she opened up the door to her home, he rushed her and tried to force her inside," the spokesman said.
The student's roommate and her boyfriend were inside the home when she arrived and came to her assistance when they heard her screaming, police said.
Source
Story:
Virginia -- A man started following a 21-year-old University of Virginia student as she walked home from a party, a Charlottesville police spokesman said.
"When she opened up the door to her home, he rushed her and tried to force her inside," the spokesman said.
The student's roommate and her boyfriend were inside the home when she arrived and came to her assistance when they heard her screaming, police said.
Source
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Instincts
The woman in the earliest incident here obviously trusted her instincts!
If you get this feeling that something isn't quite right, then leave immediately, it's always better to feel "stupid" than being robbed or assaulted, or something even worse.
Chicago - A man abducted and attempted to rob a female graduate student in the Hyde Park area on Thursday, January 25.
Police believe this may be the same man who parked a similar van in the area at 9:45 p.m., Thursday, January 18, and asked a passing woman for the time.
When she felt uncomfortable and subsequently fled, the man briefly pursued her. The woman was not hurt.
Source
If you get this feeling that something isn't quite right, then leave immediately, it's always better to feel "stupid" than being robbed or assaulted, or something even worse.
Chicago - A man abducted and attempted to rob a female graduate student in the Hyde Park area on Thursday, January 25.
Police believe this may be the same man who parked a similar van in the area at 9:45 p.m., Thursday, January 18, and asked a passing woman for the time.
When she felt uncomfortable and subsequently fled, the man briefly pursued her. The woman was not hurt.
Source
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Took a lickin'
Licking the shoes of people walking in New York City ... Yeah I love New York, but not this much. And I kind of "worship" women too, but again, there's a limit to it!
Story:
New York -- A man was recently sentenced for kissing and licking the shoes and feet of women on the subway. The man reportedly bowed down and chanted, "I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!"
The Brooklyn man was snagged by police last May after a woman fought off his foot-licking on a Queens-bound E train. He later confessed to police that he had assaulted more than 70 women.
Source
Story:
New York -- A man was recently sentenced for kissing and licking the shoes and feet of women on the subway. The man reportedly bowed down and chanted, "I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!"
The Brooklyn man was snagged by police last May after a woman fought off his foot-licking on a Queens-bound E train. He later confessed to police that he had assaulted more than 70 women.
Source
At a price
This is a sad reminder of what might happen if we do what I really hope any decent citizen would to - helping someone in need.
It is a crying shame that people like this man here, absolutely a hero in my book, doesn't receive more help.
The story also points at someone I've mentioned at several occasions - the danger that knives represent.
Story:
A hero who was left disabled after preventing a crazed knife attacker from killing his neighbour has blasted the lack of support he has received as he recovers from his injuries.
Simon de Blanc, 36, was stabbed repeatedly in Holtspur, after he went to the aid of a neighbour as she was attacked in her car.
Since last April's attack, Mr de Blanc, who used to earn £1,000 a week running his own business, has struggled to make ends meet on the £90 per week he receives in income support.
Source
It is a crying shame that people like this man here, absolutely a hero in my book, doesn't receive more help.
The story also points at someone I've mentioned at several occasions - the danger that knives represent.
Story:
A hero who was left disabled after preventing a crazed knife attacker from killing his neighbour has blasted the lack of support he has received as he recovers from his injuries.
Simon de Blanc, 36, was stabbed repeatedly in Holtspur, after he went to the aid of a neighbour as she was attacked in her car.
Since last April's attack, Mr de Blanc, who used to earn £1,000 a week running his own business, has struggled to make ends meet on the £90 per week he receives in income support.
Source
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