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Like the school bus driver that saved a man in a burning car and lost his job.
He saw a man trapped in a burning car and pulled over... grabbed the bus fire extinguisher and rushed to the burning car and broke the window to pull the elderly driver to safety and put out the fire...
He was fired for dereliction of duty as he still had several kids on the bus when he stopped to helped... his duty was the kids in his charged not someone about to die on the side of the country road.
This might seem callous, but there is no law that compels people to render aid. In most cases, the best thing to do is call 911.
Like the school bus driver that saved a man in a burning car and lost his job.
He saw a man trapped in a burning car and pulled over... grabbed the bus fire extinguisher and rushed to the burning car and broke the window to pull the elderly driver to safety and put out the fire...
He was fired for dereliction of duty as he still had several kids on the bus when he stopped to helped... his duty was the kids in his charged not someone about to die on the side of the country road.
Did he fight it? I know a lot of bus drivers are in a union and I think the union would fight.
I kind of understand the school district POV bc who knows what trouble the kids could cause in 10 minutes but otoh I don't know how a bunch of kids would interpret a grown up driving past a human in distress. Might really shake their opinion of mankind.
I could see that for a high-end jewelry store. But Home Depot? What can they get, some superglue and a couple boxes of nails?
At my husband's store, some guy took 6 saws @$899. out the back emergency exit, where his accomplice was waiting. They got away in seconds. Of course, it's all on film, but chances of him being caught are slim. Theft is very high at HD. One day a guy did get caught trying to steal $1800 worth of stuff. If there hadn't been an off duty sheriff who was alerted he would have gotten away with it. Things like this happen almost every day.
I started reading the article and "diversion crime" alarms went off in my head. Draw employees out of the store, have accomplice go in and help themselves quickly.
This has happened at hubby's HD. A guy faked a heart attack while his buddy tried to steal a cart full of stuff.
Did he fight it? I know a lot of bus drivers are in a union and I think the union would fight.
I kind of understand the school district POV bc who knows what trouble the kids could cause in 10 minutes but otoh I don't know how a bunch of kids would interpret a grown up driving past a human in distress. Might really shake their opinion of mankind.
Huge public outcry and eventually he did return to work... the parents of the kids on the bus were what swayed things in his favor...
I can see the liability point but then I would expect someone entrusted to drive kids would have enough sense to make this decision.
At my husband's store, some guy took 6 saws @$899. out the back emergency exit, where his accomplice was waiting. They got away in seconds. Of course, it's all on film, but chances of him being caught are slim. Theft is very high at HD. One day a guy did get caught trying to steal $1800 worth of stuff. If there hadn't been an off duty sheriff who was alerted he would have gotten away with it. Things like this happen almost every day.
Car theft and the like are not prosecuted and have been reduced to infractions in most cases.
Little to no fear of punishment so the risk is low for someone on that path already.
I've caught people steeling at the local Mom and Pop ACE hardware and the owners were most appreciative.
I caught people steeling full shopping carts of meats and pampers at the market and the store has no interest... as in OK... thanks for letting us know.
Store employees are not LEO's & have no business trying to stop real or supposed crimes in progress. I probably would have been on the other side of this debate, until about 15 years ago, when I walked into a Sam's Club one night & 5 large guys are manhandling & carrying 1 tiny woman, who is screaming & yelling her head off & trying to get away from them. I live in an open carry state & in a county where a huge number of people carry both openly & concealed & that has a large military presence.
I got the hell out of there as fast as I could before things went really wrong in a way that was going to affect innocent bystanders. I complained to corporate after I found out what supposedly happened. Supposedly, she was a bad check writer. What it looked like, when walking in in the middle of this situation is that 5 burly guys were about to kidnap & gang rape this young woman. The liability Sam's opened themselves up to, by allowing non-LEO employees to PHYSICALLY attack a shopper is outrageous for the company, but even worse was the risk they created for other innocent shoppers.
Ran into another similar instance just about a month ago, when a shopper left the local Hobby Lobby & in the crosswalk she is obviously struggling to get her purse away from 2 men who are trying to get it from her. Hmmm, this is in a public parking lot. Are they employees & she stole? Or are they the thiefs? She gets away to her car, where she is parked in a handicap spot & they are still physically struggling with her. She's about 65 yrs old & disabled. So, yeah, maybe she stole, IDK as I wasn't there, but I DO know how bad that lawsuit will be, when the Hobby Lobby employees are sued for attacking an elderly, handicapped woman & causing her bodily injury.
I've since done some research since both of these really upset me, esp. the first situation & learned that most stores DO NOT allow their employees to get involved & for good reason! Sam's Club risked my life & other innocent people's lives to possibly catch a bad check writer. Sorry, I know this guy was trying to do good, but as my 2 experiences show, you don't know how these situations look, when they are taking place in a parking lot, you don't know who's the good guy & the bad guy & you don't know what anyone will do, when they get their own assessment of the situation & risk. It is never ok for a store employee to assault someone or get involved, unless they are trained by that store, for that specific purpose.
I'm usually against these types of 'heroes' but clearly this is different than the usual types, where wanna be Chuck Norris' try to apprehend an armed thief.
A kidnapping is very urgent and the dispatcher advised him to follow the perp.
He acted best he could under the situation and got a raw deal by Home Depot.
In my example the Mom and Pop hardware store the person was not an employee but the shop owner.
It has become really bad a the grocery stores here at night... what I mean is the crooks and kid crooks know they will get no resistance from the store so they simply pack a cart to overflowing and head out the door... seen it too many times.
Here is how the store responds... they chain all the entry/exit doors when it is dark... one way in and one way out... they said they HAVE too for Loss Prevention. My problem is this is a clear egress requirement for the building and fire codes and I have reported it and it is simply ignored... the Chief Building Official in one city said the store is trying to remain viable in the stem of inventory shrinkage and I stand by my statement that chained fire exits jeopardize everyone in the store...
Maybe if the stores would be a little more aggressive the theft problem would have not gotten out of hand???
People sue and that is why EVERY business has hefty insurance coverage... either bought or self-insured...
Bad things happen when good people do nothing.
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