The Un-Badass Of The Week
11 February 2010
31 Comments
So we’ve all seen or read about a real badass. Someone who looks fear in the eye and smiles. More often than not, they are your modern day hero. That person who tries to protect, no matter what the cost.
This story isn’t one of those. I was sitting down for lunch, when I open the paper to see what was going on in the world. When I came across this story that made my blood boil. Let me tell you about three Un-badasses of the week.
It’s about three tunnel Guards in downtown Seattle’s bus tunnel. Let me say right off the bat that the tunnel Guards are unarmed. They also have orders not to intervene in fights or criminal activities. I do understand that. However, let me give you a few more facts…
…A 15 year old girl was followed by 4 other teenagers, 3 girls and a boy. The 15 year old girl ran up to the security guards and told them she was being followed and felt she was in danger. Just then she was attacked by one of the girls following her. The three guards did nothing. One of the guards even turned and walked away!! WTF! This is the part that pisses me off. I don’t give a shit if you loose your job over this. A fully grown man, could easily defend a 15 year old girl from 4 other UNARMED teenagers. But in this case, there were THREE GROWN MEN!
The worst part was the 15 year old was beaten so bad she was knocked unconscious and had to be hospitalized. She was repeatedly kicked in the head while the three Guards looked on. The 4 teenagers got away with the 15 year old girls purse, phone and iPod.
Way to go Guards. You almost got someone killed. A girl comes to you for help, she sees the uniform and she feels safe. I mean there are three of you, grown men. She is being chased by f_cking kids, and you let her get beat so bad she has to be hospitalized.
This story made my stomach turn and my blood to boil, I just dont understand how people can stand by and just watch someone getting badly beaten without intervening.
And what the hell is there GUARDS if they wont even protect a 15 year old girl in trouble.
Im actually quite pissed off now
I’m with Sam. That is just… REALLY?!?! They didn’t even try to help her AFTER the fact. This isn’t an issue of “following the rules” this is an issue of simply not realizing what it means to be a civilized human being. I’m truly impressed by the guard that sees trouble coming, and WALKS AWAY! I’m not a violent person, but it makes me want to sucker punch a guard, and when he tries to defend himself remind him he has orders to only “observe and report.” DISGUSTING.
America is finally reaping what it sows. All of the frivolous lawsuits for looking sideways at children, all the false claims of injury, abuse, and discrimination are what caused this. This is what you get when you’re not allowed to discipline your children and political correctness rules the roost, no matter how ridiculous it is. Like it? Hope and change, baybee…where everyone is equal and no one fails.
Welcome to your future
This pretty much makes this place a destination for muggers and thieves. Why do they wear “security” on their uniforms when they are basically worse than bystanders? By clearly not acting it emboldens the muggers and thugs even more. This is worse than NO security! They should be fired, the Seattle Transit Authority sued big time too!
I can understand guards being told not to enter fights, if three of them tried to enter a fight between two rival gangs they could be very likely putting their life at risk. But, look at each situation as it is, guys. She came up to them with seconds to spare where they could have taken her to safety. Even a few times the girls stopped wailing on her, probably worried the guards might ACTUALLY do something. Once they realized they were good,they knocked her out, STOLE a few items in front of the guards, and got away clean? Is this a joke?
A single mall security cop would probably have the balls to intervene. Is there a chance they would lose their jobs if they did?
In that case, this kind of is basically what we have come to. Ever since the kid who got fired for physically stopped a bank robber, it’s gone downhill.
what the HELL are they there for then? “Guard” still means to guard, right?
NoMorePC summed up my thoughts on this…horrific, yes, but this is the monster that modern PC-American society has created. These guards would have likely lost their jobs for intervening, and in this recession could they afford to? You’ll also notice how no one else raises a finger to help, they just keep on walking. Apathy in all things…
This is disgusting. I don’t care what your job says you’re supposed to do. You see somebody in trouble like that and you do not F’ing just stand there and do nothing. What the hell are the guards even there for if all they’re supposed to do is “observe and report”? They should all be fired and replaced by one guy and a few video cameras.
“Following the rules”? I think that was just an excuse for being cowardly jerks. If I had been there, even alone, I would have beaten those four punks so bad they would never be able to assault anyone again.
What disgusting excuses for human beings those guards were. I’d like to beat them a little bit so they can know what it’s like. Total ********, the three of them.
While I agree that this incident was reprehensible, reports like this are just as bad. I guess I can’t really blame you to much for trying to villainize the guards since even the major news outlets are. You like most of them fail to mention the fact that this girl and her friend first approached two uniformed police officers in the mall. Instead of taking action they were the ones who sent them to the bus station. Had the officers acted proactively the fight would have never occurred. You, just like the news outlets, also fail to fully explain what it means when you say, “they also have orders not to intervene in fights or criminal activities.” In case you and the first two posters don’t actually know I will explain it. By the way I have been in the private security field for 15 years dealing with both municipal accounts and corporate. Had the officers intervened and received injuries they most likely would not have been covered under workman’s compensation since they were injured preforming duties other then the ones they were hired for. Had they injured any of the attackers they could have been charged with battery since they would not have been covered under any self defense statute. They also would have opened themselves up to a lawsuit. Since the company they worked for would most likely have fired them they would be forced to pay out of pocket to defend themselves. While you might not care if they lost their jobs, I am sure that they and their family would care about the loss of income, medical and legal bills. Instead of attacking the security officers, how about attacking the system that tied their hands? At one time uniformed security officers enjoyed almost the same protections as sworn police officers. These protections have been slowly eliminated though thanks to multiple lawsuits and politicians trying to come up with easy solutions.
“I don’t give a shit if you loose your job over this”
It’s spelled ‘lose’ not ‘loose’. Why do so many Americans get that wrong?
And these guards are cowardly retards. They’re called guards why?
@NoMorePC – I call BS. There aren’t anymore lawsuits today than there were 50 years ago…it’s just an excuse for those lacking sympathy not to act. I’ve heard similar BS as an excuse not to provide CPR to someone; yet not *one* person has ever lost a lawsuit in a reasonable situation of providing aid (Good Samaritan laws vary by jurisdiction, but in a case as simple as the above, there are no worries).
You want to blame parents for (basically) not smacking their kids around. How about blaming a society willing to accept nonsense philosophy like Ayn Rand who strongly influences much of today’s conservative thought? According to those philosophies, you shouldn’t act because there is no benefit to you. That is a far more frightening concept than spoiled kids.
I have seen this story and video already. It still makes my blood boil and to feel for the girl that sought out these d*ckheads for protection.
If I had been one of those guards and knowing that I would lose my job if I intervened, I would have said f**k it and protected the girl. It could have been done without my even having to reach out to the attackers. Watching the video, she could have been screened by the Guards.
I am not a Sheep nor a Nazi [whose excuse for their actions were - we were just following orders].
It is a sad state of affairs when we continually lose the Independent thinkers of our Society.
And people think I am crazy when I suggest the possibility of the police or military taking control. These same moronic type people that follow instructions otherwise they don’t get the next pellet of food dispensed to them are the same people I served with.
To Bruce,
Seriously you would be worried about it if you were to be injured it wouldn’t be cover under workman’s comp? Or in fear of being charged with assault? Or being fired? Way to keep your job and continue being part of the problem. Very short sighted.
@ NoMorePC – this has nothing to do with hope and change, i think you’re confused, this is about how nothing changes, people have been mistreating one another while others turn the other way forever
cynicism won’t save anyone, hopes the only thing that’s ever done anyone any good. you can bet your ass those guards are cynics
“Let me say right off the bat that the tunnel Guards are unarmed. They also have orders not to intervene in fights or criminal activities.”
Guards who are publicly known to be unable to intervene in fights or criminal activities and publicly known to be unarmed. What is the point of that exactly? I actually feel bad for anyone unfortunate enough to have a Catch-22 job like that. They can be fired for doing exactly the thing that dressing them up as guards makes people think it’s their job to do: protecting people.
Seriously, WTF is in the minds of the people that hired these guards and then constrained them to be unable to do anything effective while performing them? I have to assume that the guards are disallowed any effective ability to intervene to protect the bus company from lawsuits — if the guards act like humans and intervene, the bus company can point to the rules and say, “We’re not responsible. We told the guards we hired not to actually guard anyone or do anything.” Nice.
Serious failure of humanity on the part of the guards for not rising above the ridiculous situation to act like human members of the community, but far worse failure for the idiots who valued shielding themselves from liability over having effective security personnel.
wow, im just floored by how many people just jump at the chance to attack America over every little thing that happens here, ever heard the phrase “one person does not a country make.”? if you hate our leader, fine, if you hate our laws, fine, so do i. but attacking an entire country for the flaws of a few, and your own bigotry is just stupid. the politicians and the lawyers have made this country the hole it is today, if you’re throwing blame at least throw it at the people who deserve it.
as well as the “guards” what about everyone else in the bus garage in broad daylight that is just walking on by around the girl that is having the sh*t kicked out of her. i’m afraid its not looking like a good advertisement for the people of Seattle let alone the US of A.
BTW someone should get a gang together and pop down the bus garage and give the guards a good kicking
And people wonder why i carry an asp baton in my back pocket at all times.
Bruce: so its not the security guards fault they didn’t do anything, its the police officers fault. WRONG the security were approached for aid, what happened in another location is irrelevant to the guards actions. Abdication of responsibility of duty. Next you will say its the parents fault for raising violent children, so neither the police or guards should be involved. In a nutshell: Bruce you are an ass.
Guards are there to protect the merchants interests and in the case of transit to make sure no one evades fares. They don’t actually do anything beyond that, they go after the least threatening perpetrators.
Instead of thinking of them as guards with any skills in an emergency, perhaps you need to think of them as shoplifting watchers or a doorman with delusions of grandeur, power and authority…monkeys in uniform, wanna be’s.
What upsets me most, actually was not that the security guards did nothing, but that a tunnel full of other bystanders also did nothing. Either way it’s wrong, but to put all responsibility on the shoulders of the “guards” for their lack of initiative to help is just as irresponsible. Just because they were the ones in the uniforms doesn’t make the rest of the witnesses any less guilty of also doing absolutely nothing.
What I can see is the random violence that is inherent in a gun toting society, juxtaposed with the “I am not empowered to do that and I might get sued” mentality of the USA.
“In God We Trust”, It looks like you will have to!
If i see the chance to kick some punks a$$ I’m taking it! pansies!
Common sense has taken a back seat to our fear of “the rules”. I hope all three of the guards take a long hard look in the mirror and then quit their jobs. Go America – you rock…..
Progressive Seattle at it’s finest. It pains me, but I’m not blaming the guards alone. They see a fight, they’re not to intervene, they’re to call the police… should they have intervened, yes, but so should everyone else at the bus stop. It was a complete failure of the local culture on display. It’s easy to fault the guards, but they only represent the City’s apathy, and the City’s apathy reflects the attitude of it’s populace. Could you even live in a city like that?
Followup for this – vic’s lawyer says a “lawsuit is likely”. Good. Hope they make it hurt for Seattle Metro and the SPD.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011061755_apusbustunnelbeatingpolice.html
Just to clarify, it was ONE girl (who was also 15, like the girl being attacked) and THREE older guys. the girl was the only one attacking her and the guys were just standing around?
Intervening and facing loss of their jobs, along with being sued by the thugs would have been brave, and I like to think I would have acted differently. However, your beef should be with the type of society that excuses this behavior to the point that security guards are not allowed to break up fights. If you don’t like this kind of thing, quit voting Democrat.
The man making the rules to protect the public is obviously not concerned with the safety of the public! I think we need someone WHO CAN ACTUALLY RELATE TO THE PUBLIC decide how to protect us rather than some asshole who’s only concern is his bank account!!!
this was all over my local news (i’m from seattle) the victim goes to my school!! its crazy how i found this on stumbleupon
I think fear is a factor in most cases. Fear of injury, fear of losing ones’ income, etc. etc.. I’ve had a habit of getting involved when I hear people spouting BS, or when I see someone being threatened physically or verbally. Oddly enough, the incidents never escalated, which surprised me since I’m smaller than average w/ a slim build. Attitude seems to make a big difference. Be calm, show no fear, and talk logically w/o threats. Unless you’re unlucky enough to encounter a psychopath, most people seem to be willing to back down, if you give them a way to retreat and save face. However, I never had anyone provide any backup either. If you choose to intervene, assume you’re on your own.
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