Why Dfuse matters

“If you'd been in the Spar supermarket in London's Piccadilly just before midnight on Saturday eight days ago, you'd have seen a gang of some 17 boys aged between 13 and 16 walk in, steal what they wanted and begin to walk out - with nobody saying a thing. Only one eyewitness, a 21-year-old student, challenged them; how could they do this? What were they thinking? What was their morality? And got pelted with food for her pains.(read more)

Will Hutton, The Observer, Sunday January 15, 2006

What should the response of the public be in situations like this against a background of what appears to be increasing risk?

Since this article was written there have been reports almost daily of people intervening with terrible consequences, a 15 year old boy killed outside his north London school when he intervened in an argument, a 19 year old university student stabbed to death when he tried to break up a dispute on a train, a 26 year old man critically ill in hospital after going to help a woman being beaten up in the street in Nottingham. Either we keep our heads down, feel bad about ourselves and send all the wrong messages to the ‘disaffected’ or we intervene and risk getting stabbed.

How are we to distinguish between low level disorder where we could perhaps respond in a way that does not put us or others at risk and dangerous situations which could end in serious harm and even death?

Is there a way to respond which would minimise the risk of harm to ourselves and to others?

Are we confident that we can respond in a way that does not make the situation worse?

Do we know how to deescalate rather than aggravate an incident?

What is the legal position regarding any action we decide to take? Are we likely to end up being prosecuted by the police rather than commended for getting involved?