Legal Responsibility to Report a Crime in Progress
Because police officers cannot be everywhere, they often rely on bystanders to report crimes, especially if the victim cannot make the report himself. If bystanders do not report a crime in progress, it can become difficult to catch a criminal. The question, however, is whether anyone has a legal responsibility to report a crime in progress to the authorities.
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Legal Responsibility
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While it may seem reasonable that anyone who witnesses a crime should be legally required to report it, this is not the case. Authorities cannot charge bystanders who fail to report a crime. If a person is not a party to the crime, he has not broken any laws.
Moral Responsibility
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Even though you do not have a legal responsibility to report a crime in progress, doing so can possibly end it more quickly and increase the chances of the police catching the criminal in the act. Many would say, therefore, that reporting the crime is the right thing to do, but this choice falls under the area of a moral responsibility, rather than a legal one.
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Risks
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Certain crimes may frighten you if you witness them. That fear can cause you not to call the police, even if you want to. No law requires you to put yourself in danger. Rather than doing nothing, however, some experts recommend that if you feel you are in danger, leave the scene and then make the report.
Problems With Laws Requiring Reporting
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It would be difficult to enforce a law requiring bystanders to report a crime in progress. Authorities would have a hard time identifying who was at the crime scene, actually saw the crime taking place and then did not report it. And what if a bystander reported the crime later? Would that then be a violation of the law? For reasons such as this, the legal system does not penalize those who do not report crimes in progress.
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References
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