To report this to the police?

[Hardbackwriter]

Today I happened to click on the neighborhood FB place for where I used to live until a few weeks ago (which is a not very nice/slightly rough area - this may or may not be relevant). The top post, with many comments and 'angry face' reactions is someone saying that someone living in the area is a convicted paedophile. In the comments someone has included a screenshot of a news story relating to his conviction (the crimes involved are obviously sickening), his name, his approximate address and his photo. While obviously not in any way condoning what he has done, this has really worried me - the comments make me think there's a pretty high chance of people taking vigilante action, though no one actually goes as far as saying they will do this. I went to report it through the police online reporting system and this made me doubt myself, though - it asks a lot about the crime, the victim, etc and I don't think I have witnessed a crime or a victim, more a potential one, but if you click 'no' to 'have you witnessed or been victim to a crime' it redirects you out of the reporting system. AIBU to think this is a matter that is worth reporting?

The photo is concerning. A guy killed himself because someone made out he was Robert Thompson... Wrong id can have really serious consequences.

@Hepcat75

It's worth noting that there are reams and reams of internet articles detailing incidents whereby men are beaten or even killed having been misidentified as 'nonces' principally because these "Crusaders for the Kiddies" are often profoundly stupid mouth-breathers.

Wasn't there an Iranian guy who was murdered because people thought he was a paedophile? Even though he wasn't?

If he is a pedo he deserves everything that's coming to him.

@englishrosie

I hate nonce sympathisers more than I hate vigilantism.

Did you read about the case of Bijan Ebrahimi upthread? A completely innocent man killed and his body set on fire because his neighbours thought he was a paedophile.

@copperoliver but the point is that word "if"

If he is a paedo. If.

What if the targeted person is totally innocent and nothing to do with anything?

The problem with the typical viligante mob is that they are not, generally, concerned with details because they do not have the intellectual capacity or the emotional intelligence to do so. They just want justice for the kiddies innit fuck yeah blah blah blah

and they don't bother to think about whether they are actually targeting the right person.

If they are 100% sure he's a pedo and they do something to him. He deserves it. It's a shame more weirdos aren't taken off the streets by ordinary people, the police are powerless so the people feel they need to protect their community. Good for them. Personally I think all convicted pedos should be Hanged.

@copperoliver

If they are 100% sure he's a pedo and they do something to him. He deserves it. It's a shame more weirdos aren't taken off the streets by ordinary people, the police are powerless so the people feel they need to protect their community. Good for them. Personally I think all convicted pedos should be Hanged.

Oh well if they are 100% sure then who cares what the actual truth is?

Who cares about the law and society? Mob justice for all eh? Next time my neighbour parks his car over my drive I'll chuck a brick through his window, since we're all deciding our own justice now. Perhaps people can call for burglars to have their hands cut off?

@itsgettingweird a milllion apologies, I was attempting to reply to a poster with a very similar username! Sorry about that!

I was meaning to reply to @Illdealwithitinaminute whose name was next to yours on the reply drop down bar.

If they are 100% sure he's a pedo and they do something to him.

Once again, that's a big IF. Massive. Possibly deadly.

You also assume that the people that tend to do this bother with research, accuracy and 100% certainties.

@copperoliver you have absolutely no idea of how ridiculous you sound.

The problem is @copperoliver that a vigilante mob will always be convinced that they are "100% sure".

Unfortunately they are not necessarily 100% right.

And therein lies the problem.

If they are 100% sure he's a pedo and they do something to him.
Many years ago a man who lived in a block of flats near me was beaten badly because people were 100% sure he was a convicted paedophile. Turns out there was one in those block of flats, just not the man who was accused. The similarity was the surname, though they weren't connected. I don't trust vigilantism at all.

copperoliver are you writing from the 18th century or perhaps a failed state where people are under educated and the law doesn't function properly?

Dial 101 and report it. People don't have the right to take the law into their own hands. I don't condone violence against anyone for any reason

That vigilante action happens is very wrong. I don't have to think about mistaken identity to feel sickened by vigilante attacks - an attack on a convicted offender is wrong, all violence is sickening.

But I don't think communities are all "thick" or intent only on inciting violence because they are worried about a convicted offender.
Most who leave the justice system are not rehabilitated. I doubt anyone in the criminal justice system would claim otherwise. There is a huge network in place to monitor high risk offenders in the community - which in itself acknowledges the risk.

@impossiblenottodo I work in the Criminal Justice System and it’s often a case of managing people rather than rehabilitating them. I can categorically state that threads like this show exactly how difficult our job is. We try to establish some stability and sense of social responsibility with an individual then someone takes it upon themselves to post something on a FB group and the whole thing is upended in minutes. It is totally misguided and counterproductive.

But I don't think communities are all "thick" or intent only on inciting violence because they are worried about a convicted offender.

It's not necessarily about being being thick, especially if a community has been failed before/is disillusioned with the justice system/people in authority.

There is a lot of fear. There is a lot of anger. People egg eachother on. Any measured comments get "nonce defender!" shut down.

I'll give you an example , in March before the schools were shut, there was a very angry, emotive post by a parent accusing the staff/school of ignoring that her child was poorly, how he was blue lighted to A&E and diagnosed with Corona, and it was the teacher's fault. In a few hours the angry mob was formed, threats for head, threats to the teachers, solidarity, we'll do this we'll do that, we're behind you, parents deciding to keep their kids off and the school was actually vandalised the next day(possibly a coincidence). It was all fucking bollocks! Definitely no Covid diagnosis, which was sheepishly admitted by the mother.

Do I think everyone on that post was stupid? No. But it only takes a few angry and loud people, an unknown situation, fear, an assumption that people you know wouldn't blatantly lie about something like this and you have a powdered keg ready to blow. The problem is, it mostly blows up in innocent people's faces.

[quote BananaPop2020]@itsgettingweird a milllion apologies, I was attempting to reply to a poster with a very similar username! Sorry about that![/quote]
not the first person to do it! Guilty as charged myself there too

@impossiblenottodo case in point this thread. PP's have no idea who this man is, if he actually is guilty, or what is going on but they feel he deserves whatever he gets and "ohhh if I could just get my hands on him". Even after OP posted details that mean identification is not 100% at best or malicious at worst.