Swedish Police Stop Vicious Assault On New York Subway

[Rainman]

Four Swedish police officers who were on holiday, were taking a train to Broadway to watch a musical. That's what tourists do. But . . . the train operator announced that something was wrong. There was an assault taking place in the front carriage. He called on any police officers on board to help.

The Swedes . . .

At Bleeker Street, the next stop, the Scandinavian officers made their way to front of the train and spotted a passenger viciously beating another, reportedly offering no defence . . . subdued the attacker, managed to apply an arm lock and held him down until local police arrived.

Great work! But they said, hey we aren't heroes. Just tourists

Americas - World - The Independent

 

[Gabe]

People don't seem to want to intervene these days out of fear, but why people think they can beat people up and also do it in public I don't know. Surely they know there are cameras and that police are on every corner and the chances of not getting caught were slim. It looked as if other people were in the carriage and wonder why they didn't help. Strength in numbers?

 

[lushlala]

You're right Gabe, it's a shame that people don't want to get involved these days. I know in the UK there's been cases where people have intervened and broken up fights, only to then find themselves on the wrong side of the law! Very strange.

But wow, kudos to those Swedish police officers! It really warms my heart

 

[mrsbright]

In psychological studies, they mention that, especially in crowds, people don't even feel like they have to interveene. Like, why me, right? Someone else will do it. That's why sometimes, if someone "start" to help, others might be shaken out of it. Especially if the person who starts to help asks for more help.

But good job, Swedish cops!

 

[Diane Lane]

I agree with all of you. That phenomenon is why, during CPR training, people are taught to point out someone in the crowd, call them out by name, or, speaking directly to him/her, you in the red shirt (or whatever Identifying characteristic they can see), call 911, as well as calling others over to help with CPR, crowd control, etc. Many people, especially nowadays, seem to be stuck in standby mode, as if they're watching a movie or television show, but as @Mrsbright said, sometimes all it takes is one person to step up or speak out, and others often follow. I don't know if y'all have seen the videos where someone falls on the subway tracks, and people stand around looking, then one person will move toward the edge, and you'll see people start to notice, and when that person jumps down to help, others start doing the same. In many cases, it seems we've become a world of sheep, waiting for a leader to tell us what to do.

 

[jeremy2]

The Swedish police were at the right place at the right time. I must commend them for their swift action even though they were not on duty but just responded to an emergency.

 

[missbishi]

I hope they managed to get to the show on time! Whilst I must admit that I'm having a little giggle about a bunch of male cops going off to watch Les Mis, they've clearly dislayed that they have a tough side too. To think, they even managed not to kill the guy they were restraining!

 

[JoanMcWench]

Now I'm curious if they ended up going to see the musical. Also which musical? Maybe the Book of Mormon? As you can see the rest of that story was in no way surprising to me. Another day on the subway.

 

[Patrick]

Nice to hear some heartwarming police stories for a change. Kudos to these off-duty policemen who weren't even of the same nationality, yet helping out the public.

 

[dyanmarie25]

It's great to hear these kinds of news. Kudos to those Swedish police officers! Imagine that, they were just touring around the city of New York, and didn't even hesitate to help and intervene. Job well done, indeed!

 

[missbishi]

Now I'm curious if they ended up going to see the musical. Also which musical? Maybe the Book of Mormon? As you can see the rest of that story was in no way surprising to me. Another day on the subway.

The Swedish policement were off to see Les Miserables. Needless to say, the Swedes are very progressive and free thinking. Could you even begin to imagine a bunch of US or UK cops off to see something like this together?