Community Chat

[BoopOMatic]

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@Laura14 wrote:

When good people do nothing without any consequences, the bad ones get emboldened. So sad to see my hometown come to this.

@Laura14  I said the same thing, almost word for word, the other day on another forum and got scolded. I have no idea why, isn't this just human nature? SMH

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[MorningLover]

October 21, 2021 

UPPER DARBY, Pa. (CBS) — A 28 year old man is in custody after Upper Darby police say he sexually assaulted a woman inside a SEPTA train terminal. Edwin Allen, of Philadelphia, is currently in custody.

This was a classic case of being in the right place at the right time.

SEPTA Police Officer Thomas Schiliro has been with the department for four years. He says his police work has never been more important than it was on Wednesday evening. He was steps away from where a woman was being sexually assaulted at 69th Street Transportation Center.

“I was close. I heard screaming from inside the terminal. I went upstairs to investigate and when I arrived I saw the victim and a couple other members of the public pointing out the suspect,” Schirilo said.

Police say a woman was riding on the El and fell asleep. When she woke up, she exited the train and went into the concourse and asked the suspect for help finding the train to get back into the city.

Police say 28 year old Edwin Allen offered to help the woman, but instead ripped her clothes off, groped and assaulted her.

While SEPTA has nearly 2,000 surveillance cameras in its system, SEPTA Police Officer Thomas Schiliro was there when he was needed most.

“You kind of just have to block out the noise. You don’t really have time to think. You think, ‘bad guy, I have to get him,’ intervene however I can,” Schirilo said.

Allen has a sex conviction on his record in Philadelphia and was on SEPTA police’s radar as a serial sexual attacker.

[gertrudecloset]

Unbelievable.  I have no words.  It's like a psych ward has been let lose.

[bmorechick]

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@gertrudecloset wrote:

Unbelievable.  I have no words.  It's like a psych ward has been let lose.

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@gertrudecloset Unmedicated no less

[hckynut]

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@Porcelain wrote:

You guys realize people (mostly women but not exclusively)  have been assaulted like this for forever, right? This is not new. It's very ancient.

It is wonderful that we are outraged nowadays and that something is being done about it. It was not always so. Now we have video proof of many of the old crimes that used to be 'he said she said' and were trivialized and went unacknowledged and unpunished.

@Porcelain 

No I do not realize this because it is not the same. Maybe where you live this has been common place in "ancient" times, but not here.

Stories I have read and seen on media decades ago, in big cities, this was not happening in broad daylight, and within a crowded public transportation vehicle.

I get tired of hearing this type hype, because that is what it is, hype. Then there is the "it's always been happening, but now with new technology, we can see it".

No it is neither in my opinion. It is the erosion of what used to be a more caring human race. Think Flight 93!  

You may be older than my 82 years, but I do not consider myself "ancient". And if these things were happening? I must have sleep walked through much of my daylight hour decades in busy public places. 

Do agree most victims are female, but that's it.

hckynut 

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[gardenman]

In my younger days, you would be an outcast if you committed a major crime. You'd spend decades in prison and be shunned when you got released. Criminal behaviour was not tolerated. These days there are fewer negative social consequences.

A study done by the DOJ in 2016 showed that the average time served for all criminal acts overall was 2.6 years and the median time until release was 1.3 years. Murderers served an average of 13.4 years. Violators served an average of 2.2 years for non-murder violent assaults (including rape.)

There have been efforts to destigmatize criminals and there are lots of programs to help ex-cons, so the social cost of committing crimes is less. You come out of prison these days and you're apt to be given an apartment, a job, and even a free education in some cases. "We want to give them a hand up so they won't repeat." Yeah, how's that working out?

Now in some parts of the country, you can steal up to $900+ in merchandise and face no consequences. Oddly enough stores are closing in those areas. Go figure. Back in Wilson Goode's days as Philly mayor, he announced that car thieves wouldn't be arrested or prosecuted until after they'd stolen two cars. Suffice to say car thefts increased dramatically.

We've largely removed the negative consequences for wrongdoing these days. If anything, we're almost rewarding criminals for breaking the law. When you look at the arrest history of some of these guys/gals you wonder, "How on Earth are they out of prison?" 

Should we stigmatize criminals? Maybe a little. A little social pressure on people not to commit crimes might just be an improvement. Maybe a little stigmatizing isn't such a bad thing. What we're doing now sure isn't working.

[Daisy Sunflower]

Too bad a new group of Guardian Angels isn't patroling. Remember them?

[reiki604]

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@Daisy Sunflower wrote:

Too bad a new group of Guardian Angels isn't patroling. Remember them?

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Their originator Curtis Sliwa is running for mayor of NYC.

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

Sadly it seems we give more sympathy to the criminal instead of the victim. 

[gertrudecloset]

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@hckynut wrote:

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@Porcelain wrote:

You guys realize people (mostly women but not exclusively)  have been assaulted like this for forever, right? This is not new. It's very ancient.

It is wonderful that we are outraged nowadays and that something is being done about it. It was not always so. Now we have video proof of many of the old crimes that used to be 'he said she said' and were trivialized and went unacknowledged and unpunished.

@Porcelain 

No I do not realize this because it is not the same. Maybe where you live this has been common place in "ancient" times, but not here.

Stories I have read and seen on media decades ago, in big cities, this was not happening in broad daylight, and within a crowded public transportation vehicle.

I get tired of hearing this type hype, because that is what it is, hype. Then there is the "it's always been happening, but now with new technology, we can see it".

No it is neither in my opinion. It is the erosion of what used to be a more caring human race. Think Flight 93!  

You may be older than my 82 years, but I do not consider myself "ancient". And if these things were happening? I must have sleep walked through much of my daylight hour decades in busy public places. 

Do agree most victims are female, but that's it.

hckynut 

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@hckynut you do know that people have been forcing their will on others since the dawn of man, right?  You can find it in ancient texts even.  It is common, has been, and will always be something women and men must concern themselves with.  There is no cure for being human.  None.