On Monday, SEPTA’s police chief made a stunning and scathing announcement: That a train full of people witnessed a sexual assault, didn’t intervene, didn’t call 9-1-1, and some filmed instead of helping. This all seemed like the Kitty Genovese story that many of us have read about.
The Kitty Genovese story
Here is how The New York Times originally reported the story:
For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law‐abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens.
Twice the sound of their voices and the sudden glow of their bedroom Iights interrupted him and frightened him off. Each time he returned, sought her out and stabbed her again. Not one person telephoned ‐ the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead.
That was two weeks ago to day. But Assistant Chief Inspector Frederick M. Lussen, in charge of the borough’s detectives and a veteran of 25 years of homicide investigations, is still shocked.
He can give a matter‐of‐fact recitation of many murders. But the Kew Gardens slaying baffles him‐not because it is a murder, but because the “good people” failed to call the police.
The problems? I’ll let The New York Times explain:
While there was no question that the attack occurred, and that some neighbors ignored cries for help, the portrayal of 38 witnesses as fully aware and unresponsive was erroneous. The article grossly exaggerated the number of witnesses and what they had perceived. None saw the attack in its entirety. Only a few had glimpsed parts of it, or recognized the cries for help. Many thought they had heard lovers or drunks quarreling. There were two attacks, not three. And afterward, two people did call the police. A 70-year-old woman ventured out and cradled the dying victim in her arms until they arrived. Ms. Genovese died on the way to a hospital.
That article also included details about how one witness got the assailant to stop and what happened after that. So, what does this have to do with the Philly train assault case? More than you’d think.
How the Kitty Genovese story informs the Philly train assault case
In the Kitty Genovese case, the incorrect narrative was the dominant narrative for over 40 years. Although the truth was easily apparent at the time of the assault, it wasn’t until the 2000s that the narrative was seriously questioned.
In an article about how it’s not likely that any of the Philadelphia train riders will be criminally charged, some important details were buried in the middle.
“Police declined to say how many passengers may have witnessed the assault, but have said it appeared that some held their phones up in the direction of the assault seemingly to film the attack.”
It’s a little strange that the police aren’t hesitating to claim that people on the train saw the attack and did nothing but aren’t getting into details about how many people were actually there. Especially since these are people who theoretically need to be tracked down and interviewed since the alleged assailant is claiming that what appeared to be an attack was consensual.
“Appeared” and “seemingly” are what I call squishy words. They’re hinting at something, but they aren’t really saying anything definitively.
> “Requests by The Associated Press for surveillance video from the Oct. 13 attack on the Market-Frankford line have been denied, citing the ongoing criminal investigation.”
Never trust what anyone is saying about a video until someone neutral actually watches the video.
> “It remains unclear whether passengers actually witnessed or recorded what happened on the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority train.”
This is interesting, but the next passage is the kicker:
> “SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch said Wednesday that at points during the rape, there were passengers standing or sitting nearby, though he couldn’t guess whether any understood the serious nature of the situation.”
Busch goes on to say that there “really was no way to not see it even if they didn’t fully understand.”
> “SEPTA’s police chief, Nestel has said Philadelphia 911 did not receive any calls about the attack. He said Monday operators at Delaware County 911 were still researching whether it received calls.”
There’s a big difference between saying that several people witnessed an assault and did nothing and acknowledging that several people may have seen the assault but that they’re still checking the possible 911 offices that may have received the call.
Key Takeaways:
One of the things to remember about the news is that they are reporting developing stories. So, we have to be careful before drawing any conclusions. It’s possible that what happened is precisely as egregious as Chief Nestel said. It’s also possible that Delaware County 911 has a cache of 911 calls from the incident. The overall point is that it’s too early for anyone to make conclusions.
