Do you think the old 'hue and cry' law should be renewed but obviously updated?

Question

Hue and cry was in English law, pursuit of a criminal immediately after he had committed a felony. Whoever witnessed or discovered the crime was required to raise the hue and cry against the perpetrator (e.g., call out "Stop, thief !") and to begin pursuit; all persons within hearing were under the same obligation, and it was a punishable offence not to join in the chase and capture. The perpetrator was promptly brought into court, and if there was evidence of his having been caught red-handed, he was summarily convicted. The hue and cry was abolished in the early 19th cent. Possible modern survivals are the obligation to serve on a sheriff's posse and to assist a police officer in pursuing a suspected culprit.

I don't mean implementation for armed criminals or for someone obviously weaker to pursue but say for instance a young lad or female had just snatched an old ladies bag outside a public house where a group of males were standing having a smoke(can't think of another scenario at the moment but hope you get my drift)should they be legally bound to apprehend?

I haven't considered this fully and realise it's open to wide interpretation but the 'didn't want to get involved' attitude of some folk who could have obviously helped beggars belief.

Answer 1

I do not agree that someone should be bound to apprehend a criminal.



They are not paid to do that risky job.

They could get killed by chasing a criminal.



On this note- I DO think that police officers/sheriffs should be required to arrest people who they have seen assault someone else. They say they need someone to press charges. Victims sometimes don't press charges because they may have the criminal come back for revenge later. The police/sheriff should make the arrest on their own.

Answer 2

I dont think you should be legally bound to apprehend but I do think that human morality would mean that people would naturally apprehend. I once chased a man who stabbed his wife and wrestled him to the ground ready for a female police officer who wasnt as quick as me to handcuff...



You could be having a smoke outside your house (and be asked to persue a criminal), but you could have dinner cooking away in the oven. You could be using that dinner to woo a potential business partner who would in turn make you hundreds of thousands of dollars, Would it be fair to expecxt you to burn the dinner and miss your chance with the business partner?



What if the bath was running... you wudnt want it to overflow would you? Maybe you were waiting on a phone call for a job interview.



At the end of the day 99% of men who have the speed and muscle love to be seen as the hero capturing the bad guy. I think people will always naturally do all they can to help in a situation where somebody is fleeing the police.

Answer 3

This post from UK where no civilian concealed carry allowed mostly? The Hue and Cry sort of happened in texas last year- guy saw neighbors house being robbed, called police911 and was told would be awhile before police showed up--so neighbor took his shotgun and stopped the felony in progress by killing burglar. texas castle doctrine law said shooter couldn't be charged or detained, surviving burglar arrested. Compare that to Martin case in England - seven years in prison or such? and home office said don't let him out as a danger to burglars. US concealed carry permits often have a posse call requirement noted. I know of a guy in Iowa with a concealed carry permit who was called for a posse duty to help catch a fleeing felon, he had rifle and pistol ready for immediate use and covered one flank of approach to house where felon was hiding-- how many in UK could render that kind of rapid assistance? Isreal has a fairly low crime rate, police get help from citizens many times- the helpful citizens are usually carrying firearms on street. swiss known to have had a few incidents of citizens stopping criminal acts- 10% of militia normally carrying their militia arms on street as duty requirement when going to work, etc--how many subjects outside of Northern Ireland are armed in UK? Hue and cry, assist police working in some places and reducing crime, all UK needs perhaps is a requirement that 1/2 the labor politicians, staff and organizers carry pistols on street- optional for other parties- and dismiss the politicians that don't. Florida had a 20% drop in general crimes stats when 350,000 concealed carry permits were issued-- think of that compared to UK, how many civilian pistol carriers are ther outside of N Ireland?

Answer 4

And how do you know that young lad or female who snatched a purse isn't also armed?



Leave bad guy catching to the professionals. We always welcome help from citizens when appropriate, but requiring people to intervene would be a legal nightmare.