Procedures for customer altercations

what if it was your wife or daughter getting beaten on a train ? you would be fine if nobody helped?

Puckhead - Don't be blind to what your eyes can see. Do you not believe that there have been good intentioned guys who got jammed up breaking up a fight between a male and female? I've seen it with my own eyes out here. From one employee to another, govern yourself accordingly.

puckhead wrote:what if it was your wife or daughter getting beaten on a train ? you would be fine if nobody helped?

All I can say about this is -- remember Bernie Goetz?
Except I would finish the job, so there would be no risk of getting sued

Since I am not a MTA employee, I do not care about their disciplinary policies

During my years with the Company, I found that virtually every time there was a m/f altercation, someone jumped in to physically stop it. This is what men do and what they are supposed to do. A man who would look on while a woman was beaten would be considered a girly-man to us. From what I'm reading in this thread, the employee who did nothing should be ashamed. But I suppose he'd call 911 and watch his own wife get beaten too...

in defense of the brakeman, i'm not sure he saw the man beating the woman, he probably didnt. it was in the front of the car, and i think the noise and commotion brought him up from the back. one thing about those c3's. the views are obstructed big time . cant be sure, my eyes were on the guy, but as we were slowing into sayville, i told him what the deal was.

To Hell with the "I might get sued" attitude! You stop the altercation, particularly if a woman is being hit. Real men don't hit women and they don't stand by idly and pretend they don't see. What is it was a child being severely beaten?

The problem in 9 of 10 people will say they won't break up a fight and/or expect someone else to break it up while watching it unfold. And nowadays people will videotape it for likes instead of breaking something up.

out of the corner of my eye, i could see quite a few people in the upper aisle watching, probably some in the lower aisle too.

As an observational aside: The common sense response, or expected "moral value" response has been perverted and usurped by lawyers, the media to exploit, fear of retaliation, and loss of one's job, legal rights, and due process. Recent events prove so; regardless of truth, fact, or clarity of reason the emotional immediate view takes precedence.

i know that to be true. The LIRR policy on almost anything is dammed if you do , dammed if you dont. their overriding policy is that if there is a fox in the hen house, burn down the hen house. kind of sad.

Part of Helinas legacy are train crews unwilling to get involved . Employees knew what ever happened they would be thrown under the bus whenever it was convenient. If the brakemen jumps in he does it at his own risk. In my opinion.

Considering how over-litigious our society is I can understand why an employee might think twice before "doing the right thing". And also considering what the job world is like nowadays you wouldn't want to 1) get fired AND 2) have the reason be for getting involved in an altercation even if you were only trying to protect a passenger or a fellow crew member. Finding new employment could prove much more difficult with a "tainted record".

It's a shame that a crew member can't do the right thing knowing that he has the law and his employer on his side as long as he doesn't do anything truly wrong.

I can tell you that speaking as a conductor ...

1) call 911 (you ARE permitted to use a cell phone while on duty for purposes such as this)
2) stop the train to meet the cops (arranged via the 911 call)
3) let the cops handle the situation

(4) once the culprits are deboarded, you continue on your way)

Doc Emmet Brown wrote: Speaking of violence on the trains, today ( dec 7) is 21 years since colin furgeson.

And if NY would let law abiding citizens carry, it would have been stopped after he got off the first round...

8^(

Datenail, I really hope that you are joking. Tool, it's a lot different now, which is one of the reasons that I went to yards.