Quote:
Originally Posted by mtdjed
If a person pulls a Fire Alarm for a reason other than a fire, would that be a crime?
Perhaps a child unaware of consequence, a person trapped in a location needing assistance, someone miscalculating the situation, etc would be an excuse. Maybe even a mistake if in the dark, or perhaps an immigrant not familiar with the language or item.
My middle-class training from grade school up said that there were certain things you do not do. One was not to pull an alarm unless there was a need.
Now there is an elected official who pulls the lever supposedly to get the door open into the room in Congress.
What was the real reason? Lack of Knowledge, stupidity, youth, an immigrant, language, dark, smoke, or nefarious?
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No. In fact, building security recommended it to me. I was a grad student studying after hours in the lobby of the library. Sunday, the library closed early. I was lost in my books and writing at the table when I heard a whistle. I looked around and although when the library closed its doors there were several people in the hallway at desks like I was, now there was nobody. There were classroom doors with alcoves around the hallway. In the shadow of one of these I saw a nude figure. He was the one whistling. I remembered the police teaching to show neither fear, nor aggression. I threw my backpack at the floor (not at him) and said, “Go pick on someone else”. Then got up and walked to the nearby elevator. The elevator doors opened immediately, I got in and went to the building lobby. The building had security cameras at all entrances but somehow this guy avoided them. Security told me that I should have pulled the fire alarm as that would have alerted them to exactly where I was.
Later, in the newspapers, I recognized the face of my intimidator. He was Paul Bernardo, the serial rapist killer. This was early in his career, he looked like an under graduate to me.