When the police cant help: Volunteer body guards.

There's a new group in town "Ordo Dei Imperceptus" They are seeking people to volunteer to be bodyguards for domestic abuse victims....

Rather than try to explain I'll paste this from their home page.

This organization was formed with a number of simple ideas in mind.

1) That all people, regardless of social, economic, or religious backgrounds, could band together to accomplish common goals.

2) That more government or police, on any level, is not the answer to any of the issues that we face today as a society.

3) That many of the issues we face today: domestic abuses, crime, homelessness, are solvable problems if we work together.

4) That working together to solve these issues is in the best interest of our society as a whole.

5) Religion, even different religions that share similar morals, should act as a glue that binds us together.



What We Believe
1. Service to our fellow human being is an expression of Gods love for humanity.

2. That we are both created and evolved beings and that this is according to Gods will.

3. That God loves us unconditionally.

4. Every persons ultimate goal is a personal knowledge of God.

5. The only way to know the true will of God, is to explore the various aspects of the human condition.

6. Experience teaches wisdom, and it is a divine act to teach the knowledge of God.

7. Free will is paramount, and each individual is responsible for their own fate according to their own free will.

8. We believe that no matter what path you follow, you’re still in the service of God, and that it is the individuals responsibility to serve God according to his or her own will.

9. Heaven and hell only exist within the context of how close or far away we are from our Creator on a spiritual level.

10. God is one entity with many different aspects that include a balanced level of masculine and feminine principles without being gender specific.

See their site here
Here is their Volunteer page

Now let me add while this may sound like a noble and worthy cause... any police officer will tell you the most dangerous situations they ever encounter are domestic violence cases. You could easily find yourself being shot at if you do this...

However... (there's always a however right?)
However they are right in that we cannot place our, or others safety, in the hands of law enforcement. they will not act until after a crime is committed and they are not there to protect the victim they are there to capture the law breaker after the fact.

While I wouldn't do it myself...I applaud their efforts... in a very loud clear voice they have said we can no longer rely on the powers that be ,to take care of things. further more we don't need the government, we can take care it ourselves!

this single group should scare the hell out of those Washington fact cats... it would seem their job just became obsolete...

so what do you think???
will this group change the world
or just get somebody killed?


[edit on 10-1-2010 by DaddyBare]

The problem I have with current "Law Enforcement" is that it is, in the the vast majority of cases, a reactive element.
Many more crimes are averted by members of the public simply being aware of what is happening around them and making their presence known, than by the police. The Police, like all the CCCTV cameras everywhere, are primarily there to react to crimes and carry out a post event investigation. That is of little comfort to the victims of course, already injured or having lost personal possessions and property.
I have always been a strong advocate of community policing, by the community, not a reactive force reliant on budgets, targets and financial generation from tickets issued to soft targets.

I am not saying we should send out vigilante groups armed to the teeth to run down transgressors. That is a slippery slope to go down. However, I have seen the effects of such action by "unknown persons" who abducted a local troublemaker, drove him 200 miles and left him chained to a town centre lamppost naked after a good talking to. The problems from that individual and his associates went away overnight. Drastic maybe, but effective humiliation and pointing out the error of his ways, in effect making it clear that he would no longer be tolerated.
Ordinary people must be given the freedom to protect themselves from harm or criminal activity by themselves or through community action. The police and courts have proven time anf again that they are ill equipped, or even too incompetent, to do so. Protecting the innocent should be the driving factor in law enforcement, not the politicization of the police in enforcing government policy on the population, which is what much of law enforcement seems to have become.

reply to post by DaddyBare
I guess they'll do a little good..do a little bad...

Police are forever being called out to domestics. They get there and the partner/spouse no longer wants any action. If they do press charges...they withdraw them. Some families are almost like clockwork asking for police. A lot of genuine victims go into shelters. It's hard to see how this bodyguarding system would work?

Looking at the site-link, it's VERY heavily religious. The heart seems to be 'generally' in the right place and their mission statement 'seems' to have the right sentiment.

I'd be very wary of a group like this generating any influence in whatever district they're based in. In Northern Ireland we get Sectarian punishment beatings and kneecappings. The Order would naturally lend itself to ideas of 'justice.' Everyone cheers when a man that beats his wife gets a bloody good kicking.

The thing is...who sets the rules of engagement? Where are the boundaries? Who takes responsibility? Is a belief in 'Lord God Almighty' the only criteria for volunteering? We all know damn well that belief in God or anything else isn't any guarantee of morality or even sanity. If a vulnerable woman asks for help...exactly who (or what) is she inviting into her life?

While it seems evident the volunteers have the heart in the right place...I wonder about what repercussions might be forthcoming for them in the event they had to step forward and "protect and defend".

While their presence as body guard would necessarily create a deterrent, they are placing themselves in harm's way. The offender, hell-bent on harming the victim, might see the body guard as someone who must first be removed in order to get to the desired victim.

The police must act after the crime, because until the crime is committed, there is no crime. So essentially the body guard would be acting upon the threat of a crime, and consequently might be faced with criminal charges himself. Does that make sense?

But of course, shoot. I love the idea. I would love to have a bodyguard.
Just because.

Domestic violence victims have the option to obtain "protection from abuse" court orders, and "restraint orders", but what good are they when you are being terrorized and can't get to the phone?

My point is, the volunteer bodyguard idea might be more complicated than it appears.

Sounds like a good idea;
Someone should email this to all the neighborhood crime watch groups around the country;
So they could step up their efforts

There are several things to consider here.

First, in the case of female victims of spousal or domestic abuse, the abuser is, more often than not, only violent toward women. They would, quickly, back down from the threat of an opposing male.

Second (and this is really in conjunction with the first), the most important aspect of such a program is that, regardless of whether or not a future confrontation occurs, the victim will have a sense of security. It is very important for them to have that, soon after a domestic violence incident, in order to begin regaining the self esteem taken from them, by their abuser.

Third, consider the LEO to population ratio. In my hometown, there is no local Police Dept. The rural town is only protected by the county Sheriff Dept. At night, about 5 deputies are responsible for covering the entire county. It is not realistic to rely on any LE agency to be able to be everywhere at once.

While I was assigned as the Crimes Against Children Detective, in a city of about 25,000, the group "B.A.C.A" or "Bikers Against Child Abuse" was forming. They were doing the same tpe thing for children. They would post people at the child's home, on a 24 hour basis, when necessary, to give the children peace of mind. They would escort children to school or where ever they needed to go. But, the best thing I heard about them was that children would feel that sense of security, whenever they heard the sounds of a motorcycle, not just when they could see them.

BACA

reply to post by DaddyBare

seeking people to volunteer to be bodyguards for domestic abuse victims
what do you think

I think that if I were a domestic abuse victim (read: woman beaten by her husband, feeling helpless and vulnerable) I would probably not feel very comfortable being "protected" by a strange man. Especially if he happened to be big and strong and pumped fulled of testosterone (read: the kind of guy who would volunteer to be a bodyguard.)


That having been said...if it works, I have no objections.

Interesting topic, thanks for posting.


Personally, 'volunteer' groups of this type---the type that intervene in personal or private matters ---always give me pause. The Ku Klux Klan once prided themselves on protecting abused women too, remember.


The hearts of the volunteers may, as stated above, be in the right place. But this will ultimately cause more violence than it prevents is my opinion.