Thread by @mikamckinnon

Preamble:
I’m safe & have been the whole time.

tw for brief non-graphic description of violence.

Lessons learned from witnessing & reporting an assault:

1. Loud yelling can end the immediate conflict. Male voices help.

2. Call 911 immediately*. You can think later.

* unless victim(s) are groups that are disproportionately victims of police violence, in which case try to do the rapid risk evaluation of possible outcomes.

3. Victim safety first.
In my case, victim staggered off with a companion, so I stayed keeping an eye on assaulter while reporting.

If you’re solo, speakerphone to 911 is your friend. Otherwise, delegate, divide, & conquer.

4. Eyewitness testimony is beyond unreliable.

Delegate someone to photograph while you’re on 911. Failing that, pick a short list of key features:
Gender, relative height compared to you, hair colour & style, basic clothing

Don’t overpack, you’ll fail.
Prioritize IDing suspect.

5. Start with LOCATION (pref address, else intersection), time (in progress or time elapsed), basic description.

“I’m at X. 1 minute ago, I saw a woman kick a man in the head when he was on the ground. She crossed the street. The man staggered to Y with a companion. No weapons.”

This allows dispatcher to send out appropriate responders — police to the suspect’s location, another to the victim’s to evaluate if he required an ambulance. (Not today.)

6. It’s ok to not know an answer to their questions.
It’s ok to say “I don’t feel safe getting that information.”
It’s ok to leave.
It’s ok to not provide your identifying information.

Do what you need to do. Make the choices that are right for you.

I felt safe waiting.

7. After response is initiated, describe as much detail as you can as clearly and quickly as possible.

The dispatcher may not be able to transcribe fast enough. That’s ok: the call is recorded, they can retroactively recovery “too fast” but not “I forget.”

It REALLY helps to practice fact-centric site reports and descriptions.

My primary practice is from fieldwork, emergency response, and writing image descriptions on Twitter. Even younger (& more emotional), it was writing journal entries and pen pal letters.

It’s the same idea.

8. When it’s done, it’s done. Walk away and let go.

Which is why I’m writing this.

Everything is as handled as I can make it. I’ve handed off responsibility. I’ll probably never know résolution unless I’m called as witness. That’s ok.

So now I walk away.
& try to let go.

Debriefing is easy to blow off, but it’s the most important part of processing high-stress situations without damaging yourself.

Fieldwork, accidents, deployments, call-outs, witnessing trauma, reporting on disaster: talk it out afterwards to someone, somehow.

This is my placeholder-debrief: what happened, what did I learn, what went wrong, how do I feel*.

*(Numb, disbelief, outrage that someone thinks they can pull this shit in my city, helplessness, exhaustion.)

It’ll do until morning.

Thanks. It helped to not be alone.