Teens Record Video and Laugh as Man Drowns

[Ben]

As RKL would say, where's that plague?

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/crime/2017/07/20/teens-filmed-mocked-drowning-man-cocoa-police-say/495518001/

[RoadKingLarry]

In my opinion those utes are undeserving of the label human being.
The article mentions that there is concern for the teens safety. My question would be - Why?

[HeroHog]

I hope the boys get doxxed!

[De Selby]

Would we feel the same way about these teens if they were watching him OD?

[MechAg94]

Police said Dunn turned up at the pond following an argument with his fiancée about 10-to-15 minutes before the incident. The fiancée then left the scene to run errands.

“The kids were at the park that day smoking marijuana and apparently saw him walk into the water. He walked in on his own. They were watching him,” Martinez said.

Dunn waded into the water from the west side as the teens watched from the south side of the pond.

He just waded in and ended up drowning.  I assume he reached a point where he slipped or it got deep.  I guess that means he couldn't swim which makes me wonder why he waded in.

[Perd Hapley]

Would we feel the same way about these teens if they were watching him OD?

Well played.

On the other hand, did these teenagers read that part of the Bible that condemns swimming?  

[BryanP]

Would we feel the same way about these teens if they were watching him OD?

I would.  It costs them nothing to call 911. 

[Mannlicher]

I suppose in Coco Beach, black lives don't much matter.    The cops are saying that there is not much they can do to the teens, as there is no law in Florida that mandates you help a person in distress.  There are laws about not notifying the police about a dead person though, and they local police are going to try for misdemeanor charges to that effect.

[dogmush]

  The cops are saying that there is not much they can do to the teens, as there is no law in Florida that mandates you help a person in distress.  There are laws about not notifying the police about a dead person though, and they local police are going to try for misdemeanor charges to that effect.

I am intrigued that it is settled law that the cops themselves wouldn't have been obligated to help that guy if they were there, but these kids should have, and the cops need to throw enough charges at them till something sticks because OUTRAGE.

Note: I agree that they are bad human beings for not trying to do something, but you aren't legally obligated to be a good human being, and the cops shouldn't be trying to pursue legal remedies for this.

[Ben]

I am intrigued that it is settled law that the cops themselves wouldn't have been obligated to help that guy if they were there, but these kids should have, and the cops need to throw enough charges at them till something sticks because OUTRAGE.

Note: I agree that they are bad human beings for not trying to do something, but you aren't legally obligated to be a good human being, and the cops shouldn't be trying to pursue legal remedies for this.

For me it's not the legal issue (see below), but the morality of of not only not trying to do something as simple as calling 911 or at the very least showing some "Oh my gosh, that poor guy" compassion versus laughing as he died.

To that, and legality, I think around a year ago we talked about a situation in Florida where most of us (myself included) defended the people who didn't go in to help someone who had driven into a water body because it was a swamp or a bog or some such, and there was as good of a chance of the "rescuer" being sucked down trying to get to the victim (the car was submerged as I recall). Maybe this wasn't really a lake, maybe they couldn't swim, maybe a lot of reasons that they couldn't or wouldn't help the guy, but not a single moral reason to laugh at him.

To DeSelby's point, even if I chose not to assist someone that was overdosing (though I'd at least call 911), I wouldn't stand there pointing and laughing. What these teens did was more along the lines of "not even pissing on someone who was on fire".

[dogmush]

I agree Ben,  my point was specifically at them being in legal trouble.  The original article quotes three separate Law Enforcement officials saying they didn't commit a crime.  But the "Update" is:

Cocoa police chief pursuing charges against teens accused of filming drowning man

Which implies to me that the cops decided these kids were criminals, and by god, kept looking until they found a charge.  

Honestly, the fact that there's another set of morally bankrupt, cell phone video making, ghetto kids out there doesn't even merit a "meh" from me at this point.  YouTube is FULL of their ilk.  Their parents screwed up, didn't raise them and there's nothing I can do about it now.  It's not like we're going to change their moral outlook on life in their late teens.

Hell, I might go so far as to say if these two teens were drowning I wouldn't help them out.  Hypothetically.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I honestly don't think that charging someone for not notifying police and emergency rescue personal when the see someone in distress is all that bad a thing. Although I do think it's pathetic that we, as a society, have come to the point where that should even have to be any kind of law.
I don't expect the average person to be compelled to actively try to get involved in the situation or go and try to save someone themselves, but calling 911 on your cell phone isn't exactly a challenge.

3 days. The body was in that pond for three days and those teenagers knew it the whole time. That's just adding insult to injury.