News is circling this week about Amie Harwick, the ex-fiance of Drew Carey, with multiple stories highlighting details about the man who allegedly pushed her from a balcony being re-arrested after having been released on bail not long ago.
And in response to the tragedy of her death there is already an immediate call to action in the form of more laws to be added to the books. Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition supporting the move for more rules to protect individuals from harm. It was an alleged friend of the victim that created the petition, claiming that "poor laws" lead to the tragedy taking place. That isn't true though, because the individual who did this broke several of those "poor laws" to achieve their objective.
Around the country and world for that matter, there are many laws on the books that have tremendously failed to keep individuals safe from stalkers and predators, and to prevent the attacker from targeting victims and ultimately following through with their plan.
There are plenty of stalking cases that have taken place over the decades where you can see a clear pattern of how law enforcement unfortunately fails victims in a variety of ways. In some of those cases the victims are desperate for protection and help, and all they are left with is a few words on paper as their first line of defense.
Believe it or not, when someone is deranged enough and determined enough to do harm to another person, often a piece of paper saying they cannot come within x amount of distance of that person isn't going to do much good. There have been restraining orders that have failed to secure safety for the individual on numerous occasion, shocker, I know.
When such a tragedy occurs people want to feel as if they are doing something about it and it is easy to see that they would be eager to embrace a call to action in the form of pushing for yet more laws. Give the government more power, that'll change things. But this is more of an emotional response than a logical one for a variety of reasons. Is it the best course of action? Those new proposals often aren't considered thoroughly enough before being supported, and they also might not be enough to prevent the tragedy from happening that just took place.
I think these tragedies are always perfect examples of how the state fails to keep us safe when it matters most. When an attack is at your door, or hiding in your home already waiting for you, the police will not get there in time to protect you. When we neglect the responsibility of our own safety it can lead to tragedy. And when we foster a culture of victimization in furthering the notion that it is always someone else's job to do that for us, we further create an environment where predators can surely thrive.