Kitty Genovese | Teen Ink

Kitty Genovese

November 25, 2009
By hifive SILVER, Hartland, Wisconsin
hifive SILVER, Hartland, Wisconsin
9 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Emergency hotlines are useful tools, when they’re used. Thirty-eight people witnessing a murder and no one calling 911 destroys the purpose of its existence. Imagine the lurid face of a woman screaming out in pain but no one coming to rescue. Crying while a man stabs her multiple times without remorse. Thirty-eight people watching down on her but taking no action.

The witnesses may have thought it was a joke.. Witnesses may have thought it was a small fight. The police would have obviated the crime for misuse of 911 if it was a joke or small fight. The only person who thought calling the police might be the best course of action had to consult a friend and ask someone else to make the call.
Twenty-five minutes elapsed after she had been stabbed before the police were notified. That’s more than enough time for a person to bleed to death. The stabber’s sporadic may have led the witnesses to believe this was a joke. But if they were more meticulous, they would have noticed the knife traveling in and out of the victim’s body.
When the witnesses were asked why they didn’t call. They explained how they did not want to get involved. I’m sure the woman did not want to get involved either. No quips or jokes could be made to get out of their embarrassment.
I don’t think the members of this domicile will ever use their lax attitude towards crime on their street again. Don’t be rash to judge, though. They are all people, and I’m sure if they were given the opportunity to take back those 25 minutes, all 38 of them would do the right thing.



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This article has 2 comments.


nicolee said...
on Feb. 9 2012 at 5:16 pm
Actually, dialing 911 didn't even exist back then. I'm doing a report on the Kitty Genovese Murder and back then it wasn't as easy as dialing 911 you had to actually look up the police number. I still agree with what you are saying just letting you know some facts are a little off!

on Dec. 2 2009 at 6:47 pm
This is a really interesting article. You use some great vocabulary, but try to proofread it for mistakes, like when you said "the stabber's sporadic may have led....". Sporadic what? Because sporadic is an adjective. Sorry, this is just the grammarian side of me speaking. Good work though. Oh and why is it called Kitty Genovese?