Comment on What is the point of this exactly?
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 1 day agoNot really, it’s going to be under-reporting certain demographics.
In orthodox Jewish communities they have their own “cops” (Shomrim) and it’s against their religious law to turn a Jewish criminal (especially of their own sect) in to any authorities who aren’t explicitly Jewish.
In Brooklyn, Shomrim has been accused of withholding information about suspected local child molesters.[14] One Brooklyn South Shomrim member acknowledged to the press that they maintain a file of suspected local child molesters, and some believe that this file includes the suspects’ photos and the make, model and license-plate number of their cars. But Shomrim does not share this information with police due to the Torah prohibition against mesirah (informing on a fellow Jew to the non-Jewish authorities).[12] However, another high-ranking member claims that the other member was misquoted, and that the list that Brooklyn South Shomrim maintains is culled from the New York Sex Offender Registry.[46] Members of the Williamsburg Shomrim always consult a rabbi before involving police in a crime committed by one Jew against another.[13]
…wikipedia.org/…/Shomrim_(neighborhood_watch_grou…
Like, even if a normal cop happens to be Jewish, that’s not enough because the local police aren’t a Jewish organization.
Obviously other religions like Catholicism protects clergy, but it’s not a tenant of their religion that they can’t turn in any follower to secular authorities who are legally allowed to enforce laws.
In a lot of Orthodox communities, they don’t call 911, they call the Shomrim. If the victim is Jewish but not the perpetrator, then the Shomrim calls the police.
If the perpetrator is Jewish…
The crime isn’t punished or reported any higher. So all types of horrible shit is swept under the rug.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 day ago
Don’t the Jehovah’s Witnesses have a similar file? I believe there was also an issue in Roman Catholicism of the seal of confession (Apparently priests would confess their child abuse before anyone found out about it, and people would be too scared to be seen as breaking that seal later on when evidence did surface.)
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 1 day ago
independent.co.uk/…/washington-state-child-abuse-…
trump friendly federal judges are blocking that new law (in the state of Washington)
However a significant difference there is that was only for someone confessing with the expectation they weren’t confessing to a person, but to God. Hence wouldn’t confess to the crime if they knew they’d be turned in.
Mesrih applies when anyone (including the victim) is the one disclosing it, especially if it’s ongoing.
No idea about Jehovah’s Witnesses, but in general the more insular a religious sect is, the worse the problem is.
And no religion is more insulat then one that requires it’s followers to call their own version of police where a religious leader gets to decide if actual secular authorities are involved.