“We have no regard for each other. We no longer have a moral compass.”
Daryl Roberts, chief of police, Hartford, Connecticut, after seeing the video tape from security cameras that showed dozens passing and driving by a 78-year-old hit-and-run victim. Another Kitty Genovese? The failure to help another in need. Some social psychologists wrote, 40 years ago, when Kitty Genovese died as others heard her cries for help, that the nature of New York City, its crime, the pervasive fear, the wee hours of the morning, and other factors explained the lack of help more so than the lack of a moral compass. But Angel Arce Torres was struck at 5:45 PM (daylight) by a hit-and-run driver. Motionless and helpless, Torres had no one by his side for what seems like an eternity as you watch the video. Hartford traffic swerved, bystanders stared, and some called 9-1-1, but no one got closer than a few yards. Someone on a motor scooter is shown circling Mr. Torres before scooting away. “Like a dog, they left him there,” was the sad observation of one man who viewed the tape. Mr. Torres will require permanent hospitalization.
