Civic News

Have camera phones made us ‘lose our sense of civic duty’?

A SEPTA cop and a man get into a fight at the Broad Street Line's Cecil B. Moore station, as the cop attempts to apprehend the man for skipping out on train fare. A woman films the fight. The two wrestle each other to the ground. No one calls the police.

A still from a video of a fight between a SEPTA police officer and a fare evader. Photo from the Daily News.

A SEPTA cop and a man get into a fight at the Broad Street Line’s Cecil B. Moore station, as the cop attempts to apprehend the man for skipping out on train fare. A woman films the fight. The two wrestle each other to the ground. No one calls the police.

That’s the scene painted by Philadelphia Daily News columnist Helen Ubinas, as well as SEPTA video footage from that afternoon.

Is technology to blame for the bystanders’ apathy? It’s one idea posed by Jerry Ratcliffe, chairman of Temple University‘s Department of Criminal Justice, who asked: “Have we lost our sense of civic duty?”

Read the whole story here.

Watch the video here.

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1

Companies: SEPTA
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Donate to the Journalism Fund

Your support powers our independent journalism. Unlike most business-media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational contributions.

Trending

This indie site helps Philly riders fight back against SEPTA service cuts

State-run immigrant support offices are stuck in limbo across the mid-Atlantic

Sandbox VR opens its Philly location to bring together gamers IRL 

Working in libraries gave this leader a roadmap for tackling digital inequity

Technically Media