The need to go the extra mile<\/p>\n
Three bullets did the job. The death of the man who held
\nhostage the daughter of his former boss, put an end to the
\neleven-hour drama in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, on Dec. 8, 1994.
\nMany praised the highly efficient and effective action taken by
\nthe three special police officers who fired the shots. The
\nfrightened hostage was freed alive, though she had been wounded
\nby her abductor.<\/p>\n
According to the detailed report in Kompas, the man met his
\ndeath after four bullets had been fired. There must have been an
\nincredible amount of tension there at the time. Having a daughter
\nmyself, I know that the girl's parents must have been frightened
\nand so worried about her safety. And the police must have been
\nvery concerned and anxious to put an end to the drama as quickly
\nas possible.<\/p>\n
But a number of questions popped up in my head ever since I
\nfirst read the news. Was the decision to kill the man right there
\nand then -- with the thirteen-year-old girl so close to him --
\nindeed a professionally thought out one? Wasn't there a less
\nradical alternative? Were people already under so much pressure
\nthat they could not think of any other action to end the
\nsituation?<\/p>\n
I also wondered why people did not go the extra mile and
\nconsider alternatives with less risk to the hostage? (Remember
\nthe one stray bullet that missed the man?) Please forgive my
\nstupidity, but I ask myself why people did not simply put
\nsedatives in the food that the man had asked for. Even if he had
\nforced his hostage to share the food with him, no harm would have
\nbeen done.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, I also asked myself whether a professional
\nnegotiator was ever called to persuade him to give himself up.
\nAnd then again, given the fact that the man had been asking for
\nhis family to be taken to the place, was it not possible to have
\none of his own daughters persuade him to surrender peacefully? Is
\nit too much to assume that such a desperate man would at least
\nlisten to his own daughter? Needless to say, doing so would have
\nrequired people to go the extra mile. On the other hand, shooting
\nhim was a much more effective shortcut.<\/p>\n
Had people gone the extra mile, they would perhaps have taken
\ninto consideration the possible trauma the abducted girl would
\nhave to suffer from the nightmare of having a man shot to death
\nwhile holding her captive. Had people gone the extra mile, they
\nmight have gone so far as to think of the fates of the innocent
\nmembers of the man's family, who may now be haunted by the trauma
\nfor the rest of their lives. Had people gone the extra mile,
\nperhaps a less extreme measure would have been taken. Or, could
\nit be because the man was just a driver -- vulnerable and
\nexpendable -- people did not bother to go the extra mile?<\/p>\n
As I read follow-up reports on the incident, I realized that I
\nhad some justification for my silly questions. First, it was
\nclear that the man was desperate. Anyone who has learnt a little
\npsychology would tell us that a desperate man would be unable to
\nthink and plan intelligently. Besides, the man was just a driver
\nand not a trained terrorist; no matter how high his IQ was and no
\nmatter how many action movies he had watched, it was such a slim
\nchance he could have gotten away with what he did.<\/p>\n
The report says that at one point this man had actually got
\nthe money he had demanded. I may sound unrealistic, but in my
\nnaive thinking I figure that he must have much difficulty
\nthinking and planning his next step as he already had Rp 125
\nmillion in his hands; his mind must have been clouded by the
\nthoughts of what he was going to do with so much money. Which, I
\nbelieve, would give the officers a chance to subdue him in a less
\nviolent way.<\/p>\n
Perhaps people did not bother at all to go the extra mile to
\nfind a milder solution. The trouble is, going the extra mile is
\nnot a tradition in our society. Instead, so many in our society
\nprefer shortcuts. We want to get rich quick, forgetting
\naltogether such virtues as hard work, discipline, perseverance,
\nand loyalty. We want \"to get there quick\" at any cost (and that
\nis just the reason why, at the most basic level of our social
\nbehavior -- it is so difficult for most of us to queue).<\/p>\n
This man's death has given us just another example of our
\nsociety's strong tendency to take shortcuts. Ironically, the very
\nending of his drama was also another example of how we prefer
\nshortcuts and how we do not care to go the extra mile.<\/p>\n
Name and address<\/p>\n
withheld<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-need-to-go-the-extra-mile-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }