Too trusting

[Raven]

I can not believe what I am watching on 20/20 right now. Apparently, a teenaged girl working at a McDonald's was victim of some sort of sadistic "hoax"

So far, it has some man calling the store manager and telling her that he is a police officer. He describes the young woman and tells the manager that she stole a customer's purse. The man on the phone order's the manager to conduct a strip search of the teenager. At various points, the manager is ordered to call in other employees and even her fiance - all of whom are ordered to molest, spank, sexually humiliate and/or sexually assault this young woman. The two male employees refuse but both the manager and her fiance comply! Over 3 hours this went on. It was the second employee that finally raised enough of an alarm to put an end to it and called the real police.

The girl was asked why she complied. She said because she was always taught by her parents that whenever an adult tells you to do something, you do it.

The manager was asked why SHE complied. She said because she was always taught to do exactly what a police officer tells them to do.

Now what is even more horrifying is that this is not an isolated incident. This is apparently nationwide, and these managers are conducting strip searches, cavity searches, sexual molestations all at the orders of a "police officer on the telephone"

As horrifying as it is, I can see how the teenagers are dupe, but WTF are the managers' excuses. The manager is actually acting like SHE is the victim.

And people wonder why I teach my daughter to QUESTION authority, not blindly comply with it.

[bRATmom]

never ceases to amaze me at the stupidity of people. I wouldnt participate in a strip search via phone instructions, HELL... I just wouldnt do it at all!

[Raven]

not even on police orders?

[Terrell]

Good post Raven, and I agree with you on this.

[Raven]

as noted in the 20/20 piece, this was happening all across the country. The Kentucky police said they discovered this when they googled "McDonald's strip search" They weren't kidding! The following is an editorial regarding an identical case in Utah:

To me, the most amazing facts about this case are that the managers believed they had the legal power to conduct the search, and that the victim complied with the demands of the managers. How could they have grown up in the United States believing that anyone has that kind of power over another person? Something must have changed in our national psyche to make such a thing possible.

When I showed the article to my clear thinking wife, her immediate response was something like, "What do you expect? With the disrespect toward privacy being shown by school administrations, the girl and the managers probably had the idea that people can be searched at any time for any reason, by anyone with a position of authority." I thought this was a real flash of insight, and proceeded to expand on it.

Schools are the primary contact between young people and government authority, so their treatment of privacy issues would have a big effect on the students' ideas about the right to privacy in later life. Students today have come to expect searches of their persons, lockers and cars; metal detectors at school entrances; and random, suspicionless drug testing. Some schools have gone so far as to claim the power to control the actions of students outside of school hours and school property. Is it any wonder that young people would get the idea that this is the way the world works?

Beyond the schools themselves, students also hear about the court decisions which imply that their rights are negotiable whenever there is an important issue involved. If the courts proclaim that fear of student drug abuse justifies random locker searches and drug testing, who is to say that an accusation of theft doesn't justify a strip search? If the courts allow police officers to stop drivers at random to check for alcohol use, why wouldn't others in authority feel justified in limiting the right of privacy of those under their control?

http://www.neusysinc.com/columnarchive/colm0183.html

[bRATmom]

not even on police orders?


No raven, not over the phone, and yes raven, I do know quite a bit about police proceedure, and they to my knowledge, have never asked a civilian to do that.... ever.... but I would be interested if you can pull up a case where this has happened.


*please note I am talking in context to the OP

also, take note, the fiancee, got 5 years, the perp of the national crime spree which included more then just mc donalds, is still on trial.

I work with high buck bling, searches on my person must be done by a female officer, and not on site. The store personal, the store security, cant touch me. Search of my purse, and or my coat pockets, can only be done by them if I concent, or the police must be called in, a female officer must be present


She said because she was always taught by her parents that whenever an adult tells you to do something, you do it.



that is to bad.... I wouldnt teach my children that.

She said because she was always taught to do exactly what a police officer tells them to do.


face to face, you should. on the phone, nnooo but one can always call 911 and make sure its legit.

[Raven]

No raven, not over the phone, and yes raven, I do know quite a bit about police proceedure, and they to my knowledge, have never asked a civilian to do that.... ever.... but I would be interested if you can pull up a case where this has happened. did I say they did? no, I did not say they did. Glad to know you wouldn't follow "police" orders over the telephone :P

face to face, you should. on the phone, nnooo but one can always call 911 and make sure its legit. face to face, that "officer" can just as easily be a criminal posing as the police. face-to-face you should still call to confirm both the identity and legitimacy of the police order. (provided, of course, you aren't being shot with 51 rounds) And quite frankly, REAL police violate people's rights all the time. But they can't do that if a person KNOWS their rights and declines to comply. So no, face to face you should NOT just blindly follow orders from anyone...

... unless you enjoy living in a police state.

I don't

Obviously McDonald's managers and too many others don't seem to care or know the difference

[abcNKH]

And people wonder why I teach my daughter to QUESTION authority, not blindly comply with it.I do exactly the same - maybe this story will finally help me explain my reasons to my mom...

[Diva]

Wow. That's just - wrong on SO many levels! Shocking, absolutely shocking.

[Tanya]

face to face, that "officer" can just as easily be a criminal posing as the police. face-to-face you should still call to confirm both the identity and legitimacy of the police order. (provided, of course, you aren't being shot with 51 rounds) And quite frankly, REAL police violate people's rights all the time. But they can't do that if a person KNOWS their rights and declines to comply. So no, face to face you should NOT just blindly follow orders from anyone...



My thoughts exactly. Thankfully, my daughter (who works at a McDonalds!) would not have submitted to that (she'd have walked out or called me to come get her), nor would she have participated.

[Hawkyfan99]

Simple way to combat that, is to ALWAYS require confirmable credentials when being required to do ANYTHING. If you've got a cop requiring that you do something like a strip search, demand to see their credentials, and validate them. Two reasons...you'll be able to see if they ARE in fact an officer, and you'll have positive ID when you throw their ass away.

But the same can be said for ANYTHING. Don't give information to anyone that you can't validate their authenticity.

Interesting book on this topic...The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick.

[kingclick]

I do exactly the same - maybe this story will finally help me explain my reasons to my mom...

There are more than just two settings on how children and adults can interact with authority. It's not just a "blindly follow" or "question authority".

I believe that no one actually teaches their children to "blindly follow" authority. I believe that they attempt to teach children to respect authority and that is a good thing, the problem is that they don't give the "think for yourself" balance to that.

I do however think too many paranoid parents teach their children to question authority too much. This is where we get the crazies out there that see conspiracies around every corner. Those parents haven't taught their children or themselves moderation.

My children are to recognize and respect authority...however they are not to do anything that they are uncomfortable with. This girl was young and impressionable in a new situation. Trying to blame her OR her parents is misguided. People make mistakes in stressful situations.

It's sad that instead of directing our anger and frustration at the real perpetrators of this sick and twisted crime...we hop up on our high horses and point at the victim and her family like they deserve what they get because they aren't as smart as we are.

Teaching our children to think and be individuals is the key to protecting them in the future.

[eva]

:clap: Perfectly stated, King! :clap:

[Jory]

I am going to ditto King too.

I love it when kids can question authority in logical and heart felt ways when they really think something is not right, but during one of my practicums, there was a kid who questioned everything that was expected of him acedemically, and ESPECIALLY when he did not live up to the expectations. The big problem was his mom was a teacher in the same school and I watched this kid get away with all kinds of behavior that would never be tolerated from other students. His mom also encouraged him to "question authority" but without balance and he certainly didn't respect authority.

[Raven]

I'm curious as to who Click thinks has blamed the victim or her family? Not a single soul on this board.

I do, however, blame the store manager and her finance (and all of the other store managers who also followed the telephone pervert's instructions).

As I stated in my very first post, I can understand why an impressionable young woman who has been taught blind obedience since birth (by schools and society in general, not just parents - as the other article I posted illustrated very well) will fall victim to this, but I do NOT understand how ANYONE could be ignorant enough to become a perpetrator of sexual violence against another person on the say so of another.

Yet we see it all the time. Abu Grahib was another example.

[ArcticPhoenix]

Questioning the legitimacy of authority is what's important, Raven. Respecting authority is also important, though.

Really, it's about checking the authenticity of the credentials presented by an authority figure. NO authority figure is going to have a problem with you if you ask to see his credentials or his badge before he (or she) interrogates you. If they do, then they shouldn't be in their position. I have no problem showing my Government ID to anyone, but then, it has to, by law, be clearly visible and attached to my uniform while I'm at work, so I never have to worry about that. ;)