Human fireball story forgotten already!
Well, records are being set left, right and centre today. Less than a couple of hours ago I reported on the police giving a lighter and cigarette to a suicidal man covered in kerosene in Nagoya, reaching new heights of ineptitude. I predicted that the media would drop the story within a few days but I didn’t realise it would just be under 24 hours from the initial event happening (and it then took a while to be reported) and it being deemed not important enough to be shown on any of the front pages of the Japanese online news sites. Looks like a man who robbed a convenience store and then went straight to the police and repented is much more important than this event.
Forget about the police facilitating suicides, Japan. Your government is in full control. You are free to do as we tell you…
Finally, it was funny to see that the police have been unable to determine whether the man was trying to kill himself or whether it was just an accident. Hmmm… to the layman or anyone who dabbles in psychology, it might seem that a person that douses themselves in kerosene and gets out a lighter trying to kill themselves before arrest, who refuses to change their clothes after arrest and then asks the police for a lighter and cigarettes during interrogation might want to kill themselves. But I’m sure the police know what they are doing. Just a thought, can you imagine a conversation when this guy returned home from work to his wife/parents:
Wife/mother: “Welcome home. How was work today?”
Policeman: “So so… not too eventful really. I did give a pack of cigarettes and a lighter to a man who was covered in kerosene and who then proceeded to set himself on fire and kill himself in the police station. Apart from that nothing of note”
Wife/mother: “…”
J-cops under fire again, reach new heights/depths
OK - let me just set the scene here and find out your response to the situation. You are a police officer and arrive at a Nagoya house to arrest a man on suspicion of assaulting a female housemate/partner. As you arrive at the house, you see the man walking out of the house carrying an 18-litre can of kerosene. He walks down the road and douses himself in the liquid on 3 separate occasions, using around 5 litres. You make no attempt to stop him doing this as you are a reasonably inept officer to start with. You do take action when the man gets out a lighter and threatens to kill himself. You wrestle the lighter off the man, he is arrested and refuses to change clothes before being taken into full custody. So off to the police station he goes and into the interrogation room. Again, the man refused to change his clothes at the police station and says he just wants to go on. Now, as questioning is about to start in the small interrogation room, the suspect asks if he can smoke. So, here is the dilemma. Do you:
a) Point out the clearly marked no smoking signs all around the police station, and tell him that it is just not possible.
b) Take into account the man is covered with a highly flammable liquid, and was suicidal before his arrest, meaning any naked flames could turn him into a human fireball.
c) Accept his request and hand the man a lighter and pack of cigarettes, regardless of signs and safety. You then choose to leave the room, leaving the man alone with the cigarettes and lighter for 15 minutes.
Now, if you chose option 3 then please take yourself outside and give yourself a sever beating. To be honest, with that kind of mentality you deserved it. Of course, option “b” would be the obvious answer with answer “a” as a side-point. So now that we’ve deduced what you should do, let me ask you what you think the Japanese police did…