Street Justice: Rat and Die

by Dominic Mapstone · 2010-06-08 08:45:00 UTC
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One time a homeless friend called and asked to meet me at a homeless outreach service at a particular time. I was 10 minutes late and as far as I knew, he was a no-show. I waited around for a few hours and, since he wasn't there, I chatted with everyone else who was.

Six months or so later my friend was released from prison and put the word out on the street that I had ratted him out to the cops since I knew where he would be and when on the night that he was arrested.

As a social worker, it's very well-known on the streets that I am friendly with a lot of police officials and often get homeless people out of jams by leaning on those contacts.

So when the word that I was to be killed was passed around the heavy hitters — many of whom had benefited from me standing up to the police and looking after homeless people's interests — there was essentially an investigation launched on the streets by the homeless.

I was notified that I was to be killed for allegedly ratting on that person I had come into the city to meet up with, so the police could locate and arrest him. The homeless person who warned me initially of my place on the hit list was convicted a number of months later of torturing someone to death.

The simple allegation of being a rat has resulted in people being killed (with or without proof) in the past.

This was a particularly scary time for me once I found out I was to be killed. I desperately hoped I could clear things up and make sure it was known I wasn't a rat if only I could get in touch with the person who I was supposed to meet that night and clarify the situation with him.

Rule number one on the streets is you don't give information to the police. Rule number two is you never accuse someone of giving information to the police when they haven't.

As it turned out I was able to contact the person who went to jail and had put the word out on the street that I was to be killed on sight. I cleared things up with him in a round-about way so he understood I didn't tell the police where to find him and in a way that he could get off the hook for accusing me of being a rat (rule number 2) without being hurt himself.

All in all he has been a client and friend for over 15 years, but he almost got me killed. The only thing that saved me was my well-established reputation on the streets, and the fact that people instructed to kill me questioned that I was a rat and took the time to find out.

When it comes to talking to the police, what are your experiences? When is it ok to talk to the police?

What about street justice? What are your experiences with street-level justice and the cultural rules associated with that?

Photo credit: Darin Barry

Dominic Mapstone is the director of Rebeccas Community, an Australian non-profit, and admin at the International Homeless Forum.
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