Whistle-blowing, when done right, is one of the noblest things a person can do. Because you decided to speak up about something that probably doesn’t concern you or one in which you have no real stake, you simply speak out on it because it’s the right thing to do, and you know that by speaking up, you’re saving at least one person from being harmed in one way or the other.
Which is why whistleblowing will never not be relevant. Because, regardless of how advanced technology gets, the intelligence of the criminals will also get advanced, and they will keep figuring out ways to dance circles around authority until someone within proximity or someone in the circle decides to confess and tell what is happening, so many crimes will simply go unsolved. That’s how important it is.
So, should people blow their whistles on the illegalities that happen around them? I’d support such an idea, but then, where is their protection? I’ve heard stories of people who reported cases to the police, and the same police ended up revealing their identity to the criminals, thus putting them in danger. This has happened so many times that people are now scared of anything that has to do with the police.
Anything at all that would make a person come into contact with the police will be avoided, and that’s why some people find being a good Samaritan risky, because if, in that act, anything happens to them, they’ll most likely serve the punishment for an alleged crime before their case is even heard. That’s how bad it can be.
But then, what if there was a system where the whistleblowers were kept anonymous and given proper protection? The thing is, there are laws governing these issues, and police officers are forbidden from revealing sources except in extremely important cases. That’s an entire case that can be run simply on an anonymous informant. Sometimes, they could even make up these alleged informants just to carry out a raid on a particular place.
But then, whistle-blowing is not all sunshine and rainbow because many times, people use it to target those they don’t like. I’ve heard a story about a woman who reported her neighbor for abusing his daughter. She managed to get him arrested. His only saving grace was that during investigations, they found out that the day he supposedly abused the girl, she and her mother had gone on a trip, leaving only the father at home. That alone scattered the case, but they also took the girl to the hospital, for such a thing had never happened before, and he was vindicated on all sides.
The police refused to reveal who gave them that report, even though it was clear they tried to get him into trouble. For the man and his family, it was a clear case of he knows who tried to set him up, but he didn’t have proof. He knew the woman, but there was nothing he could do because the police refused to confirm that she was the one. That case alone tarnished his image in society and almost destroyed his marriage, but the real criminal went scot-free.
So yeah, what measures are in place to address such calls? Where you don’t use the police for your own personal vendetta, but for real issues and matters. So, a lot should go into these things so that both the whistleblowers and the innocents will be properly protected. In an ideal system, the only people who should be afraid of these things should be the criminals, not the whistleblowers.
So yeah, it will be a good initiative, but it requires a lot of work to make a difference.
