Assaults on taxi drivers in Poland – reaction of victims, drivers, witnesses, and the Police after the incident

Katarzyna Laskowska

Uniwersytet w Białymstoku
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6767-3929

Abstract

Working as a taxi driver involves risks to both the personal safety and the property of the driver. Taxi drivers are likely to become victims of assaults (robberies) committed by prepared and determined perpetrators. The purpose of this paper is to show the criminological and victimological problems of assaults on cab drivers. This will be done by presenting the reactions of victims, witnesses, and the Police after the incident. For the analyses conducted, the following research hypothesis was posed: “The reaction of the victims of the assault, the witnesses, and the Police to the incident is quick and most often effective against the perpetrator.” The correctness of this hypothesis was confirmed during the analysis. It was determined that the witnesses and the Police quickly took action to apprehend the assailant and recover the stolen property. Only the victim of an assault, fearing for life and health, does not always choose to intervene quickly. The method used was document analysis, i.e. analysis of the information contained on the website of the National Police Headquarters in the “News” section under the tab titled Assaults on taxi drivers.

Keywords:

assault on a taxi driver, robbery, criminology