Imagine you're in the center of a mob. A bunch of punks on bicycles are beating you half to death--let's assume you're disarmed for some reason--and you're not sure you'll survive. Then you see it: A white car with flashing blue lights. You're saved!

Only, you're not. The officer never exits the vehicle. She just sits inside and watches, possibly recording it on the dash cam, but doing absolutely nothing else.

It's insane, right? I mean, we've seen officers fail to protect people before--Parkland is a prime example in my mind--but this? This is just a fever dream on my part, right?

No, it's not. It happened in Miami.

Days after surveillance cameras recorded a driver swarmed by a mob of cyclists in broad daylight in the heart of Miami, the city’s police department has taken action against an officer for what she is accused of failing to do.

The brouhaha went down Sunday evening along busy Biscayne Boulevard, near 14th Street.

The security footage shows a gang of angry bicyclists going berserk — beating on the motorist, breaking his windshield, jumping on and stomping on his car’s roof and hood, and using a bike to punctuate the beatdown.

Meanwhile, a Miami Police officer sat in her car with a front-row seat to the mayhem.

...

The assailants kicked, punched, stomped, smashed a window and even hurled a bike — all while the officer remained in her cruiser the entire time.

Some time later, other people. possibly Miami Police officers, rushed to the man’s aid. One biker got tackled, and several others pedaled off.

The female officer eventually did come out of her cruiser, once other officers arrived.

The officer who remained in her car has been suspended pending an internal investigation, and she may well end up fired, but that's because of things like policy and public perception, not because there's a legal duty to protect people.

Usually, that is because the police can't protect everyone. Many officers would like to, but it's just not feasible. If they did have such a duty, though, anyone who gets hurt would have grounds to sue the police for failing to protect them. Reasonably, many of these cases would fall apart--this one probably wouldn't, of course--but it would be enough that it would cost the taxpayers a massive amount over nothing.

Instead, the courts have ruled they have a duty to protect society as a whole, not specific individuals.

Yes, even if they're watching a beatdown right in front of them.

Gun control supporters tend to think that the answer to any threat is to just call the police. I happen to think that, if there's any way to do so, you should call the cops.

I'm just realistic enough to know that even if you do, there's no way you can guarantee they'll be there in time or that they'll act even if they do.

For the record, we don't know how badly the victim in this case was injured. This seems to be a thing in Miami, so if you live in that area, be wary.

Especially since it sure looks like you can't trust at least some police officers to do anything beyond wait for someone else to show up.