Public apathy emboldens criminals

I am ashamed of myself for being a bad runner. Two thieves I was chasing left me farther and farther behind, and ultimately vanished from sight. It happened last Monday after the two men stole a bag from an intern when some colleagues were having lunch in Shanghai's Yan'an Park and enjoying the first sunny day in about two weeks.

I called the police emergency hotline 110 before giving the thieves the chase. I rang up again to tell the cops about the whereabouts of the two guys before they gave me the slip. I was shouting for help along the way, too, crossing the busy Jinling and then Huaihai roads, and hoping someone would come forward to stop the robbers.

Frustrated at seeing the thieves slip away, I realized another colleague, once a police reporter, was right behind me in the chase. She was equally disappointed and her face showed it.