In my last post, I was going to use the term hue and cry. I've always thought the phrase meant to make noise about an issue in order to distract from the true problem. For example
The protesters' hue and cry could barely be heard above the 30 foot tall, paper-mâché of Sarah Palin being burned in effigy.
Turns out, there's a rather interesting denotation to the phrase
In common law, a hue and cry (Latin, hutesium et clamor, "a horn and shouting") was a process by which bystanders were summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal who had been witnessed in the act of committing a crime. By the statute of Winchester, 13 Edw. I cc. 1 and 4, (1285) it was provided that anyone, either a constable or a private citizen, who witnessed a crime shall make hue and cry, and that the hue and cry must be kept up against the fleeing criminal from town to town and from county to county, until the felon is apprehended and delivered to the sheriff. All able-bodied men, upon hearing the shouts, were obliged to assist in the pursuit of the criminal, which makes it comparable to the posse comitatus.
In common law, a hue and cry (Latin, hutesium et clamor, "a horn and shouting") was a process by which bystanders were summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal who had been witnessed in the act of committing a crime.
By the statute of Winchester, 13 Edw. I cc. 1 and 4, (1285) it was provided that anyone, either a constable or a private citizen, who witnessed a crime shall make hue and cry, and that the hue and cry must be kept up against the fleeing criminal from town to town and from county to county, until the felon is apprehended and delivered to the sheriff. All able-bodied men, upon hearing the shouts, were obliged to assist in the pursuit of the criminal, which makes it comparable to the posse comitatus.
Emphasis mine.
We've come to a point in life where the vast majority of the populace believes that the police force is responsible for our safety and that the prevention of crime or apprehension of criminals is solely their responsibility. This is not the case. In fact, as this example shows, it was considered everyone's responsibility to respond to hue and cry.
Criminals rarely commit crimes in front of the police. If it was understood that the populace is the police, imagine how much less crime there would be. Too bad today's concept of hue and cry is a rape whistle and 911.