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1 | P a g e The Story of the People Who Made Their Own Story Once upon a time, there was a woman who wanted to live her life peacefully. But a group of people decided to tell other people a story about her. They said: “She wants someone to give her money.” But there was something they did not tell people. They did not tell them what the group had allegedly been doing to the woman. The missing part of the story Imagine a little girl has a box of crayons. A group of children secretly takes her crayons away. Then they tell everyone: “Look! She doesn't have any crayons.” The children do not tell anyone: “We took her crayons.” So everyone only sees the end of the story. That is what the woman says the group was doing. Making the story look true The group allegedly made things difficult for the woman. Then they told people: “See? She needs help.” They allegedly left out the part where they had helped create the difficulties. It was like making a puddle and then saying: “Look! She is standing in water.” Sending people to her The group then allegedly told other people their story.
2 | P a g e Some men were allegedly told things about the woman. Those men then approached her. But the woman said: “No, thank you. Please leave me alone.” She wanted to make her own choices. But the group allegedly continued telling people that she wanted something different. The trick with the story Imagine someone tells a boy: “That girl wants to play with your toy.” The boy goes to her. She says: “No, I don't want to play.” Then the boy goes back and says: “She said no!” The people who told him the story might then say: “See? She is being difficult.” But they forget to say: “We told him to go and ask her in the first place.” That is the important part of the woman's complaint. The story keeps going around The group allegedly told more people. More people heard the story. More people approached the woman. The woman kept saying: “No. Please stop.” She became frightened and upset.
3 | P a g e She told the police and tried to protect herself. But the group allegedly used the new events to tell their story again. So the story became a circle: Tell a story ↓ Send someone to the woman ↓ She says no ↓ She becomes upset ↓ Tell people about her reaction ↓ Leave out what happened before ↓ Use the reaction to tell the story again And then the circle starts again. The police officer sees the missing piece A good police officer does not only ask: “What happened at the end?” He asks: “What happened before it?” He asks: “Who told the person to go there?” “What were they told?” “Who told them?” “What happened before that?” “Did the woman say no?” “Did the people know she said no?” “Who kept the story going?” And most importantly: “What part of the story has been left out?”
4 | P a g e The big lesson The police officer knows that sometimes a story can look very different when an important piece is missing. So he puts all the pieces on the table. He does not automatically believe the group. He does not automatically believe the woman. He checks. Because the truth is not just: “What happened at the end?” The truth is also: “Who did what, what happened first, what happened next, and why?” And if someone made a puddle themselves, a good police officer wants to know who made the puddle before deciding what the puddle means.
5 | P a g e The Little Story About How the Trick Worked Once upon a time, there was a woman who wanted to live peacefully. A group of people allegedly decided to tell a story about her. But the important part was how they made the story seem true. Step 1 — Make a story First, the group allegedly made up a story about the woman. They told people: “She wants a man to give her money.” But they did not tell people everything that was happening to her. They left out the things they were allegedly doing themselves. Step 2 — Make things happen Next, the group allegedly did things that made the woman's life harder. They allegedly interfered with her work and support and caused problems around her. They also allegedly told other people their story about her. Some men then came towards the woman because of what they had been told. The woman said: “No. I don't want this. Please leave me alone.” Step 3 — Use her reaction The woman became upset because people kept bothering her. The group allegedly then looked at her reaction and said: “Look! See how she is behaving?” But they did not tell everyone the whole story. They allegedly left out: “We helped create the situation that made her react this way.”
6 | P a g e Step 4 — Tell the story again The story was then allegedly passed to more people. Those people heard only part of what had happened. Some might think: “The group must be right.” But they did not know about the earlier steps. Step 5 — Do it again Then the same thing allegedly happened again: Tell the story. ⬇️ Create or encourage a situation. ⬇️ Woman reacts. ⬇️ Leave out what happened before. ⬇️ Use her reaction to make the story seem true. ⬇️ Tell the story to someone else. And the circle continued. The police officer's job A good police officer would not look only at Step 5. He would go back to Step 1. He would ask: “Who started the story?” Then:
7 | P a g e “Who made things happen?” Then: “Who sent other people?” Then: “What did the woman actually say and do?” Then: “What part of the story was left out?” And finally: “Did the same people keep doing it again and again?” The officer would collect the puzzle pieces and find out what really happened. The simple lesson Step 1: Make the story. Step 2: Make the circumstances. Step 3: Make the person react. Step 4: Hide the first two steps. Step 5: Use the reaction to make the story look true. And a good police officer would say: “I need to see the whole story, not just the part someone wants me to see.”