This Stomach-Churning True Crime Series is Now On Netflix
I’m back with another true crime recommendation, dear reader. But please be forewarned: Don’t Pick Up the Phone is a bit of a doozy. This true crime series delves into some rather uncomfortable subject matter, including sexual abuse. With that said, the three-part series does serve as a compelling profile of a heinous crime spree and the subsequent efforts to bring the perpetrator to justice.
Don’t Pick Up the Phone profiles a series of malicious phone calls that led to numerous sexual assaults over a ten-year period. In each instance, a man would phone a restaurant, posing as a local police officer. He would provide a vague physical description of an employee he claimed to be looking for. When the manager on duty would identify someone on the team, based on that description, the caller would say the person was under suspicion of criminal activity. He would then ask the manager on duty to strip-search the employee to avoid further legal action. The hoax struck at least 100 times over the course of ten years. For much of that time, no one made the realization that the cases were even connected.
If you haven’t seen this series (or the film Compliance, which is based on this case) you might be wondering how people ever fell for the hoax caller’s ruse. It seems outrageous that a fast-food manager would strip-search an employee at the behest of a voice on the other end of the line. But there are a lot of factors at play that drove these people to do what they did. And many of those extenuating factors are explored within Don’t Pick Up the Phone.
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You may have an easier time understanding what made the folks targeted susceptible if you take the findings of the Milgram experiment under advisement. For anyone unfamiliar, the Milgram experiment was conducted in the 1960s and tested people’s willingness to comply with an authority figure, even when asked to do something unethical. The study revolved around a fictitious experiment that saw a researcher playing the role of ‘instructor’ and an actor playing the role of ‘student’.
The third participant, believing the setup to be real, would be asked by ‘the professor’ to shock ‘the student’ with increasingly higher charges of electricity for each incorrect answer provided on a knowledge test. Amongst the participants, every one of them was willing to shock ‘the student’ with up to 300 volts of electricity at the behest of ‘the professor’. 65% of participants proceeded to administer the maximum dose of 450 volts (which would be lethal).
The Milgram Experiment illustrates just how susceptible we are to the power of suggestion, particularly when it pertains to instruction from someone we perceive as being in a position of authority. When a person calls you purporting to be an officer of the law, there’s a high probability you will take them at their word until you’re given a cause to assume otherwise. And the hoax caller relied upon that. He used his perceived status as an authority figure to his full advantage.
See also: This Harrowing True Crime Documentary Is A Difficult But Necessary Watch
The caller would get people in the habit of saying ‘yes’ and then persisted with increasingly outrageous demands. That’s a technique often employed by salespeople. They get a customer used to answering in the affirmative and gradually move toward asking the customer to buy additional goods or services. The perpetrator in this case knew exactly how to manipulate people and would use each encounter to ensure the next victim was even more compliant.
Series director Sara Mast presents a number of different perspectives, including a psychologist who further breaks down how the hoax caller was able to run his scam on so many people. Given how easy it is to stand in judgment when you haven’t walked in someone’s shoes, seeing an expert speak to the psychology behind the case may provide additional context and greater empathy. Though that context hasn’t stopped some viewers from taking to the Internet to lob insults at those who were bamboozled by the caller, it does paint a more complete picture. My hope is that the majority of viewers come away with a level of compassion for those who were victimized.
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Those victimized in this case were failed by many people, not just by the hoax caller or the managers who agreed to conduct the strip searches. On that basis, the series sidebars in the third episode to chronicle one victim’s legal journey to hold the McDonald’s corporation accountable for allowing this to happen. We learn that the company knew about the hoax calls that were being made. From the outside looking in, it appears they didn’t do enough to warn their employees.
Though a spokesperson for McDonald’s claims that the company put the word out about the hoax caller, all we have to support that claim is their statement. Knowing that the caller was able to repeatedly fool people into participating over a ten-year span suggests that the efforts of the McDonald’s corporation, whatever they might have been, weren’t sufficient to ensure everyone on the front lines knew what to watch out for.
All things considered, Don’t Pick Up the Phone is a compelling watch. It’s a lot to take in. And it made me sick to my stomach. But the information presented within is compelling and the profile of the case is gripping. If you’re curious to check the series out, you can stream it on Netflix. I would also recommend checking out the Pat Healy film, Compliance. Healy plays the hoax caller and he is exceptional in his portrayal. You can stream Compliance on Max, as of the drafting of this post.
Categorized:Editorials
