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Comment by MattBearman | Hacker News Reader

I agreed with you up until "Instructing to call the police was definitely the best possible course of action". I really think AirBnB should have called the police, instead of shifting that responsibility. The article even says that they'll be making sure all staff know to contact the police directly in future cases like this.

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The person in the apartment is absolutely the best person to call the police.

When he dials the emergency number he gets put through to the local handlers who will send a car quickly.

Calling his mother, who then calls AirBnB, who then call some other AirBnB office, who then call the police introduces a bunch of delay and missed information.

We don't want people to think that calling a private company is the right thing to do here, where a crime is being committed.

It would certainly have been better if the guy in the apartment had called the police, but airbnb should have called them anyway.

AirBnB certainly need better protocols for this kind of thing.

It's only hinted at inthe article, but a few people die by suicide in hotel rooms. AirBnB staff need to know how to respond better.

> I really think AirBnB should have called the police

I can see that quickly becoming a new form of SWATTING

Unlike a hotel which has to maintain security staff, and often a hotel doctor aren't Airbnb shifting the burden of their own business costs onto society?

In this case the mother and or police?

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