"Moseley first stabbed Kitty, neighbors came back and stabbed her some more, till she died. Police later identified 38 neighbors who saw or heard part of the attack. The eyewitnesses' failure to call police became a symbol of the callousness of urban America...
Each of the 38 people might have been willing to bear the cost to save Kitty's life, but preferred that someone else make the call. With so many witnesses to the scene, each person calculated a high probability that someone else would make the call and save Kitty. Therefore, each person did nothing...
The Genovese effect can also operate within aid bureaucracies. Each department might wish that results happen, but would prefer that some other department achieve them, with glory for all. Departments then get into the game of shifting responsibility for difficult tasks onto other departments, which drives the leaders of even the most results-oriented agency insane...
A story like this could help account for the long period of inaction on the AIDS crisis, until the crisis was so severe that finally aid agencies acted."
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