http://www.kc3.org/editorial/cooperate_with_robber.htm [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Remember:[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Robbers seldom hurt people who cooperate with them! [/FONT]By James R. HallI just read with interest a story in Louisville’s Courier-Journal newspaper about a night club robbery [Nightclub employee shot in robbery, 21 Nov 06]. According to the story, Metro Police Lt. James "Mueller said the robber entered Petrus, on East Main Street, with a gun about 3 a.m. through an open door and demanded cash. The employee complied, but as the robber was leaving, he turned and fired several times, striking the worker once in the shoulder." Good reporting, it’s nice to see the media note that, even after complying with some thug’s demands, you could still end up dead. This lucky fellow went to the hospital with an apparently survivable wound and, depending upon his state of mind, should be back to the bar in no time. The point of my commentary is the rest of the story and where it led. "This person is extremely dangerous and we would like to see him brought to justice," Mueller said during a press conference. Wouldn’t we all. Of course, thanks to the myriad laws available, justice could be served by many means. But, at the same time, if mere passage of laws worked, this whole situation would have been averted before it began! Unfortunately, the law did not keep the perpetrator’s gun out of a business that sells mostly alcohol (KRS 244.125), nor did the law prevent him from simply acquiring the gun to further a crime (KRS 506.010), or menacing someone with a weapon (KRS 508.050), or wantonly endangering his fellow citizen (KRS 508.060), committing armed robbery (KRS 515.020), or assaulting someone with a deadly weapon (KRS 508.030). I’m left wondering, did he conceal the weapon on the way to the crime? Save for a license (I doubt it!) or some other exception, this too is a crime (KRS 527.020). What about the gun, was it stolen (KRS 514.110)? Had the serial number been defaced (KRS 527.050)? How about the perpetrator’s history, was he a convicted felon or other "prohibited person" that could not lawfully possess a firearm (KRS 527.040)? Should we believe that the assailant was unaware of his legal transgressions? Better yet, should we believe that, if caught, he’ll be prosecuted for each offense he actually committed? (Double jeopardy notwithstanding.) We KNOW he won't, and if he were, he would very likely serve time for multiple convictions concurrently! Simply put, what makes these people "extremely dangerous" is the fact that they are armed and their victims are not. This is the ultimate truth that never seems to make it into most news stories. In the article, Lt. Mueller is said to recommend that "business owners and employees could go to www.lmpdasap.com to find robbery prevention tips." I went there looking for these tips and what I found made pretty good sense. There were also some "Robbery Reduction Tips" that, for the most part, were worthy advice also but, there were a few items that bordered on insanity. For one, NOWHERE does it suggest that someone might actually arm themselves in order to have a fighting chance against an armed assailant. IN FACT, they advise against "escalating" the situation by attempting to fight or using a weapon to defend yourself!!! At this point I have to wonder, if you already have a gun in your face, what could be considered "escalation"? Another tip: "Remember: robbers seldom hurt people who cooperate with them." Unfortunately, the title character in this story turned out to be one of the seldoms! "Stay calm and obey the robber's orders" is another tip. Didn’t we learn from the 9/11 attack that our sheepish attitude toward aggressors simply doesn’t work? As if it ever did! Giving the bad guys whatever they want only emboldens them to do the deed again. Anyone that’s had kids knows that giving them the candy they are whining for at the grocery checkout only shuts them up until the next time they see something they want! Criminals, knowing that a mindset is in place that practically guarantees cooperation – uh, complicity? – during the crime is what prompts them to commit the act in the first place! Does anyone truly believe that the average sane criminal would enter someplace with criminal intent if they believed they may very well be shot at!? The final insult – according to the reporter, "Anyone with information on the robbery should call the anonymous police tip line at 574-LMPD (5673)." Anonymous?? We are now so afraid that we can’t call up the police and tell them what we know about a crime without being anonymous? (Oh, and did you notice that the reader is seen as so stupid he needs the telephone letters and numbers?) If America were discovered today, it doesn’t seem to me that Americans would be able to successfully settle it. It boggles the imagination to know we live in the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. I pity the poor bastards that live anywhere else, what must they be contending with? Or is it just that the government and prevailing media – the powers that be –would have us believe that we are not only stupid but incompetent as well? Stories like the one illustrated above do seem to be the norm rather than the exception. The "don’t fight back" attitude put forth by the police in their crime prevention tips also seems the norm. We did NOT get to where we are waiting for someone else to take care of us! When will we decide we’ve had enough and get back to showcasing why WE ARE the greatest nation in the world? It can't be too soon.
That was the neighborhood I used to work in (graveyard shift). You couldn't pay me enough to go back there.
This would be a good time to get accurate statistics on something. How many of the 'give them what they want' survived as opposed to the 'try and hold me up, I'll shoot you' people? Just about guarantee that you would have to do the research yourself. If left to the liberals such as that POS who posted such great advice, we'd see results that show only one out of a million cashiers ever get shot. We all know how the spin doctors would do on this. Add another notch to the 'society is sicker than it should be' record. Armed and willing is better than not armed and dead.
