Robbed at Gunpoint, Some Bronx Victims Resist

New York Times ^ | 4/28/2013 | J. DAVID GOODMAN

[Second Amendment First]

The first armed robbery attempt was in October, on a residential Bronx block near an elevated train stop. The victim fought back. He was shot in the leg.

After the third robbery attempt, in February, two distinct patterns became apparent. The police suspected a single group was to blame, a group that cruised in cars and attacked lone men at night. But a more unusual pattern was seen among the three victims: when faced with a gun and a straightforward proposition — your money or your life — they had opted to take their chances with their lives.

“Being held at gunpoint, for some people, is not that scary,” said Brian Melford, 21, a Bronx youth activist and student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “Around here, people think they’re strong. They just say, ‘I’m not going to give it up.’ ”

Criminologists have for decades studied the responses of victims to violent crime. Robberies in particular became a topic of scholarly research in the 1980s and 1990s, as random street crime spread through urban areas, with those studies mostly confirming the obvious: if you resist a robber, you are more likely to get hurt or, possibly, killed.

“From any perspective of rationality, the thing to do with a robber is to cooperate politely,” said Franklin E. Zimring, a criminologist at Berkeley Law School. But, he added, both robbers and recalcitrant victims have never been the most rational actors.

“You don’t have much money on you; it’s nuts for the victim to refuse,” he said. “Here’s the second layer of nuts: You’ve got a rational robber. If the victim refuses, why doesn’t he just find somebody else?”

[Venturer]

I would prefer to draw my own gun and pop a cap in his thieving ass.

[publius911]

“You don’t have much money on you; it’s nuts for the victim to refuse,” he said. “Here’s the second layer of nuts: You’ve got a rational robber. If the victim refuses, why doesn’t he just find somebody else?”

Stupid stupid advice. If you are lucky to be armed, fighting back is the most direct response.

Claiming poverty did not save that woman's baby's life a few weeks ago.
There is NOTHING rational about these two-legged animals.

[BitWielder1]

Being a submissive victim is good for the moment but only invites more robberies.
Having the courage to resist, even when unarmed, will in the long run lead to fewer robberies over all.
And for those who argue that it's better to hand over the cash: Maybe it is, but if I choose to resist, it's not about the cash. I REFUSE TO GET ROBBED. The amount is not the issue.
It's much like standing up to a bully and say ENOUGH!
Maybe the bully will back down, maybe you'll have to fight, you may win or lose, but you made the bully's life harder and his "profession" more risky, which is the point.
We still have free will and the right to make our own calls.

[Bigg Red]

Wait! NYC is a gun-free city. How can the perps have guns?

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Jack Benny -- known to be.. er, parsimonious to the extreme.

[RobbyS]

Well, fellow, obviously they couldn’t HAVE guns, right? ;)

[Bigg Red]

I was being sarcastic.

(Oh, and I am not a fellow. Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s my dumb screen name. Did not think it through, so many years ago, I suppose.)

[House Atreides]

“From any perspective of rationality, the thing to do with a robber is to cooperate politely,”..
*******************************************************************
Wisdom from the Ruling Elite’s academia....makes me want to barf. This from the same folks who want to disarm the populace so that they cannot protect themselves—they must submit, both to the “robber” and to the Ruling Elite.

They can “stick it” as far as I’m concerned.

[GOPJ]

I suspect Zimring - the criminologist at Berkeley Law School lives in an upscale neighborhood and is a liberal. He has a security system - one of the best - and isn’t worried about criminals confronting him in his neighborhood. He wants the rest of us to be ‘quiet’ victims and give our money and dignity to anyone with a gun. And he only wants criminals to own guns - if law biding citizens fight back it might endanger his ‘oh so elite’ hide. Gun fire’s messy. He could get hit. So hand over what you’ve got and ‘quit cha complaining’...

Yeah, right.

[Mortrey]

Those in New York (and other lib areas) who fear attacks while unarmed should carry a can of Raid Wasp and Hornet spray and aim for the eyes.

Think a gangsta with a gun won’t wonder what’s up if you reach for that instead of your wallet? He’ll be so confused you’ll have plenty of time to aim well.

(If anyone makes a holster for it, I get 50% of the profits, OK?)

[DaveA37]

If anyone makes a holster for it, I get 50% of the profits, OK?).

They need to make a wasp spray container that looks like a wallet. When you pull out the wallet to hand over, spray the bastar&s. Might be real seller.