I saw this
and wondered if police anywhere have actively counselled actually just ignoring armed robbers of storefronts; the robber just gets no attention and then leaves.
I’m not saying this is the best tactic, but wondered if it is one at all, or you just get shot from the side.
Seems like it has a chance to psych out a typical retail robber? They figure nobody noticed them and nothing bad will happen to them if they leave.
I have a cousin who works as a bank teller in Canada. A guy came in to rob the bank and she just looked at him and basically said “Are you kidding?” and then pretty much ignored him. The bank manager was a bit angry at her for not following proper procedure, which was to just give them the money so that no one gets shot. Of course, he was also pretty relieved that no one got injured in the entire ordeal.
It works on occasion, but I can’t imagine that anyone would recommend doing this. If it doesn’t work, you are basically forcing the robber to choose between escalating the violence or giving up and going away. Not every robber is going to choose to go away.
Seems a very chancy thing. Like as not, a frustrated and violent person might just kill you as soon as walk away.
Probably, the guy doing the robbery is either high or nervous as hell. Someone engaged in robbery is not a long-term thinker anyway, and may not have good impulse control if you piss them off… Messing with them probably is not a good tactic. The typical register contains a few hundred, maybe a few thousand. (Store would be stupid to let it build up that high). Simple medical bills for repairing a mildly injured clerk probably would run higher than the money lost. Costs for a dead clerk, even higher.
So you ignore the robber. He comes around the counter, jumps the counter, or maybe leans over and tries to open the register or pull it over to his side so he can mess with it. A new register if he smashes it, probably costs more than what’s in the till. A knife is more than enough to deal with an unarmed clerk.
In Canada, it might be a safe gamble that the robber does not have a gun. they are hard to get here. However, in the USA, I would suggest not to bet he does not have a gun.
Better to give him what he wants and let the cops sort it out. Armed robbery is pretty serious and the number of suspects in an area is likely pretty limited.
Found this Mexican comic on point
http://www.trino.com.mx/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/fabulas11mayWEB-1024x437.jpg
For the bilingually-challenged:
“Oh no, he’s parking in front!”
“Who?” “The guy who comes to rob the bank every day!”
“Quick, let’s do what politicians do and ignore him.”
“THIS IS A HOLD UP!”
“…”
“I said this is a hold up!”
“…”
“You’re ignoring me?”
“OK I’m out of here”
“I knew it, it worked!” “Whoa there, he’s pulling a BAZOOKA out of his trunk!!”
But what’s a “gub”?
(Worked on Virgil Starkwell.)
I would guess that the vast majority of people would not be capable of ignoring someone yelling and pointing a gun at them. Regardless of whether that might be a good idea.