6 ms·

This is why my family has always told me that if a thief comes and wants your [whatever, not-life/body], to just give it to them. It's not worth your life :< I

This is why my family has always told me that if a thief comes and wants your [whatever, not-life/body], to just give it to them. It's not worth your life :< It's really sad to hear that this happened. I just wish the kid's parents had taught them that. And as for the thief. I wonder how they feel about committing a murder in addition to what would have just been grand theft.

corin_ 13y ago
There are also anecdotal stories of people who gave in to thieves and were still killed, and people who stood up to them and scared the thief off. That doesn't mean standing up is the right thing to do, but would be interesting if anyone had any more insight into which was the safer option - though I guess hard to give, as presumably it depends on who the thief is, their state of mind, how exactly you react, etc. Regardless, I don't think I'd ever change from an automatic response of giving up whatever they wanted.
- MetaCosm 13y ago
  Well - you can use UCR data to check the mugging to murder ratios. I am guessing the overwhelming vast majority of muggings don't result in death, and the overwhelming majority of murders don't occur during muggings. This would imply that the safe course of action is to give up your stuff.
  - corin_ 13y ago
    A few hypotheticals examples where this data wouldn't necessarily answer the question: - 100% of mugging victims fight back - 100% of mugging victims immediately give in - Muggings turned into murders are reported only as "murders" in UCR (I'm not familiar with this data, random guess) - Attempted muggings where the victim fights back and the mugger runs away aren't reported as crimes, so aren't included in these statistics - Muggings of small value might not be reported (I'd report a lost phone to get it blocked, but if someone wanted all the cash in my wallet I probably wouldn't bother calling the police)
DigitalTurk 13y ago
That's great advice if you live somewhere where either thefts rarely happen, or thieves are often armed. For locations in between those extremes, well… you're the reason thieves here move on to a next victim if you resist a bit. Also, I doubt your family had incidents like this in mind when they gave you that advice.
jiggy2011 13y ago
I've never really understood this logic, if you encourage people to be passive against theft then it makes becoming a criminal easy and you will have more of them and likely be targeted again. I can understand if you have a real reason to fear for your life like being cornered by dangerous looking people or someone who is armed. I have resisted muggings in the past and always walked away with my life and possessions in tact.
- MetaCosm 13y ago
  First of all ... muggings, plural? How victimized are you? Secondly, the premise that not resisting a mugging will cause an increase in the number of muggings, I simply don't accept this premise.
  - jiggy2011 13y ago
    There's gangs of punk teenagers (and some adults) around here who will try various tricks to part you from money or belongings. If I gave them what ever they decided to ask for in a threatening tone I would literally have no nice things. I believe that if you reward certain behaviors then you will get more of them, I guess this is the same as "don't negotiate with terrorists".
- claudius 13y ago
  The idea that it is an individual’s duty to stand up for their rights by using force has, albeit being somewhat romantic, no place in a modern society. If someone robs you, the best way is indeed not to resist and let law enforcement and the judicial system to handle the case. This is ideally less risky, less troublesome and also more effective.
  - jiggy2011 13y ago
    I have in fact reported such incidents to the police in the past, but they will not act unless actual violence has occurred. Besides, to be helpful one needs a better description than "some guy in a hoodie" in a place with 100s of people in hoodies.

corin_ 13y ago

There are also anecdotal stories of people who gave in to thieves and were still killed, and people who stood up to them and scared the thief off. That doesn't mean standing up is the right thing to do, but would be interesting if anyone had any more insight into which was the safer option - though I guess hard to give, as presumably it depends on who the thief is, their state of mind, how exactly you react, etc. Regardless, I don't think I'd ever change from an automatic response of giving up whatever they wanted.

MetaCosm 13y ago
Well - you can use UCR data to check the mugging to murder ratios. I am guessing the overwhelming vast majority of muggings don't result in death, and the overwhelming majority of murders don't occur during muggings. This would imply that the safe course of action is to give up your stuff.
- corin_ 13y ago
  A few hypotheticals examples where this data wouldn't necessarily answer the question: - 100% of mugging victims fight back - 100% of mugging victims immediately give in - Muggings turned into murders are reported only as "murders" in UCR (I'm not familiar with this data, random guess) - Attempted muggings where the victim fights back and the mugger runs away aren't reported as crimes, so aren't included in these statistics - Muggings of small value might not be reported (I'd report a lost phone to get it blocked, but if someone wanted all the cash in my wallet I probably wouldn't bother calling the police)

DigitalTurk 13y ago

That's great advice if you live somewhere where either thefts rarely happen, or thieves are often armed. For locations in between those extremes, well… you're the reason thieves here move on to a next victim if you resist a bit. Also, I doubt your family had incidents like this in mind when they gave you that advice.

jiggy2011 13y ago

I've never really understood this logic, if you encourage people to be passive against theft then it makes becoming a criminal easy and you will have more of them and likely be targeted again. I can understand if you have a real reason to fear for your life like being cornered by dangerous looking people or someone who is armed. I have resisted muggings in the past and always walked away with my life and possessions in tact.

MetaCosm 13y ago
First of all ... muggings, plural? How victimized are you? Secondly, the premise that not resisting a mugging will cause an increase in the number of muggings, I simply don't accept this premise.
- jiggy2011 13y ago
  There's gangs of punk teenagers (and some adults) around here who will try various tricks to part you from money or belongings. If I gave them what ever they decided to ask for in a threatening tone I would literally have no nice things. I believe that if you reward certain behaviors then you will get more of them, I guess this is the same as "don't negotiate with terrorists".
claudius 13y ago
The idea that it is an individual’s duty to stand up for their rights by using force has, albeit being somewhat romantic, no place in a modern society. If someone robs you, the best way is indeed not to resist and let law enforcement and the judicial system to handle the case. This is ideally less risky, less troublesome and also more effective.
- jiggy2011 13y ago
  I have in fact reported such incidents to the police in the past, but they will not act unless actual violence has occurred. Besides, to be helpful one needs a better description than "some guy in a hoodie" in a place with 100s of people in hoodies.