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Corrections officer invents defense tool for convenience stores
Stun gun-like dart could deter robberies, he says
By James Dean
FLORIDA TODAY
COCOA -- A man wearing a ski mask walks into a convenience store and approaches the clerk. Pulling a handgun from a baggy sweatshirt, he demands money from the cash register and threatens to kill the clerk if he doesn't cooperate.
If Cocoa resident Gregory Mitchner had his way, the clerk would then press a button with his hand or foot, launching an electrically charged dart from a box beneath the register. Working like a stun gun, the dart would incapacitate the robber for several minutes while law enforcement responded or the clerk fled to safety.
"This gives them a chance to save their own lives," said Mitchner, 45, an auxiliary corrections officer at the Brevard County Detention Center in Sharpes.
The Counter Guard is Mitchner's invention. Troubled by all the robberies he saw reported in the news and by stories he heard from robbers at the jail, Mitchner became interested in making a device that protected the convenience and retail store employees that are so often victimized.
One of every five convenience stores experiences a robbery in a typical year, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores. While many stores are never robbed, such crimes have been increasing, according to FBI statistics. In 2000, convenience store robberies increased nearly 10 percent and gas station robberies rose almost eight percent.
Mitchner's idea comes after robbers struck at least 17 businesses in the Titusville area in recent months. Titusville police have arrested five young men so far in connection with the robberies, and are working with business owners and employees to promote sound security procedures.
Hitesh Patel, who found himself threatened at gunpoint Monday night, said a Counter Guard would have come in handy.
"It's a good idea," said Patel, owner of Knox McRae Food Store at 355 Knox McRae Drive in Titusville. He saw the male robber approaching the store, but said the whole thing was over in seconds.
The man then fled the store with an unknown amount of money, police said.
A patent is pending on the Counter Guard, and Mitchner is looking for a manufacturer to develop the product.
But law enforcement, security experts and some business owners cautioned against taking any action that offers resistance to an armed robber.
"The key thing to train employees and managers in retail or convenience stores is not to resist or have weapons," said Rosemary Erickson, president of San Deigo-based Athena Research, which studies retail crime.
Erickson said less than 10 percent of store robberies result in injury, and less than one percent result in death. But victims who resist armed robbers are almost 50 times more likely to be killed, she said, citing a 1986 study.
That has not happened in Titusville, though several people were beaten in attacks that became progressively violent.
One woman had teeth knocked out, and a man was cut with a liquor bottle.
Titusville police Sgt. John Lau said all possible measures should be taken to make stores less attractive to robbers.
"We don't want any heroes," Lau said, "because that's when someone gets hurt."
Measures recommended by police include not cluttering windows with advertisements to keep lines of sight clear, keeping small amounts of cash in the register, and using surveillance video cameras.
In addition, the NACS recommends stores position cash registers prominently, use good lighting inside and outside, and eliminate escape routes.
Sonia Norris, a co-manager of Little Caesars Pizza on Hopkins Avenue in Titusville, said she was more aware of safety during the rash of robberies that began in October, but hasn't changed any procedures.
"We do everything we can to discourage it," said Norris, adding frequent cash drops are made into a safe that employees cannot access, trash is taken out early, and employees are seen safely to their cars after closing.
Lau said businesses should practice robbery responses, which can be done with police supervision. He said being aware is the first step, but that improvements in technology, especially digital surveillance cameras, were making it more difficult for robbers to get away with their crimes.
"If there's no chance of a gun going off, it might be something we would take a look at," Lau said.
Mitchner said his goal is to make sure no one is killed. "Everyone has a right to protect themselves," he said. "These are honest, law abiding citizens."
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/localstoryA44976A.htm
Stun gun-like dart could deter robberies, he says
By James Dean
FLORIDA TODAY
COCOA -- A man wearing a ski mask walks into a convenience store and approaches the clerk. Pulling a handgun from a baggy sweatshirt, he demands money from the cash register and threatens to kill the clerk if he doesn't cooperate.
If Cocoa resident Gregory Mitchner had his way, the clerk would then press a button with his hand or foot, launching an electrically charged dart from a box beneath the register. Working like a stun gun, the dart would incapacitate the robber for several minutes while law enforcement responded or the clerk fled to safety.
"This gives them a chance to save their own lives," said Mitchner, 45, an auxiliary corrections officer at the Brevard County Detention Center in Sharpes.
The Counter Guard is Mitchner's invention. Troubled by all the robberies he saw reported in the news and by stories he heard from robbers at the jail, Mitchner became interested in making a device that protected the convenience and retail store employees that are so often victimized.
One of every five convenience stores experiences a robbery in a typical year, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores. While many stores are never robbed, such crimes have been increasing, according to FBI statistics. In 2000, convenience store robberies increased nearly 10 percent and gas station robberies rose almost eight percent.
Mitchner's idea comes after robbers struck at least 17 businesses in the Titusville area in recent months. Titusville police have arrested five young men so far in connection with the robberies, and are working with business owners and employees to promote sound security procedures.
Hitesh Patel, who found himself threatened at gunpoint Monday night, said a Counter Guard would have come in handy.
"It's a good idea," said Patel, owner of Knox McRae Food Store at 355 Knox McRae Drive in Titusville. He saw the male robber approaching the store, but said the whole thing was over in seconds.
The man then fled the store with an unknown amount of money, police said.
A patent is pending on the Counter Guard, and Mitchner is looking for a manufacturer to develop the product.
But law enforcement, security experts and some business owners cautioned against taking any action that offers resistance to an armed robber.
"The key thing to train employees and managers in retail or convenience stores is not to resist or have weapons," said Rosemary Erickson, president of San Deigo-based Athena Research, which studies retail crime.
Erickson said less than 10 percent of store robberies result in injury, and less than one percent result in death. But victims who resist armed robbers are almost 50 times more likely to be killed, she said, citing a 1986 study.
That has not happened in Titusville, though several people were beaten in attacks that became progressively violent.
One woman had teeth knocked out, and a man was cut with a liquor bottle.
Titusville police Sgt. John Lau said all possible measures should be taken to make stores less attractive to robbers.
"We don't want any heroes," Lau said, "because that's when someone gets hurt."
Measures recommended by police include not cluttering windows with advertisements to keep lines of sight clear, keeping small amounts of cash in the register, and using surveillance video cameras.
In addition, the NACS recommends stores position cash registers prominently, use good lighting inside and outside, and eliminate escape routes.
Sonia Norris, a co-manager of Little Caesars Pizza on Hopkins Avenue in Titusville, said she was more aware of safety during the rash of robberies that began in October, but hasn't changed any procedures.
"We do everything we can to discourage it," said Norris, adding frequent cash drops are made into a safe that employees cannot access, trash is taken out early, and employees are seen safely to their cars after closing.
Lau said businesses should practice robbery responses, which can be done with police supervision. He said being aware is the first step, but that improvements in technology, especially digital surveillance cameras, were making it more difficult for robbers to get away with their crimes.
"If there's no chance of a gun going off, it might be something we would take a look at," Lau said.
Mitchner said his goal is to make sure no one is killed. "Everyone has a right to protect themselves," he said. "These are honest, law abiding citizens."
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/localstoryA44976A.htm
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