The speaker for the Marion County Development Partnership's Catchy Friday was Clint McMurry, the director of the Columbia Law Enforcement Training Academy. McMurry was invited to speak to business owners and MCDP members about safety awareness ahead of the busy holiday season.
McMurry began with some statistics from two years ago. In the United States, there were 122,000 strong armed robberies with no weapon displayed, 120,000 with a firearm, 28,000 with other weapons and 24,000 with a knife or other cutting instrument. There were 293,000 robberies across the country, which comes out to 5,860 per state.
He pointed out that there are two different types of violent encounters. One is that where the perpetrator robs or takes what he wants with the intention of living. The other is an active shooter, who intends to kill as many as he can with the knowledge he will most likely not survive.
There are pre-assault cues that can give away when someone is up to no good. They almost always case the place or person before attacking, they tend to have nervous energy and excessive grooming and they may drive too slow or too fast or with headlights on too bright or completely off. McMurry said to be aware that perpetrators will travel the path of least resistance and that 70% of robberies have two people involved, one for contact and one for cover. While profiling is illegal, McMurry said law enforcement tends to profile actions looking for a cluster of indicators.
McMurry suggested that individuals not go to places they are likely to be robbed and to not be out late at night when it is not necessary. He said to look out for signs something is about to happen. He also suggests that all citizens get a conceal carry permit and keep a gun with them at all times.
The average police response time is five and a half minutes. An active shooter incident usually lasts five minutes. Ninety-percent of the time, it is a prepared civilian that stops the shooter. McMurry said people need to be trained to stop bleeding since most people who die, die from lack of medical care, and they bleed out.
Melinda Winner, chef at Frosty's Sweets & Eats, said she has not only signed up for the concealed carry class at CLETA, but she is also signing up several of her employees for it.
"I learned a lot of lessons from Clint, especially about paying attention to my surroundings. We are all extremely busy. I am always looking at my phone answering text messages and not paying attention. I was very shocked to find out that we could be a big target at Experience Columbia. I always thought about it being a lot of people and being safe, but I guess being a lot isn't safe if you are not aware of your surroundings. I was very impressed with Clint," she said.
The next Catchy Friday will be held Oct. 28 at 7:45 a.m. at The Church on Main. Mike Davis, managing partner at TMH, will speak with the group about taxes and other financial issues for businesses.
