Welcome to my first blog for AM 1500. I plan to use Murphy's Musings to give you a behind the scenes look at our show and what's going on here at the Murphy house. It will be a mess, and I apologize for all the spelling and grammatical errors in the coming years in advance.

A lot of time this week was devoted to the question "What should you do if someone tries to rob you?" A St. Paul bank teller and a Minneapolis pharmacist led the discussion, as both thwarted off robbery attempts in two different ways, and both were mildly criticized by police for doing so.

The policy of "give the robber what they want and no one gets hurt" may have produced less violence at robberies, but it's also produced more heists. Bank robberies are up, and despite all the surveillance, less people are being caught. It seems to me that we've made the bank a less safe place by making it easier for robbers.

I know a few people that have been robbed while at work, and their experience leads me to think that a "zero tolerance" policy toward standing up to robbers is wrong. Some robbers come in all flustered and can be easily thwarted. Others mean business and are dealt with accordingly. Let these people assess the situation and make the call. Only take their jobs if it's proved that their actions caused a problem.

Giving the robber what they want has not made places safer. It's made them more dangerous.