This is not the article that I was intending on writing at this time but something bad happened to someone close to me and I am therefore going to write again about being more defensive in our daily lives. Unfortunately, we MUST all become more aware of our surroundings and less trusting of people we meet casually.
I will give some easy to remember and easy to implement safety tips that each of you can incorporate into your everyday life. With our ever-increasing diversity of people, cultures, races, and backgrounds, it becomes increasingly easier to have what you say or do to be taken in a negative way by a person who may snap and take violent action against you. Preparation is your key to possibly avoiding an attack against you.
THE TOP FIVE THINGS TO BE "TUNED IN" FOR TO MAXIMIZE YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY:
- Start to make it a daily ritual to be observant in the locations you frequent. Make mental notes of people you regularly see and how they act and react to those around them. Criminal types are not always the stereotypical "dumb" guys you think they are. Many spend a lot of time watching and learning who is a vulnerable mark and who is to be avoided. You want to be in the latter group!
- If you find that you have made a mistake and are in a situation where your comfort level deteriorates, you need to take immediate steps to get back to a safer place. Raise your personal ALERT LEVEL from green to yellow and finally to red. When you do this it should set off TRIGGERS in your brain that you set up beforehand.
- Alert levels and triggers that you need must up before you need them. I will describe these alert levels and trigger points later in this article. The importance of them is critical and can save you from personal harm, danger or injury.
- As soon as possible get to a location that is not only safer, but where there are other people around. It would be best if these were trusted people who were your friends, however just a group will also serve you better than being isolated with a potential attacker. This step can also mean the difference between safety and being a victim of crime!
- If you feel it to be important enough, write down every detail you can recall creating a record. Notify the authorities and indicate you WILL press charges if warranted. The Police will ask for a statement and your record may become crucial to bringing an attacker or potential attacker onto the police radar screen that may help to make your neighborhood safer.
ALERT LEVELS AND TRIGGERS:
Each of us needs to set up a safety system that will work for us. There is no one perfect formula for every individual and every situation that will work perfectly. Alert levels, however, should proceed from green to yellow to red for everyone.
- Green is where everything is going along smoothly and you are comfortable with your surroundings and the people you are interacting with. While you may not know every person in the room or at the party or wherever, you know some of them well enough to be at ease and feel safe. This is where most of us spend 95% of our time.
- Yellow should set off your first mind trigger to indicate that you need to heighten your senses and awareness of where you are, whom you are with and where your friends are or where they have gone. Begin to formulate a plan of escape if your situation degenerates to a point where you might need to evade danger. Look for escape routes. Devise possible diversions to give you a fraction of a second to make your move. Use extreme caution in what you do and say and where people are located within your close proximity.
- Red trigger is the point when your adrenaline starts pumping and you reach the fight or flee stage and must quickly determine how much is at stake. You must decide if you can flee or if you will use every self defense mechanism at your disposal to fight and then flee. Only you as an individual can make this extremely important decision. Again, you must have mentally prepared for situations of this type beforehand so your decision will be instantaneous.
You will need to take some serious time to think about this. Crime is something you must be conscious of. Be aware that it will most likely touch your life. As I said in the beginning of this article, a brutal assault has recently come to center stage for me.
Use all the things we have talked about in prior articles and also the techniques I will present in those ahead. Some depend upon your speed, some depend on your situation and some depend upon your nerve and personal attitudes. Many will use all the tools available. Many are reluctant to even carry something as innocuous as pepper spray.
Regardless of your personal attitudes, each of you has the responsibility to create a plan that you have tailored to make yourself as safe as can be no matter what situation you fall into. If you do this, you WILL be way ahead of the pack. Predators can sense when a person is not afraid. They will go to an easier mark. It like the familiar story of the car thief and the Club we all have heard. If you have one and use it, the car thief will go to an easier car to steal. It really is that simple.
There are plenty of tools to help, but you already own the most important one. Your mind coupled with your attitude. I am sure there are several different mixes of personality types that will read this discussion. My intent is to provide information for all kinds of readers with a source for assistance and resources for all of you.
As always, stay safe and I will help you with many aspects of your personal safety plan and offer all the tools at your disposal and answer any question you may have on the use of any device you desire to use.
