You are less likely to become a victim when you
go to church on Sunday morning than when you go
out and party until wee hours of the morning. You are
more likely to be a victim of a violent crime in public
areas at night than during daytime.
You can take steps to avoid high-crime places
and be aware of bad times and bad locations but the
sad truth is that crime can be anywhere and you can
become a victim any time. It can happen at your family
picnic, it can happen at your home, it can happen in
a “gun free” school zone, and it can happen on your
way to church. If there is one thing that the coverage
of Newtown school massacre or Washington Yard
shooting proved, it is that you can be a victim of a
violent crime even in a location you would consider
completely safe.
You can be mugged or attacked in broad
daylight, close to a police station, in a nice area. Why?
Because crime can be committed by a perpetrator who
happens to be in a broad daylight, close to a police
station, in a nice area and you just happen to be there.
There are many types of criminals:
professionals, amateurs, repeat offenders, opportunists,
young, old, black, white... The list goes on. There are
people who spend their lifetimes (and get paid for)
profiling criminals. You do not need the time and
effort commitment to become a criminal profiler but
you should learn some basic profiles, be capable of
recognizing them, and know what counter-measures
work best with each profile.
Professional criminals can range from teenagers
who want to make a living by committing crimes to
hardened repeat offenders who may have already spent
multiple stints at various penitentiaries. Depending on
their “specialty” and level of experience they may be
more or less dangerous. The good news is that their
behavior is typically more predictable. In most cases,
they are after your property and if they employ violence
they do it to further their goals of enrichment. If you
get hurt, it is “collateral damage.”chances of deterring,
avoiding, or neutralizing the crime.
Amateurs are less predictable and can be
just as or even more dangerous than professional
criminals. Many amateur criminals are drug addicts,
which makes dealing with them that much more
difficult. Also, they may be in places that would not
be considered high-crime areas. Their crimes can be
just as devastating as those of professional criminals.
It is important to be able to match a criminal to a
time, a place and an activity. Knowing what kind
of criminals and criminal activity you can expect
at a particular time and location can go a long way
to improve your chances of deterring, avoiding, or
neutralizing the crime.
Most crime has been falling steadily in the
United States. Does it mean you are safer? Yes. Does
it mean that you should disregard your safety and
stop trying to reduce the risk of becoming a victim?
Absolutely not! I like to use the analogy of travel. Cars
and airplanes have become much safer over the last 50
years, but you still want to buckle up as much as you did
20 years ago and, even though cabin decompression
on an airplane is a very infrequent event, the airlines
still include oxygen masks on every flight and teach
you how to use them.
Your life is just as precious today as your parents’
lives were to them and you owe it to yourself to ensure
that you take basic precautions and minimize the risk
of being victimized. You owe it to yourself and your
loved ones to not become a victim. It is always more
expensive to deal with the aftermath of a crime than it
is to avoid it. It can also be deadlier…
My ultimate goal is to teach you how to
recognize potential crime risks, how to avoid them,
minimize them, and neutralize them. I will share with
you my knowledge and teach you how you can share it
with others to make you, your family, your community,
and our society safer.
In the next session, I will discuss threats and
perpetrators in more detail.
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