|
||||
 |
BE ALERT WHERE YOU FEEL SAFEST Not long ago, a woman stopped at a self service gas station. After paying at the pump, she filled her gas tank and began to leave. As she walked towards her car, the attendant called to her over the speaker and told her that her card had not worked and she needed to come inside to pay. The woman was confused because the transaction showed completed and approved. She explained this to the attendant over the speaker and again started to get in her car. From the speaker, she heard the attendant yell that he would call the police if she did not come in and pay for her gas immediately. She proceeded to go inside and started to give the attendant a piece of her mind, when he quickly apologized and explained that while she was pumping gas he saw a man slip into the back seat of her car on the opposite side from where she had been standing. He said he had called the police and they were on their way. While they were discussing what to do next they saw the man slip back out of the car and run off. This type of kidnapping is becoming more common of late and we will discuss what preventative measures a person can take to protect themselves a little later in this article. First I would like to re-emphasize a couple of points: 1. The most common place for a woman to be attacked is in or around her own home. 2. The second most common place is in or around her car. Unfortunately, this makes perfect sense because these are two of the places where a person can predictably be found at some time during their day. We have discussed home and auto safety at length in previous articles but safety is a dynamic subject; it is always changing. Look at it this way: Crimes are very much like emerging viruses. One hundred years ago it took the flu two to three years to start in one place and travel around the world. Today, because of our technological advances, it can travel around the world in a matter of a couple of days. Crime is really no different. Let’s say a creative criminal in New Jersey comes up with a new way of victimizing the public. First it makes the local news and then, if it is sensational enough, it makes the national news. Before you know it criminals are trying the same things in Denver, LA and Miami. Over a period of time, the police and the public get a handle on it. People become more aware and the police start arresting the bad guys and slowly the outbreak dies down. Then, a creative criminal comes up with a new way to victimize the public in Seattle and ----well you get the idea. As of late, it has become fashionable with criminals and youth gangs to try and kidnap women in and around their cars. The story at the beginning of this article is just one of the ways it is done. Another way is for an attacker to lie under a woman’s car, especially a SUV because of the greater ground clearance, and either grab or cut the woman’s legs as she opens the door. There is another component to be considered: Most people tend to let their guard down the closer they get to their car and their home, because both represent those things that are familiar and safe. This is human nature but it also contributes to the success of these types of attacks. A person is not safe until they are in a secure environment. This means inside your car or home with all the doors and windows locked and after you are sure there are no uninvited guests. As always, I am promoting a thriving lifestyle. Each person must balance the available safety measures and their need to be safe with their need not to feel like they are living a life of paranoia. Preventative measures can minimize your chances of being a victim but they must comfortably fit into your lifestyle. In articles where the focus is on a particular safety topic I realize I am giving too many safety tips for anyone to adopt into their life at one time. A helpful way to start is to pick the one safety tip that seems most doable and add it to your daily life. After a while it will become an unconscious behavior. When the time is right, add another. Over time what seemed like just too many things to change becomes second nature and you have become a very Hard Target. 1. Always lock your car doors, even if you are going to be gone for just a minute. Criminals are staking out areas where people leave their cars for a short time, like gas stations or convenience stores, waiting for someone to leave their car unlocked. 2. As you approach your car always look over, under, around, and through your car. 3. Always look in the back seat as you get in your car. 4. If you were to be grabbed by the ankles by someone under your car, lean on your vehicle for balance and pull your legs up quickly one at a time this will breaks the attacks grip and probably his arms - cool huh. 5. If you have a trunk,
get in the habit of walking around the back of your car and pushing on it.
There is more than one report of an attacker climbing in the trunk of a car and
being driven to the victim’s home. Car trunks are easy to open but very
hard to get out of. If you press on your trunk and it clicks. You just might
have caught a bad guy. Call the police and let them open it.
|
|||
|
||||
