Friday, December 9, 2011
Do I know who is around me?
Situational Awareness…knowing what is around you. How often do you see someone wandering through a parking lot, texting frantically and staring down at their phone? One of them walked into the side of my car the other day. Hard to imagine? Next time you are at the mall or even the grocery store, look around! They are everywhere, another word for them is ‘Victim”. As we are coming into prime shopping season more of us are walking through the parking lot focused on either getting into the store to find the perfect gift, or getting to the car with our hands full of bags. Don’t forget to keep your head up, your keys out, be aware of who and what is around you. Don’t become an easy target. Remember you are your own best defense and projecting confidence and attention in your walk and posture can cause the bad guy to look for an easier target.
This is so true. Often criminals are looking for the "easiest target" or a target of opportunity -- usually, they don't want to make their "job" any harder than they have to. And folks absorbed in their smart phones or video games become easy targets -- the criminal can be on you before you even notice! More than once, I have been in situations where making eye contact with a potential criminal has stopped them in their tracks. It's like saying "move on buddy -- I'm not going to be an easy target for you"
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