With the slow recovery from the economic downfall, many
cities are reporting increased levels of crime, from domestic abuse to assaults
on the street. The links between waning government budgets, cops on the street,
and the rise in crime are obvious ones. On the other hand, whether the world is
experiencing financial turmoil or not, individuals need to take responsibility
for its own personal safety at all times.
Even if we did return to the same number of cops from before
the bubble burst, we will never have a 1:1 ratio of cops to civilians. Therefore,
you always need to have a solution in case an attack occurs and you only have a
couple critical seconds to react.
In any case, the attacker always has the advantage because
he knows exactly when the attack is going to happen and to whom. Then, with
fewer numbers of police officers, attackers gain a greater advantage because
there is more opportunity to strike. Therefore, citizens should develop a plan
to first prevent an attack from happening as well as a plan of protection
during an attack.
With a two-part personal safety plan, an individual substantially
reduces his/her chances of being targeted as a victim. Here are some simple
ways to prevent an attack from occurring:
·
Walk with confidence – when you portray
self-worth, you make an attacker believe you would be more likely to fight
back, which makes for a bad victim in his eyes.
·
Carry a tangible reminder – it’s easy to put
personal safety on the back burner because we rarely personally encounter
reasons to be concerned. A physical reminder, like a yellow bracelet or yellow sticker
or pepper spray, will help keep safety top of mind.
·
Stay at least 12 feet from strangers on the
street – this puts you at a safe distance in the situation where someone
becomes suspicious and tries to attack. It gives you a chance to react
appropriately, whether that’s telling someone to stay back or using pepper
spray.
·
Don’t expose valuables in public –when you use
mobile devices outside, you give an attacker a good reason to target you over
someone else. It’s not unheard of for an attacker to identify a person with an
expensive item and follow that person until fewer people are around to witness.
The An Garda Siochana (or Irish National Police) were forced
to pepper spray the notorious Irish gangster Eoin O’Connor (aka Scarface) this
past week. Upon arriving on the scene, Garda witnessed Scarface going
completely berserk and threatening others. They were only able to subdue him
using their SABRE pepper spray.
