Two Ways to Help Catch Criminals

Police -- generally --do not like members of the public or even business owners to get directly involved in arresting criminals. And for good reason.

There are too many stories of people being injured or killed by persons trying to resist muggers or robbers – but there are two things that you can do to help police prevent crimes or find and arrest much easier without endangering yourself or other persons – both part of a security professionals repertoire of tactics.

The first one is to keep in mind and use the "Rule of Three" – whether you are a private citizen or security professional. It is quite simple: If you see a person (or persons) or a suspicious vehicle showing up three times around your property, within a few minutes, few hours or even a few days -- without good reason -- call the -- non-emergency -- number of your local police department and tell them about your suspicions.

Generally the police dispatcher will send a patrol by as soon as possible to check out the situation. Depending on how busy the police department is the police could be on the scene Other times it could take longer. In the meantime keep yourself in a safe position. Do not attempt to intercept such persons yourself.

In many cases you will find out that the subjects are harmless and it is just a coincidence that they keep circling your neighbourhood – but in other cases you will find out they are either scouting out the neighbourhood prior to a break-in or they are stalking you or somebody else.

The second thing, and it is critical that you do this accurately – is to give the police an accurate description of the person or persons when the police do arrive and talk to you and the suspect has disappeared. And this not always that easy to do. I remember one account I read of how a bank manager's description of the robber was found to be the opposite of reality when the robber was finally

 

You can get good at this however. One bank security guard made an extra effort to get good at this by creating mental pictures of persons who had just passed him whenever he had a chance. Doing this, he eventually developed the skill to capture a person's image in his mind very quickly as they passed by and this helped him to pass on much more valuable information to the police as well as right more accurate and descriptive reports.

Everyone can do this and this is one of the safest and best ways you as a private citizen or security professional can work with and assist the police.

Imitate Professional Body Guards When Walking

 

One of the common faults of security guards doing a patrol – or for that matter -- anybody -- walking through a potentially dangerous area is to stay aware only of things immediately in front of you.

All too often you security officers start out on a patrol – so intent on just covering the ground they have to cover that they see practically nothing around them. They are just like those wind up or battery powered toys that you wind up or turn on then watch them buzz around the floor. They fail to monitor the area around them and have little or no warning of somebody preparing to attack them or sneak by them into or out of the site they are trying to protect.

Speaking about the failures of some VIP protection officers or bodyguards in the Eye Spy magazine, issue 30, 2004/2005 talking about pseudo VIP escorts, "Almost invariably ...everyone is looking in the direction they are walking." He adds, "If you are not looking, [360 degrees around you] it follows that you will not see – and if you don't see a threat then you cannot respond to it."

And this is true of other security people like guards out patrolling through the interior of buildings, or the outside building and property perimeters. All to often they do cover the area they are supposed to be protecting but see very little around them – either because they are focussing only on things directly in front of them or if they are looking around a bit while they might see things they do not really notice -- often because they are wearing headphones --potential threats to themselves or their property and people they are trying to protect. And that can be a very dangerous or at the very least counter-productive habit.

As Shortt continues: "Observation is not just about looking, it is about seeing and noticing. That means recognising the opportunities afforded to a would be attacker, and about negating or reducing those opportunities."

As he says, the next time you see truly professionals bodyguards escorting some prominent government or business person on television notice how his or her security escorts are looking around 360 degrees, often focussing their attention for a few minutes on possible security threats.

Another ways for security professionals patrolling property or a building ( or people just out for a walk in a quiet or deserted area) is to find a slightly secluded area where they can stand and look back at where they just came from as well as around them and where they intend to go next, using not only their visual but also other senses to detect possible threats as well.

Then they will be able to take effective action – a critical part of professional as well as personal protection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always Get A Second Opinion

 

Marketing superstar, publisher, and editor Clayton Makepeace indirectly reminded me of an important precaution you should take your physician or surgeon or other health care practitioner warns you of the need to submit to some cancer therapy or other treatment.

In one of his e-books he describes how in a health promotion he once wrote that, "Some surgeons are so greedy, they'll cut a hole right through you -- just to get at your wallet."

While he admitted that this was a little bit of hyperbole on his part he did warn that some operations such as and mastectomies are later found to out to have been unnecessary. And this type of thing, as well as other blunders by surgeons, physicians, and other allopathic and complementary care health care practitioners happens far too often.

Some of these things have included these misdiagnoses of the causes of symptoms, as well as making surgical mistakes, or leaving part of their surgical equipment or other debris in the body of patient after sewing them back up – or making errors in prescribing medication, or providing therapy for health problems.

Sometimes these things happen because the health care practitioners has severed time restrictions on the time he or she can devote to any one patient by government or private health care plans which prevents them from tasking enough time with patients make an accurate diagnoses and treatment plans. Sometimes it happens because of greed on the part of the health care practitioner. Sometimes it happens because of incompetence or negligence on the part of the practitioner

You can do much to protect yourself from this type of thing by building good communication between yourself and your health care practitioner. This of course will mean taking the time to learn more about your health so you can have intelligent discussions about possible treatment options with your health care provider.

You should also seek second or even third opinions from both allopathic and complementary health care providers before plunging ahead into operations or treatment programs blindly.

 

Good surgeons and physicians, truly concerned about your health and your rights – and that includes the majority of them – as well as other health care providers from the allopathic or complementary health care worlds shouldn't mind you doing this.

 

 

 

 

 

The Only Free Cheese You Get Is In A Rat Trap

That was the advice I got when checking up recently on a wonderful sounding message from a Mr. Mark Taylor who claimed to be the Microsoft Fiduciary agent in the United Kingdom. His news was very tempting in these days of economic chaos and seemed to be risk free.



He told me that my e-mail address had been selected as the second winner of a free lottery and that I had won over $500,000.00 in Canadian dollars. (That would be roughly the Canadian equivalent of the English Pound.) Needless to say that would fill a lot of financial holes.



But the reality is that it would burn a hole in my pocket and leave me not richer but poorer by anywhere from some $400 to $1000 depending on how I wanted my winning cheque shipped.

Although I was suspicious about how I could be winning such an amount of money from a lottery I had never entered I did not Mr. Taylor's instructions to contact AirFer Couriers Limited in England to make arrangements for delivery of my winnings.

They responded with an e-mail telling me that yes they did have my cheque, but that I would have to pay for them to send it to me. I was to send them a payment to them by Western Union

This would range from $265. USD to $825. USD – depending on how I wanted the cheque shipped. They assured me that my winning cheque had been picked up from Microsoft Headquarters in England and was ready for dispatch to me – but I would have to remit the money to them by Western Union – first. All of this was beginning to sound more and more like a fraud to me.



And a fraud I found. To somebody easily captivated by the possibility of finding a $10,000 cash poke by "rolling up the rim of a Tim Horton's coffee cup here in Canada it was all very tempting and at first I was scratching my head to try and figure out how I might be able to raise that type of money – before I received some heartbreaking message from this Mr. Taylor that I had waited too long and they had cancelled my winning cheque. But in the end common sense prevailed and I decided to check it out.



I found the title for this post, " The only free cheese you find is in a rat trap" --and that certainly is true.

And in the end Microsoft confirmed my suspicious. They warned that all was an example of phishing – enticing victims to pay large sums of money up front in the hope of getting that promised "pot of gold".



In the security world security officers are warned to always assess, plan, and then act with stress on the assessing part of it when they run into unexpected situations. Obviously that is something we should all be doing in all areas of our lives in order to protect ourselves from very persuasive con artists like I ran into. And there are a number of very good web sites in England where particular scam originated as well as other countries. Check them out.

Protect yourself!










 

Protect Yourself and Others – Don't Drink and Drive

 

According to journalist Stephen Hume despite the best efforts of the police and courts we are still killing more people in traffic accidents than are being killed by enemy combatants since World War II.



He wrote in his Saturday March 13, 2010 column in the Vancouver Sun, "Impaired drivers are killing their fellow Canadians in numbers that exceed our war casualties in Afghanistan." And figures show that between 1980 and 2006 the traffic casualty figures are about the same number as the number of Canadian soldier casualties fighting the Axis powers.

He cites from very alarming figures claiming that in 2006 alone 1,278 persons were killed, and some 75,374 persons were injured, with property damage reach the $12.8 billion mark.

In order to help reduce this carnage drivers  should be making drastic reductions in the amount of alcohol  consumed before driving. Studies in Japan show that driving skills deteriorate rapidly once the average person has reached the .02 level -- never mind .08 which is the current indicator used by police forces and courts for determining that a person is legally impaired.



So as drivers and pedestrian we should be voluntarily greatly reducing the amount we drink before driving -- and throwing our support behind proposed changes that would see the legal impairment level reduced from the current .08 level to .05 or even .02.

This would not only protect our own lives but also the lives of our loved ones and fellow drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.



Wait until we get home to drink with family and friends or at the very least stopping playing Russian roulette behind the wheel and have a designated, sober person  drive us home.


Drinking would be much more enjoyable knowing that we hadn't  endangered  other persons' lives or wiped out a young child and mother because we had too much to drink.



 

Vary Your Routine and Be Observant

 

Copy a tactic of experienced business travellers who know it is a good idea when travelling around ( in their case especially in foreign lands) so people who might be tracking and planning to attack and rob them do not know exactly what time they are going to do something or what route they're going to take.

 

This is also a technique of experienced security people when patrolling sites so anybody scouting the site to plan a break-in or whatever is not readily aware of exactly where the security guard is. They really mix up their patrols and activities so that in many cases even mobile supervisors visiting their sites have to contact them by radio or cell phone to locate them.

 

Doing things like this can be even more critical if you are a female living alone or you go out on solo hikes or jogging on a regular basis. Mix up your times as much as possible and take slightly different routes each time. Both of these practices make it harder to any stalkers to easily set up ambush points along your route.

 

It is also good to carry some personal alarm or even better take along a canine partner -- especially one that is very protective of you sand stay observant of your surroundings. It is really surprising how many people are out there walking or jogging – sometimes in some very isolated areas completely oblivious to what is going on around them.

 

Keep in mind the "Rule of Three". If you suddenly keep encountering the same person walking along your route or watching from a park bench, bicycle, or parked vehicle as you pass that should send up some warning signals. In the end the person might turn out to be harmless but take precautions by changing your route or times or even calling the non-emergency police line to see if they can send officers to check the person out.

Don't become known as a person that keeps calling the police without a good reason but don't hesitate to call them if you have real concerns.

A Few Tips On Safety in Your Vehicle

 

There a a couple of things you should keep in mind when sitting in a car whether your are a security professional, private investigator or private citizen – things that could protect your from injury or death.

 

First of all if a part of your job involves working on your laptop or making notes or records with a pen and paper or even just talking on your cell phone for a long period of time do not get so engrossed in what you are doing that you do not stay aware of your surroundings and possible threats from others. Take a few minutes to look around once in a while to see who might be observing or approaching you. Don't get paranoid about this – but do stay aware.

 

The second thing is that if you are sitting in your car he keys should be in the ignition, ready to use to start your vehicle if you have to move out quickly and if possible have your emergency brake off so all you have to do is put your car in gear and move quickly.

 

Third, especially if you are in an isolated area or alone and notice that somebody has been watching you it does not hurt to turn your engine in you see somebody walking towards you, again so you can escape quickly if that person or group of persons becomes a threat.

 

Fourth, be cautious when you are sitting in your car and somebody is suddenly outside your vehicle window. This was impressed on me by a friend when I was doing site surveillance work from my Jeep Patriot.

 

He had come up to me and was talking pleasantly to me through the open window when he suddenly pushed his hand through the open window and punched me on the chest twice . "Just a wake up call," he said as he walked away, looking back in utter disbelief at how easy I would have been to take out as he later told me.

 

He made his point. That could have been a knife or some other weapon instead of his fist.

He cautious about who is standing outside your vehicle window – especially if for some reason you might be vulnerable to sudden attack.

 

These are all little points perhaps, but if you keep them in mind and take t he appropriate precautions they could help to protect your from injury or death if somebody does attack you.