There are literally hundreds of "tips" (and instructors) floating around the internet, that claim to offer the best ways to protect yourself. Some are valid and, frankly, some are useless. In this post we discuss a few that should be at the top of your list. While it is not our intention to create paranoia, we must acknowledge that violent crime happens every day, every where, and nobody is immune to it. Following some simple guidelines may prevent you from becoming a victim.
1. Live in Condition Yellow: U.S. Marines serving in the Pacific during World War II developed a system of alert codes, which was later modified by Colonel Jeff Cooper to educate civilians to become more aware of their surroundings. Now called the Cooper Color Codes, there a four alert levels, each represented by a specific color.
1. Live in Condition Yellow: U.S. Marines serving in the Pacific during World War II developed a system of alert codes, which was later modified by Colonel Jeff Cooper to educate civilians to become more aware of their surroundings. Now called the Cooper Color Codes, there a four alert levels, each represented by a specific color.
CONDITION WHITE - Unaware and Unprepared: Condition White is the lowest level of alert. A person in condition white is unaware of his/her surroundings and would be an easy target for violent crime.
CONDITION YELLOW - Relaxed Alert: The second alert level, Condition Yellow, is a state of awareness, in which you are fully cognizant of your surroundings and anyone nearby. You are observant. Your head is up and your eyes are scanning. You are not distracted by your cell phone or any other device. You are looking and listening to what's going on around you, and you have made mental notes of emergency escape routes and available cover. And, most importantly, you are aware of every person in or near your personal safety zone (an imaginary 360 degree "bubble" that runs approximately 20' feet in every direction).
CONDITION ORANGE - Specific Alert: Condition Orange means that there is a potential threat that has gotten your attention. Something is not quite right and your radar has picked up a specific alert. You shift your primary focus to determine if there is a threat. Your mindset shifts to “I may have to act quickly to counter that persons actions”, focusing on the specific target which has caused the escalation in alert status. This can be almost anything. An example of Condition Orange could be someone acting in an unusual or suspicious manner, or a person who appears to be armed. Instantly, you determine what you’re going to do if that person makes any move that would indicate that an attack is imminent.
In Condition Orange, you set a mental trigger: “If that person does “X”, I will need to "X”. Your firearm or other defensive weapon usually remains holstered in this state but you are ready to deploy it if necessary. Staying in Orange can be a bit of a mental strain, but you can stay in it for as long as you need to. If the threat proves to be nothing, you shift back to Condition Yellow.
CONDITION RED - Immediate Action Required: Condition Red means that you are in a lethal mode of mindset and will fight if the circumstances are warranted. At this point, you implement your action plan that was determined during Condition Orange. This doesn’t always mean fight. The actions of the suspect, as well as environmental conditions (other innocent civilians may be hit by your gunfire), will determine your response. Your best plan might be to take cover and see what happens or even retreat and call the police.
Your mental trigger (established back in Condition Orange) has been tripped. “If ‘X’ happens I will "X”. In short, the Color Code helps you “think” in a fight. As the level of danger increases, your willingness to take certain actions also increases.
If you ever do go to Condition Red, the decision to use force has already been made (your “mental trigger” has been tripped).
2. Don't Look Like an Easy Target: Most criminals look for easy targets: the weak and elderly, single females, people who are already in an isolated area, people who are not paying attention (Condition White) etc. The following characteristics will help you appear as a "hard target," making you less attractive to a criminal.
1. BE OBSERVANT: When you are observant it will be obvious to anyone watching you that you will not be an easy target.
2. WALK WITH PURPOSE: Walk with your body erect, shoulders back, head up, and eyes scanning. Walk faster than the crowd, not slower. Do not be distracted with your cell phone, tablet, MP3 player or other device. Eyes and ears open!
3. MAKE EYE CONTACT: Making eye contact with anyone in your personal safety zone sends the simple message, "I see you."
4. BE EVASIVE: To avoid a potential threat you may need to take minor evasive action, such as stepping "off the line," speeding up or slowing down.
3. Change Your Routine Often: Criminals study our habits. If you habitually leave your home at the same time every day, they know it. If you arrive home at the same time every day, they know that, too. Predators will observe for the best times and locations to commit a crime, as well as the easiest targets. If you travel the same route every day, stop at the same store at the same time every day, or stick to any other habit... Change it up! This is especially important during outdoor fitness and recreational activities such as running, walking, and bicycling. Taking a different route or varying the time of day will prevent a criminal from noting a pattern.
4. Be Alert When Approaching or Entering Your Vehicle: While approaching your vehicle look around the outside of your car, as well as any nearby place that a predator may be hiding (trash cans, fences, landscaping, etc.). Look inside your car before opening the door. Look in the front and back seats, as well as the front and back floor areas. If you are in a parking lot, look inside any vehicles parked immediately next to yours. If someone is sitting in either of those vehicles, enter your vehicle from the side furthest away from them. If their presence makes you uncomfortable, walk away. Go back inside and have someone escort you back to your vehicle.
Once inside your vehicle, lock your doors, start your car, and drive away! Do not sit there making phone calls, sending text messages or checking your look. While you are giving your attention to these distractions, you are not paying attention to anything else that may be going on around you... Like the rapist, robber or carjacker who is advancing on you.
5. Be Cautious When Offering Help: We, as compassionate beings, are often too willing to lend a hand to someone who appears to be in need. STOP! This could get you raped or murdered. Ted Bundy, an infamous serial killer and the epitome of the "friendly" predator, relied on the sympathies of his victims to lure them close enough to take control of them. He would walk with a limp or use a cane, he would pretend to need physical assistance due to his feigned "disability," or he would imply that he was having mechanical problems with his car. He was also attractive, well educated and usually neatly dressed... But he was a monster! Don't allow yourself to fall into the trap of the friendly predator!
If you feel the person asking for help really needs it, ask a third party to assist you or offer to call the police.
6. Trust Your Gut: If someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable, trust your instincts. You may be wrong, but you may be right. Turn around or take some other evasive action, or prepare yourself to fight. Never try to rationalize your fear, denial is usually the first - and maybe the last - mistake, when your instincts are trying to tell you that something is amiss. Better to find out later that you were wrong, than to find out too late that you were right.
7. Never Go Anywhere With An Assailant: There are three things a predator wants to avoid: Being seen, being caught, and being injured or killed. Even if he has a gun or threatens you with violence, if you are in an area where his acts might be witnessed or attract attention, he's probably NOT going to do it. By complying with his order to get into a vehicle and go with him, you are allowing him to isolate you. He will take you to a place where there are no witnesses, and no one will hear your screams. Run, scream, and/or fight like a madman! Do whatever you have to do to get away or attract the attention of anyone nearby, but do not get into a vehicle with him.
8. Arm Yourself: More and more people are carrying firearms for self-defense, while others prefer less-than-lethal alternatives like stun guns, batons, or pepper spray. Arming yourself with a defensive weapon will increase your chances of surviving and escaping a physical attack. The weapon you choose is up to you, but choose one, learn how to use it, and carry it! We recommend getting as much instruction as possible for the type(s) of weapon(s) you choose, and that you train regularly in order to build the neural pathways that you'll need if or when you encounter violence.
NOTE: Forget the wasp spray! Wasp spray is minimally effective, or not effective at all. Have you ever seen a cop carrying wasp spray? NO! If there was any validity to this old wives tale, cops would carry wasp spray. Spend a few more dollars and buy pepper spray. This is your life we're talking about!
9. Get the RIGHT Training: No matter how much training you've had, or how much you think you already know, more training is ALWAYS better. And when we're talking about training that could potentially save your life, you can never get enough. Have you attended a personal security seminar? Why not? Find one and learn to live aware and prepared.
Have you taken the required "gun safety class" to get your carry permit? Good. Now take a defensive shooting class! In this class you will learn the more advanced skills you'll need should you ever be required to use your firearm for self-defense. The skills you learned in your basic gun safety class are not enough.
A note on training: If you're a novice gun owner or have never had formal instruction, be more concerned with developing rock-solid fundamentals than in signing up for classes designed to introduce battlefield or SWAT tactics. Good fundamentals, practiced until they become habits, are what will save your life when your brain shuts out reasoning and your fight-or-flight response takes over. This starts with a basic NRA pistol class and a good defensive shooting course.
10. Train and Practice Regularly: When you're out and about, practice situational awareness. Study people, look for escape routes and cover, lock your car doors every time you get in, learn your personal safety zone and study it as you move about. Go to the gun range and shoot, or practice with your stun gun, pepper spray (inert sprays are available for practice/training), or baton. After a while, the things you practice become habit, and you won't need to think about them when you need them.
Learn and follow these tips to make yourself an unattractive target for someone looking to commit a crime.
Do you have other tips? Please leave a comment below.
CONDITION YELLOW - Relaxed Alert: The second alert level, Condition Yellow, is a state of awareness, in which you are fully cognizant of your surroundings and anyone nearby. You are observant. Your head is up and your eyes are scanning. You are not distracted by your cell phone or any other device. You are looking and listening to what's going on around you, and you have made mental notes of emergency escape routes and available cover. And, most importantly, you are aware of every person in or near your personal safety zone (an imaginary 360 degree "bubble" that runs approximately 20' feet in every direction).
CONDITION ORANGE - Specific Alert: Condition Orange means that there is a potential threat that has gotten your attention. Something is not quite right and your radar has picked up a specific alert. You shift your primary focus to determine if there is a threat. Your mindset shifts to “I may have to act quickly to counter that persons actions”, focusing on the specific target which has caused the escalation in alert status. This can be almost anything. An example of Condition Orange could be someone acting in an unusual or suspicious manner, or a person who appears to be armed. Instantly, you determine what you’re going to do if that person makes any move that would indicate that an attack is imminent.
In Condition Orange, you set a mental trigger: “If that person does “X”, I will need to "X”. Your firearm or other defensive weapon usually remains holstered in this state but you are ready to deploy it if necessary. Staying in Orange can be a bit of a mental strain, but you can stay in it for as long as you need to. If the threat proves to be nothing, you shift back to Condition Yellow.
CONDITION RED - Immediate Action Required: Condition Red means that you are in a lethal mode of mindset and will fight if the circumstances are warranted. At this point, you implement your action plan that was determined during Condition Orange. This doesn’t always mean fight. The actions of the suspect, as well as environmental conditions (other innocent civilians may be hit by your gunfire), will determine your response. Your best plan might be to take cover and see what happens or even retreat and call the police.
Your mental trigger (established back in Condition Orange) has been tripped. “If ‘X’ happens I will "X”. In short, the Color Code helps you “think” in a fight. As the level of danger increases, your willingness to take certain actions also increases.
If you ever do go to Condition Red, the decision to use force has already been made (your “mental trigger” has been tripped).
2. Don't Look Like an Easy Target: Most criminals look for easy targets: the weak and elderly, single females, people who are already in an isolated area, people who are not paying attention (Condition White) etc. The following characteristics will help you appear as a "hard target," making you less attractive to a criminal.
1. BE OBSERVANT: When you are observant it will be obvious to anyone watching you that you will not be an easy target.
2. WALK WITH PURPOSE: Walk with your body erect, shoulders back, head up, and eyes scanning. Walk faster than the crowd, not slower. Do not be distracted with your cell phone, tablet, MP3 player or other device. Eyes and ears open!
3. MAKE EYE CONTACT: Making eye contact with anyone in your personal safety zone sends the simple message, "I see you."
4. BE EVASIVE: To avoid a potential threat you may need to take minor evasive action, such as stepping "off the line," speeding up or slowing down.
3. Change Your Routine Often: Criminals study our habits. If you habitually leave your home at the same time every day, they know it. If you arrive home at the same time every day, they know that, too. Predators will observe for the best times and locations to commit a crime, as well as the easiest targets. If you travel the same route every day, stop at the same store at the same time every day, or stick to any other habit... Change it up! This is especially important during outdoor fitness and recreational activities such as running, walking, and bicycling. Taking a different route or varying the time of day will prevent a criminal from noting a pattern.
4. Be Alert When Approaching or Entering Your Vehicle: While approaching your vehicle look around the outside of your car, as well as any nearby place that a predator may be hiding (trash cans, fences, landscaping, etc.). Look inside your car before opening the door. Look in the front and back seats, as well as the front and back floor areas. If you are in a parking lot, look inside any vehicles parked immediately next to yours. If someone is sitting in either of those vehicles, enter your vehicle from the side furthest away from them. If their presence makes you uncomfortable, walk away. Go back inside and have someone escort you back to your vehicle.
Once inside your vehicle, lock your doors, start your car, and drive away! Do not sit there making phone calls, sending text messages or checking your look. While you are giving your attention to these distractions, you are not paying attention to anything else that may be going on around you... Like the rapist, robber or carjacker who is advancing on you.
5. Be Cautious When Offering Help: We, as compassionate beings, are often too willing to lend a hand to someone who appears to be in need. STOP! This could get you raped or murdered. Ted Bundy, an infamous serial killer and the epitome of the "friendly" predator, relied on the sympathies of his victims to lure them close enough to take control of them. He would walk with a limp or use a cane, he would pretend to need physical assistance due to his feigned "disability," or he would imply that he was having mechanical problems with his car. He was also attractive, well educated and usually neatly dressed... But he was a monster! Don't allow yourself to fall into the trap of the friendly predator!
If you feel the person asking for help really needs it, ask a third party to assist you or offer to call the police.
6. Trust Your Gut: If someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable, trust your instincts. You may be wrong, but you may be right. Turn around or take some other evasive action, or prepare yourself to fight. Never try to rationalize your fear, denial is usually the first - and maybe the last - mistake, when your instincts are trying to tell you that something is amiss. Better to find out later that you were wrong, than to find out too late that you were right.
7. Never Go Anywhere With An Assailant: There are three things a predator wants to avoid: Being seen, being caught, and being injured or killed. Even if he has a gun or threatens you with violence, if you are in an area where his acts might be witnessed or attract attention, he's probably NOT going to do it. By complying with his order to get into a vehicle and go with him, you are allowing him to isolate you. He will take you to a place where there are no witnesses, and no one will hear your screams. Run, scream, and/or fight like a madman! Do whatever you have to do to get away or attract the attention of anyone nearby, but do not get into a vehicle with him.
8. Arm Yourself: More and more people are carrying firearms for self-defense, while others prefer less-than-lethal alternatives like stun guns, batons, or pepper spray. Arming yourself with a defensive weapon will increase your chances of surviving and escaping a physical attack. The weapon you choose is up to you, but choose one, learn how to use it, and carry it! We recommend getting as much instruction as possible for the type(s) of weapon(s) you choose, and that you train regularly in order to build the neural pathways that you'll need if or when you encounter violence.
NOTE: Forget the wasp spray! Wasp spray is minimally effective, or not effective at all. Have you ever seen a cop carrying wasp spray? NO! If there was any validity to this old wives tale, cops would carry wasp spray. Spend a few more dollars and buy pepper spray. This is your life we're talking about!
9. Get the RIGHT Training: No matter how much training you've had, or how much you think you already know, more training is ALWAYS better. And when we're talking about training that could potentially save your life, you can never get enough. Have you attended a personal security seminar? Why not? Find one and learn to live aware and prepared.
Have you taken the required "gun safety class" to get your carry permit? Good. Now take a defensive shooting class! In this class you will learn the more advanced skills you'll need should you ever be required to use your firearm for self-defense. The skills you learned in your basic gun safety class are not enough.
A note on training: If you're a novice gun owner or have never had formal instruction, be more concerned with developing rock-solid fundamentals than in signing up for classes designed to introduce battlefield or SWAT tactics. Good fundamentals, practiced until they become habits, are what will save your life when your brain shuts out reasoning and your fight-or-flight response takes over. This starts with a basic NRA pistol class and a good defensive shooting course.
10. Train and Practice Regularly: When you're out and about, practice situational awareness. Study people, look for escape routes and cover, lock your car doors every time you get in, learn your personal safety zone and study it as you move about. Go to the gun range and shoot, or practice with your stun gun, pepper spray (inert sprays are available for practice/training), or baton. After a while, the things you practice become habit, and you won't need to think about them when you need them.
Learn and follow these tips to make yourself an unattractive target for someone looking to commit a crime.
Do you have other tips? Please leave a comment below.