Most police departments in the U.S. do an admirable job. They are staffed by men and women who truly care about the communities in which they live and work. But thanks to staff shortages and budget cuts, police departments no longer have the resources to prevent crime. The best they can do is respond after the fact. That means you and I need to take charge of our own safety.
Having to do so is not necessarily a bad thing. If more people took more charge over their own lives, the world would be a far different place. But that is a different topic for another post. The point of this post is to discuss things all of us can do to take charge.
Criminals Choose Their Victims
Rarely do criminals randomly attack without making a conscious choice in terms of victim selection. In an interesting guide on the WebMD website, a Portland clinical and forensic psychologist is quoted as saying that criminals “ask themselves, ‘Does this person look attackable? Does this person look vulnerable? Can I get away with something here?'”
The psychologist also explained that criminals do not want to get caught. Therefore, they focus on weak targets that are not likely to fight back. They plan their crimes for optimal times as well. A burglar might hit homes in the middle of the day while a mugger prefers to work under the cover of darkness.
Here is the point: the first step in taking charge of your own safety is to learn how criminals work. The more you know about how and what they do, the easier it is for you to spot potential criminal activity before it happens.
Pay Attention to Your Surroundings
The WebMD post also explains that criminals look for victims who are not paying attention. In today’s day and age, when people are more likely to be consumed by their phones than actually looking around, victims are easy pickings. Do not be an easy target yourself.
Always pay attention to your surroundings. Check your phone if you must, but then turn it off and put it in your pocket. No social media post or text message is so important that you need to risk your personal safety. The more time you spend in public with your face buried in your phone, the greater the chances you will be victimized.
Make Life Hard on Criminals
An undercurrent running through this idea of taking charge of your own safety is making life as hard as possible on criminals. Paying attention to your surroundings makes it harder for a criminal to surprise you. Carrying yourself with confidence makes it harder for a criminal to seize control.
In addition to how we behave, we can also take advantage of things like car alarms and home security systems. A security system from Vivint Smart Home can make it very difficult for a criminal to break in or steal your car without being noticed. And if the system includes video cameras, it gathers evidence throughout the crime.
Criminals openly admit being wary of home security systems. Likewise, they admit looking for unlocked cars rather than trying to break windows. They prefer to take the easy way out. So the harder you make it, the less likely you are to become a crime victim.
Law enforcement is doing the best they can with the resources they have. But they can no longer prevent crime to any great degree. Therefore, you and I need to take responsibility for our own safety. It is the nature of the world we live in.
