Security Habits - Get Some!

Any where on the net you can find articles and videos showing crime. Crime seems to be on the upswing in my local area. One thing in common with all of these crimes you might notice is the vast majority of crimes seem to start with an opportunity. "Well duh!" Yeah, yeah I realize the statement seems obvious and rather dumb of me to make. Let's take a moment and look at the word 'opportunity'.

"A crime of opportunity is a crime that is committed without planning when the perpetrator sees that he/she has the chance to commit the act at that moment and seizes it. Such acts have little or no premeditation." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_of_opportunity 

The first step would be to take your face out of whatever is stopping you from having good situational awareness. We have covered situation awareness before yet it needs repeating. If you want to lessen the chances of your security being breached the first habit to ingrain into yourself and your loved ones is situational awareness! Everything else starts from here. You can stop most crimes simply by building good habits. The first step is to build the habit of awareness. 

Awareness of your lack of good habits, awareness of the fact there is crime, awareness most crimes are crimes of opportunity and awareness you can cut down on the chances of being a victim of these crimes by practicing good habits. 

It may sound simple BUT acknowledging there is crime is the first step. Kind of like the 12 step program some of us might know about. First, you must acknowledge there is a problem before you can address the problem. 

Next you must look around you to see what you can do to make the chances of you being a victim much less. There are several studies on the behavior of criminals which tell how they pick their victims for physical attacks, robbery, rapes etc. Each one of these studies has one thing which seems to be included in all of them, the person looked, acted, or gave of a victim vibe. 

Which one would you rob if you had to? Which one would you attack if you had to? 

Our first habit we need to develop is being aware of what could be around us. Next is to develop a habit of doing things to counter or lessen the chances of us becoming victims. But let's not focus on being physically victimized by someone. Because if you have ever had something stolen from you, you will understand finding your wallet missing, car gone or house broken into is another form of victimization. 

This should be an easy habit to form. So easy some of us might feel silly when we do not do it and something happens. Lock your doors and windows to your home.......... I know sounds simple yet so many thieves walk in through open doors or climb through unlocked windows. Even seen the TV show "It Takes a Thief"? 

These two guys would show how easy it is to break into most people's homes. They would also show you how to counter the break in's. Good show, was only on the air for a year or two. What would surprise you was how many times they found an open door or window. So often in fact checking doors and windows is the first thing thieves do. 

Make securing your home a habit. Before you go anywhere make sure the house is locked up. This might be enough to cause a thief to move on. Remember we are talking about crimes of opportunity here. This also goes for your vehicles or any out buildings you might have. The shed you put your lawn tools in is as much of a target as your home. A person with an addiction will steal your lawn mower or TV, they just want money for whatever they can get. The easier they can get something, the better it is for them. Heck if it is real easy odds are they will be back to take advantage of the easy again.

We are not talking about turning your home into a fortress (yet) when you leave to go to the store, work or somewhere else you go everyday. What we are talking about is taking away the easy ways in. You can never really make your house thief proof, but with the addition of a simple habit you can stop the lazy thieves from having an easy day.  

If we had to focus on two habits to put into practice these two habits would be the ones we should focus on the most. Being aware of our surroundings and locking things. How many events or incidents could be avoided if people had these two habits? 

Situational awareness stops you from walking down this alley even if the phone tells you the shortest route takes you this way. Instead you take a less victim making route. 

Locking doors and windows as a habit stops you from becoming the "easy" victim. This guy made an entire city live in fear because he would go through open or unlocked doors and windows.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ramirez

I remember as a child the adults talking about this persons crime spree. They would debate leaving windows opened or closed, which ones to leave open and what to do if they thought they heard or seen something. 

(NOTE for the young folks. We did not all have cell phones back then. Odds were the phone was in the kitchen. Which didn't do you a lot of good if someone was already in the house. That summer was hot and no we did not have AC units like a lot of people do now. Yes, it was the dark ages......) 

Of course using this as an example is extreme and done on purpose. Yet if we lock our doors and secure the house to keep out the lazy thief we can also keep out the serial murderer...... 

Start building these habits today. Before you go to bed check every door and window. Go out and make sure you locked up the cars, shed and garage. In the morning and through out the day tomorrow take a look around your neighborhood. Who lives there, who is coming and going on a regular basis, basically who belongs there? 

Do this every time you leave the house. Lock the place up and see who is around. Do it all week and see what you learn about your neighborhood. See how many times you find an open window or door. See how many times the lazy thief, or murderer, walking down the street could have made you a victim........... 

As Always,

Stay Safe!

Planning #7.3 - Guns, hand guns, what to consider

Again we go down the hole to see what there is to see. This time we are going to get a little more detailed on what you should consider when looking to add firearms to your planning. 

As with our other planning we have to tailor the plan to our situation. The amount of money you have to put toward this, your particular situation and the amount of training you have are all factors which need to be considered. 

If you want to have something which is not very complicated, can be stored ready to use for long periods of time and will not break the bank, a revolver might fit the bill. Stored in a good pistol box, you can bolt down to somewhere, you do not have to really think about it. 

Maybe you want something small enough you can carry it on your person and have the ability to reload quickly if needed. A semi-automatic pistol might fit. Some of these can be picked up for only a few hundred dollars. These can also be stored inside of a secure box yet still accessed in a hurry if needed. 

Some pistols are not really good choices if you want to keep them loaded. The magazines have springs inside of them and if they are under pressure (loaded) for extended periods of time the springs go soft and the magazine might not work properly when you want it to. This is why a revolver is a better idea for long term storage. 

Revolvers and pistols are considered close range, 15 feet or less, tools. Some folks consider them only as backup tools. Yet in a confined space, such as your home, they might work better than some of the larger options. These tools are easier to manipulate when there is not much room. They are also easier to carry and of course they are easier to conceal if need be. 

As far as brands to buy and caliber to buy. This all depends on your experience and abilities. If you have little training or no experience a .38 revolver might be your best choice. Something to only be used during an emergency. The tool is easily concealed, range is not very good but if you are only using the tool as a last resort........ you just touch the bad guy with the barrel while you pull the trigger. Down side of this tool the round is not very large and unless you place the barrel in the right places the bad guy can keep fighting. 

  

For most people 9mm is the caliber you want to consider looking for. There are revolvers and pistols in this caliber. Of course revolvers and pistols both come in larger calibers. You can purchase what could be considered a 'hand cannon'. 

For most of us this is far more than we need or could handle. Believe it or not some people even hunt with pistols and revolvers! For most of us this is not a consideration when talking about firearms but nice to know you can utilize this tool for more than one use. Hunting bear with a .38 or anything smaller than a .357 is not such a bright idea!!!!

So let's take hunting with a pistol or revolver off the table for now. Let's focus on what most of us are considering these tools for, self defense and the defense of others. 

There are hundreds of companies which make these tools and I will not get into a 'discussion' about which one is the 'bestest'! Your personal price point will dictate what you purchase. Why wont you discuss the different brands? Because to some folks brands are like religion and no matter what they have a favorite. Remember we are looking for a tool which fits your needs. Let's focus on tools for self defense.

The Beretta M9 or 92f is a fine pistol. Thousands have been made and are in use. For the novice I think this is a good platform to start with. Most fellas out there can easily grip this tool, one drawback for the ladies is some might have trouble wrapping their hands around a full size version. They make smaller versions so this can be worked around. The pistol is reliable, easy to clean and I personally like the safety feature for those with limited experience. You literally can throw this pistol loaded, with the safety on and it will not discharge. (do not ever try this! do not ever ask me how I know this!)

You can purchase other brands and again it is a matter of what you can afford or have experience with. Look for something simple to use. Some pistols come with all sorts of extras, fancy triggers, fancy sights and all types of attachments. If you understand all of these good utilize them but keep in mind battery powered items might not work when you need them. A suggestion would be to keep your tools simple to cut down on the learning curve and chances of something not working. 

Again a revolver might be the best choice for some of us out there. You load the cylinder, close the cylinder and it is ready to go.  

TRAINING, TRAINING, TRAINING!  No matter what tool you add to your planning you absolutely need to be trained to use the tool! You can add a rocket to your tool box but if you do not know how to use it is useless. What kind of training?  

Here is another question were people like to get their feathers ruffled..... Whoever you go to for training their first priority needs to be safety! If they do not spend time ensuring you understand and manifest safety you need to walk away. If they tell you they can turn you into a Navy SEAL, skilled gunfighter in three easy lessons, walk away! Marksmanship should be the the focus after safety. 

You have to handle the tools safely and be able to hit what you are aiming at before you can do all the other 'high speed, low drag' stuff people want to learn how to do. What people forget is in order to do all the 'fun' stuff you have to have a solid foundation to work from.

If the person you go to does not offer some type of classes which increase your skill set over time just walk away. There really is not rules people have to follow when they decide to call themselves firearms instructors and as with other things some people might be able to do but have no idea how to teach.  

You have to have a solid foundation before you should even be shown a position like this one.

Most folks should never, never be put in this situation!!!!!!

 Most of us will never reach a level of training where this is appropriate!!! This level of confidence takes years to reach. If you find someone offering to show you how to do these types of things in a "Easy to learn, complete gunfighter system, you can master in just one weekend!" walk away!!! 

Ok, this one is getting long! Let's come back up for some air! Remember you need to tailor your planning to your situation. This carries over to what type of tools you add to your abilities. Take the time to research what fits your needs. Take the time to find a good instructor. Take the time to train! The time you spend now will be the difference if you ever need this skill set. 

As Always,

Stay Safe! 

     

Planning #6 - Security

On today's installment of going down the rabbit hole let's talk about security. Now before some of you get all excited...... No we are not just going to be talking about guns..... Anyone ever get the idea I am trying to sort of avoid the whole 'gun thing' in my postings?

 
Again this is a subject we can go down the hole and get completely lost in. As in other subjects people have what they think is the most important part or the part you need to focus on the most. Remember, we are trying to cover as many issues as we can in our planning. This means we will try to put in a solid foundation and you can personalize your planning from this foundation.

This is a very wide subject to try and tackle on one posting. What do we focus on? Physical, cyber or any other type of security? Right now let's focus on the physical. Why? Because if we are not physically secure the rest of it really does not matter.

Let's try and keep things easy here. Think of your physical security as concentric circles going outward from you. Each layer gives you depth to your security and defense in depth is a good thing. Take a look at your front door......... How does someone get to your front door? Do they start at the street, walk across a yard or sidewalk and end up at your door? Each point of this trip is somewhere you can take measures to increase your security. The further out your rings start the better it is for you and your loved ones.

If your neighborhood looks like this............

And full of folks like these...... we need to focus on you moving first of all!!!!

Be a good neighbor. Yes you have to be a good neighbor. We all have the one or two people who live by us who are 'that neighbor', if you do not know who they are guess what????? Get to know who lives around you. Maybe even get on friendly terms with some of your neighbors?

Of course this seems harder and harder each year, that is for a different post. Try to learn who is supposed to be in the area and who is not.

Just do not take this getting to know your neighbors to this point!!! This makes you 'That neighbor'. What this does is gives you the first ring in your security. We are not "friendly" with all of the neighborhood. Most folks come home, go inside and you do not see them again till they drive away again. We are on friendly terms with several of the neighbors. We wave, say 'hi' and on occasion have conversations with them for a few minutes. This paid off last Christmas when someone was going through one of our cars and the neighbor scared them off. The neighbor knows who is around our home and realized the person was not someone they had seen before.

 
Your circles start with where you live, community this is the outer ring for most of us. Coming one in is our neighborhood and the people who live around us. The next ring is the physical layout from the street to your door.

Hundreds of articles have been written on proper lighting to deter thieves but the easiest way to help a thief decide to go somewhere else is to take away their concealment. If they are going to break into your home not being seen from the street as they do it is a plus to the bad guys.

 
This diagram is a good place to start. You want to be able to see out of your home but also to allow people to see toward your home. This makes it hard for bad guys to sneak up on you and also let's the neighbors see them if they are at your door. Here is a good example. Nicely kept yard, allows you fields of view and allows others to see what is going on. Now can we all do this? No, each of our situations are different.

Maybe your next ring is a fence? The fence does not have to go all the way around your home. In some cases having a fence all the way around your property might help rather than hinder the bad guys.

Fencing like this is simply another obstacle for someone to have to get past but still allows you to see what is out there.

Even one as simple as this adds a layer to your circles.

A fence like this is good but keep in mind this also stops anyone from being able to see what is going on and you can not see past the fence either............. Maybe not something we want wrapped around our entire property or entry way?

With any of these layers, circles or rings of security you have to keep in mind a determined person will find a way through them. Even at the White House people have managed to get inside by hopping the fences. Each layer is first and foremost to deter the bad guys. Why pick the neighborhood you know people are watching, people who will say something or call the police? Why pick the house everyone can see you at? Why pick the home with the gate when the one next door doesn't have one?

 
If you need cement walls around your home with glass imbedded along the top or razorwire crowning the wall............ we need to talk! It might be time to move!!!!

Short of barricading your door, we need to make sure we have sturdy doors on the outside of our home. There is a difference between doors designed for the inside of your home and the outside. Outside doors are thicker and harder to just kick in. Ideally we would want a front door we can see out of and is locked with a deadbolt.

Even with the deadbolt we want to make sure and use metal reinforcements on the door and long screws to slow down someone's ability to just kick the door open.

 
Going back to thinking about someone walking up to your door, have you thought of anything which you could change to make concentric circles of security around your home? Go outside and take a good look at your home or apartment. Look at your home through the eyes of a 'bad guy'. Where would they sneak in at? What do they have to get over, around or through to get to your front door? Anything else you add brings another layer to your physical security. All of which hopefully will encourage someone to look elsewhere for easy pickings.

The home security system let's you know someone is trying to get in or has gotten in. The sign out front of your home might be enough to have someone look elsewhere.

 Security cameras can also discourage people and are great for having evidence of what happen after the fact.

 Motion lights coming on take the darkness and the ability to go unseen away.

Even ankle sharks can send 'bad guys' away when they get to yapping. Remember the bad guys do not anyone to know they are there and anything which can cause them to get caught might deter them in the first place.

If we go back to the scenario we were working with for this planning session..... Something has happened, your family has made it home safely and you have decided to stay home. Of all the things you can count on to work during a bad situation, the physical layout of your home and Fiddo might be the only things working. Law Enforcement might be overwhelmed and the power might be out. For most of us this takes away the things we normally count on as parts of our rings for security. Layer your planning, have some depth to your defenses and remember a determined opponent will get past any passive obstacle you might put in their way.

Ok this trip down the rabbit hole is getting long....... Let's back out for awhile and I will let you stop thinking about a bad day. Go back to your regularly scheduled day and have some fun!!!

 
Just make sure you can really sing before you run outside and annoy the neighbors!!!

As Always,

Stay Safe!

Less than lethal

The subject of planning for emergencies and security always seem to come up together. With these two always comes the topic of firearms. The one subject which never seems to really come when people start talking about emergency planning, is anything to do with options you can give yourself which do not include firearms. We have discussed the use of force during situations and one very important aspect of the use of force continuum is having options. 

  

When you hear a bump in the night we all think this is what we are going to find. But what if you find something different lurking outside? 

Are you going to shoot them because this is the only option you have prepared for and given yourself to work with? Are you going to pistol whip the kids to make them leave? If you have answered with some form of "You bet I would!" picture this being your loved ones. Your loved ones looking for shelter, food and you are not there to help them. Would you want them to be shot? If your still saying yes just go away now................... 

For the rest of use we can give ourselves options to use, especially if you are not trained with firearms and can never own one due to your personal beliefs. Now these options are not better or worst than firearms. Each is a tool and can be used for different tasks. As with any tool if you do not know how to use the tool it might as well be a door stop. We should also think of these tools as option makers which should be used in conjunction with our personal abilities and skill level. 

  

Three of the main options you see being sold to people are Tazers, stun guns and batons. Each of these have advantages and disadvantages. A big issue is people will ask their friend what they should get, then they go buy one, put it somewhere and forget it. Tazers have batteries and batteries die, batons take a bit of skill to use above the level of a caveman smashing something and if your attempting to use a baton for less than lethal you need some training. 

Before we go any further it is absolutely important, as in do not buy anything we are talking about, NO, do not do it until you have checked your local laws!! In some locations, like sunny Southern California, simply having one of these tools is a crime! You do not want to make it through a really bad situation to only find yourself in jail facing more bad situations because you did not check the laws. No ignorance of the law is not a defense and stores will sell things which are illegal to own!! DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!! 

Remember these tools are less than lethal but can cause permanent damage and could also kill someone. Sure you bought the baton to defend yourself without killing someone but the one time you used it the bad guy ducked and you smashed his head in......... 

The biggest tool I heard people are told to buy is Pepper Spray. Without getting into all the details, yes I could bore you with the details, not all spray or delivery options are the same. Do a little research before you go buy a keychain spray of this stuff and think you are safe. Hint; the key chain stuff in a size you will carry probably ain't enough to stop someone....

 

These photos of people standing within arm reach of the bad guy and deploying their tools to end the situation are very misleading. Having been sprayed and partaken in training with others being sprayed I can tell you in each of these pictures it would be nothing for the bad guy to reach out and grab the women. Once he has his hands on her he does not need to see and is probably even more motivated to hurt her because he is in pain. 

 

 These photos using other tools also give a false sense of confidence on how these tools work. 

This distance you see with the spray is what is used during training to ensure the trainee is inundated the first time and does not have to go through the process more than once. A hand held up between the two at this distance will do a lot for the bad guy and give him time he can close the distance with. 

At this distance you can not expect to spray the bad guy and the situation ends. This is where you have to utilize the tool as part of your overall response to the situation. You could deflect the reaching hand, deploy the spray and make some distance. This is a good idea of how to properly utilize pepper spray. Use the spray from the greatest distance you can. The spray takes time to work, might only be a second or two but in a confrontation tenths of a second make the difference

.  

If we had the video of the situation in this picture odds are we would see the bad guy, with the club. Continue forward as he followed through with the swing. For their positions it would appear the guy in the helmet will be struck by the club if he just stands there. The club guy might even take two or three swings before the spray effects him to the point he can no longer fight. In a small percentage of the population there are people who are not affected at all by pepper spray. Again, these are tools and should be part of an overall strategy for surviving the situation. If you look at the guy in the helmet he appears to be law enforcement of some type. 

Let's say he is for this post. They guy swinging the club is sprayed and as the cop changes position to gain space and time the club man keeps coming. At this point the cop would be thinking of changing tactics and would move further up the scale for using force. The shotgun, if loaded properly, could be his next step to stop the situation. Ok gun folks pay attention to this next part..........

There are less than lethal rounds made for shotguns! Again these are designed to be less than lethal but the person deploying the tool needs to understand how to deploy it. For all of the kinetic energy rounds or even the baton targeting is the key to helping ensure nothing becomes lethal. 

 

These are some of the types of less than lethal rounds available for shotguns. In essence most of them are bean bags thrown really hard from the shotgun. Some rounds are a softish plastic which bounces a lot. All of them are designed to cause pain. Pain makes people stop doing what they are doing because nobody likes pain!!!!! The next time you see a protest on TV or a situation where police utilize these remember they are made to hurt but not kill anyone. 

 

Sure these look bad, I can tell you from experience they hurt and take a few weeks to heal up, but none of these people are dead. We will skip discussing why these people were targeted......... For those of us out there who focus our security planning on firearms, here are some new ways to utilize your shotgun (you have one right) and a reason to buy more ammo. These do not fly like regular rounds and take some practice to learn to deploy correctly. 

This is getting a bit long so I will wrap it up here. In the future there will be more postings on less than lethals and I will attempt to give more details on selection and deployment. For now, if I found the women and children in the second picture in my area and I needed them to leave..... I would step up wind of them, move ten to fifteen yards away and utilize the pepper spray more like a mist to inundate them as little as needed. After a few minutes and once the kids started feeling the irritation they would leave! At least I hope they would!!  

 

As Always,

Stay Safe!!