Proof: Becoming a victim is a matter of choice!

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/latest_releases?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGd3d3LmViaXoucG9saWNlLm5zdy5nb3YuYXUlMkZtZWRpYSUyRjIzNzI4Lmh0bWwmYWxsPTE%3D

The victim in this report made 3 critical choices

1. She choose to withdraw money from an ATM at night.

2. She choose to use an ATM that required her to walk though a shopping centre car park at night.

3. At 58 years old she choose to refuse the demand for cash made by a man armed with a golf club.

She was then bashed and robbed!

These are the choices she could have made:

1. Choose to plan you day so you don't have to use an ATM at night.  There are many other ways to pay for good, debit cards, credit cards etc.

2. If you must use an ATM at night choose to plan ahead, use a machine that you can park next to so you can get straight into your car and lock the door. 

3. If possible have someone come with you.

4. If you are confronted by an armed attacker, give the money up, it's not worth dying for!

Here is some other advice when using ATMs

1. Learn to use the ATM quickly, practice your PIN on a calculator.

2. Try to avoid using ATMs at night or in deserted locations. Plan ahead, get the money out when it's safer.

3. Always have a good look around before using the machine, if you see someone or something that just isn't right, listen to that little voice and get the money out later.

4. After you have keyed in the info required look around again, the more aware you appear the less like a victim you look.

5. When you receive your money put it in your pocket, bag etc. Don't go walking along head down counting fifties.  If you need to count the money do it in a secure location where you can't be viewed by a potential attacker.

6. Always ensure that you retain your card and receipt.

For more information:

Active Protection Solutions

Personal Risk Management & Threat Assessment.

M: 0409 078 322  E: enquiries@activeprotect.com.au  W: http://www.activeprotect.com.au/

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Is becoming a victim a matter of Choice?
Part 2.

One of the web sites I check on a regular basis (every day) is the NSW Police media site: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news

Every day I read articles such as a teenagers being stabbed at a Penrith shopping centre http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/latest_releases?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGd3d3LmViaXoucG9saWNlLm5zdy5nb3YuYXUlMkZtZWRpYSUyRjIzNjk1Lmh0bWwmYWxsPTE%3D

or a man attacked as he walked along a street in the early hours of the morning: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/latest_releases?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGd3d3LmViaXoucG9saWNlLm5zdy5nb3YuYXUlMkZtZWRpYSUyRjIzNjk1Lmh0bWwmYWxsPTE%3D

or a woman being indecently assaulted: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/latest_releases?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGd3d3LmViaXoucG9saWNlLm5zdy5nb3YuYXUlMkZtZWRpYSUyRjIzNTc1Lmh0bWwmYWxsPTE%3D

or two teenage girls indecently assaulted in one day not that far from one another or the highly publicised brawl in Kings Cross which lasted quiet some time, eventually Police arrived and arrested people but it was only due to the attackers lack of actual ability that no one was seriously injured.

I could go on and on. What I never see on the NSW Police media site is a story that goes like this:

"Today Police arrested a person in the act of committing an assault, a robbery, a sexual assault",

why is that?

1. There are not enough Police to be everywhere.

2. Police are re-active, they are there after the incident, after they have been called, and sometimes it's a long wait.

3. I am not sure if this is just me, but I just don't see Police patrolling anymore, why is that?

4. This isn't about bagging Police, but every morning they devote at least 2 cars and 2 motor bikes to patrolling the M2 when traffic is moving at an average of 20kph. Surely these resources would be better off being deployed in pro-active units as they were in the 80's era of zero tolerance policing (a policy which was never officially recognised and would be denied).

So knowing that the chances of Police intervening if you are attacked is non existent, you can make the following choices:

1. Go out.
2. Stay home.

Now before you start with the "I have my rights", "I should be able to go out without getting attacked", "I shouldn't have to change my life because of what other people might want to do"

WAKE UP, it's 2012, there are people out there that don't care about your rights.

Here is an interesting article written by Professor Paul Wilson

http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/01/28/43595_gold-coast-news.html 

So you choose to go out,  now you also have choices

1. Choose to adopt an attitude of it "wont happen to me." Do you take that attitude with car insurance, home insurance?

2. Choose to consider that "although the law of averages says it probably won't happen to me, everyday it happens to someone, so why not me?"

3. Choose to be pro-active and do something about being able to protect yourself and those you care about.

Having choosen go out, where ever you go there are going to be other people.  99% of those people are decent law abiding citizens just like you, but there is the other 1%. If you meet that 1% you still have some choices:

1. Choose to use you Awareness skills to detect and help you avoid a potentially dangerous situation, that is of course if you made the CHOICE to learn and practice those skills.

2. If confronted choose to comply, money and possession can be replaced, your life, health and safety can't, this would be time when you are regretting not choosing to develop the awareness skills that may have help you to detect and avoid this dangerous situation.

3. Choose to use your self defence skills, including de-escalation, preparation and physical skills - that is of course if you made the CHOICE to learn and practice those skills.

I only recommend using physical self defence skills as your last resort. Having said that not all attackers give you the choice to comply, at times it is straight into the physical assault.




You don't have to go to the Police media site to read, hear or see reports about people being attacked, robbed, raped and murdered, every time you watch the TV news or open a newspaper or read the online news there are the reports so you cannot say, "I didn't know that there were people out there who would attack me."

You have the CHOICE. I have on a number of occasions been in situations where an attack is imminent, I have observed the difference in the trained and untrained reaction to impending violence and have seen the following

The trained.

1. Awareness switched to high.

2. Avoidance of the situations.

3. When avoidance is no an option is have seen preparation, physical positioning, stance, balance, hand positioning.

4. Mental preparation, getting into the combat mindset

5. Fast, decisive, effective self defence.

The untrained.

1. Victim!! Didn't see it coming, didn't know what to do, injured or worse.

So you have the CHOICE but remember, the choice you make may have consequences, not only for you but for you whole family.

Could you family, employment or your business survive if you suffered a major depression or a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of your being involved in a traumatic incident such as being assaulted, injured, robbed or worse.

How would your family, your employment or your business be affected if it happened to a member of your family.

Studies show that victims of trauma are significantly more likely to develop PTSD, major depression, anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia and agoraphobia. http://activehr.com.au/traumatic-incident-studies.html

Recently it was reported in the media that a bus driver was awarded over $300,000.00 as compensation after he was assaulted while working.  This might be a large amount of money but will it compensate him for suffering anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal thoughts and being unable to work, losing his wife and his home i doubt it!! The report is here http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/true-crime-scene/wilfred-star-to-pay-325000-for-assault/story-fnat7jnn-1226386714049

In the final wash up the CHOICE is yours.  I have highlighted the words Choice and Choose to illustrate how many CHOICES you have.

Don't be the person lying in the gutter wondering why me, you had the CHOICE.

For more information:

Active Protection Solutions

Personal Risk Management & Threat Assessment.

M: 0409 078 322  E: enquiries@activeprotect.com.au  W: http://www.activeprotect.com.au/

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Is becoming a victim a matter of choice?
(Part 1)

Yes and No.

Of course no one actually wants to become a victim, I don't think that victims of crime actually willingly ask for assaults, muggings, rape and worse to happen to them however the choices they make can place them in dangerous and often life threatening situations.

So Yes, being a victim can be a matter of choice.

Choice 1: Do you make a choice to go to places where there is a potential for danger, if you do what choices have you made to ensure your safety?

Choice 2: What have you done to ensure that you can detect or avoid a dangerous situations, what skills have you learnt and practiced?

Choice 3: What choices have you made to develop and practice the psychological skills to help you should you become involved in a confrontation situation?

Choice 4: What choices have you made to develop and practice the physical skills to help you should you become involved in a confrontation situation?

Has your choice been to adopt the attitude of "It won't happen to me" or "why do i need to think about that?"

You may argue that you are not choosing to become a victim but isn't choosing to ignore the possibility or NOT take any precautions the same thing?

I bet you don't want to become a victim of car theft or a burglary at home, but you still take out insurance just in case.





Because you choose when and where you go out here is some advice;

1. Learn to develop your awareness. Regardless of how much or how little self defence or martial art training you have had, awareness is the key to staying safe. This is not a blatant plug, but click here for a comprehensive awareness program designed to keep you safe in the streets.

2. Attackers like victims who are unaware so that they can sneak up on them.  Victims often claim in statements "He came out of nowhere" or "All of a sudden he was just there" RUBBISH, they just didn't see the attacker until it was to late. WHY, because they had no awareness skills.

3. Listen to your inner alarm if it goes off to tell you that something may be wrong.  If the little voice in your head is wrong so what, who cares, if it's right you better care.

4. If you frequent places where violence occurs on a regular basis I suggest you either stop or expect something to happen one of these days.

5. If you believe that "it won't happen to me", you may be right.  But if you're wrong, make sure you have health insurance!!

6. Never run from danger, always run to safety.

7. You don't need to develop a siege mentality but you should develop an alert and aware mentality.  A potential attacker will be put off by a victim that look alert and ready to defend themselves.

8. If you make a habit of walking at night or talking an exercise walk at night, take a walking stick and learn out to use it for defensive purposes (of course if you are ever questioned, it's just a walking stick for your bad knee).

9. Two essential tools that can help you avoid becoming a victim are a Deliberate Action Plan and an Immediate Action Plan.

10. If you get in a situation in which you have to defend yourself, accept the situation, don't ignore it, don't hope that it will magically go away, face the situation and get on with it.  If you have the physical skills to defend yourself do so if need be, if you don't try and talk your way of the situation and try to escape. Remember the Immediate Action Plan.

11. Street confrontations such as assaults (including sexual assault) or robberies, mugging etc have 3 stages: Stalking, Interview & Attack.

During the Stalking Phase, the attacker seeks out a victim, the attacker watches them to ensure that they are a suitable victim, weak, unaware, without help or the perceived ability to resist the attack. At this stage awareness is the key to appearing to be an unsuitable victim.

The second stage is The Interview during this time the attacker may make contact with the victim, asking a seemingly innocent question, for directions for example or making a forceful demand for money for example.

At this stage you have three choices (1) if you are going to physically defend yourself get ready to do so. (2) Use the Immediate Action Plan and get to the point where you engage or escape.  (3) If you are not going to defend yourself escape as quick as possible at this point, use distraction or a seeming willingness to comply but get away as quick as possible

The third stage is the actual Physical Attack, see next point.

12. The physical attack part of the street confrontation is also made up of 3 elements: Surprise, Speed & Savagery.  Your awareness can negate element 1 Surprise. Having a Deliberate Action Plan and/or an Immediate Action Plan can slow the attacker down and stop them from launching a savage attack. If you are going to defend yourself now is the time, don't hesitate, work quickly and efficiently

13. Never allow yourself to be taken to a second location, especially if you are female.  What ever was going to happen to you are the first location will be much worse at a second location.  The second location is likely to be more isolated with far less chance of escape or help.  At the second location you may find yourself confronted by additional attackers.  To repeat NEVER ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE TAKEN TO A SECOND LOCATION.

14. Especially for females: if you are in a car with your husband or boyfriend and you are having an argument, NEVER demand to be let out of the vehicle NOW.  You may find yourself alone in a dark street with no way to get home and who knows who will drive along that street next.  Always have your husband or boyfriend drive you home, feel free to ignore him them but at least you are home safe.

It's your Choice, be pro-active, choose NOT to become a victim.

'The best defence against violent people are good people who are more skilled at violence'
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Self Defence skills are transferable to other areas of life.

The article linked below concerns a traffic accident where a young mother and her child were run over by an out of control car on a Sydney street.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/crash-involving-emma-de-silva-and-her-19-day-old-baby-eloise-was-like-a-dream-to-bryce-james-wayland/story-e6freuy9-1226383900473

Both the mother and baby were injured with the mother spending eight weeks in intensive care with critical brain injuries, the driver is now facing the court.

Regardless of the outcome of the court case I am sure that anyone involved in a motor vehicle accident would prefer it never happened.

Pedestrians and cyclists are often the victims of motor vehicle accidents and suffer major injuries.

In the last 3 years on average 55 pedestrians are killed each year in NSW.  This number does not of course include injuries that may have a life long debilitating effect on the injured person.


Now what does this have to do with Personal Protection?

The five elements of Personal Protection training are transferable skills that you can use to remain safe in a wide variety of situations.

1. Pre-Planning
2. Perception
3. Processing
4. Preparation
5. Protection

Element 1- Pre-Planning. This is all about Awareness, developing awareness skills and having deliberate action plans.  The crucial component of heightened awareness is being aware of anything and everything within your personal space.  Personal space should be considered as as far as you can see in any given direction.

So how does that apply to being a pedestrian?

1. When walking along a street you should be aware of everything that is going on, take the time to look around now and then.
2. Always walk on the side of the road toward traffic (deliberate action plan), this makes getting hit from behind less likely.
3. Think about what you would do if an out of control vehicle was heading toward you; can you lift the baby stroller?
4. As you are walking along the road be mindful of places that provide cover and protection.

Element 2 - Perception - In addition to being alert or aware, avoid doing anything that limits your perceptual ability such as listening to your IPod, being engrossed in a phone call, I have seen people walking along the street with the IPod in and reading a magazine or checking the web on their IPhone and then stepping of the curb into traffic, this sort of lack of awareness would not be helpful in spotting and reacting to an out of control vehicle.

Element 3 - Processing - (The information received by the senses). Learn what an out of control vehicle sounds like, there is usually tyre screeching, excessive engine reeving, the sounds of collisions or other cars sounding there horns. If you hear these sounds don't ignore it, take action, know where the sound is coming from, if you see the vehicle take action if it coming towards you, if not keep close observation, things can change in an instant.

Element 4 - Preparation -
* If you regularly walk with a stroller, practice some drills such as running with the stroller, weaving, swerving.
* Plan you day and movements that could bring you into contact with traffic, don't be in such as hurry that you lose concentration and step out into on coming traffic or fail to observe an out of control vehicle.
* If you walk along a regular route, know where any specific dangers could be.

Element 5 - Protection - Be aware that in the battle of vehicle -v- person, the vehicle usually wins. taking some sort of preventative action is much better than having to react at the time of the accident.

Personal Protection is not just about kicking and punching, it is not just about defending yourself from physical violence.  The skills learnt in Personal Protection training courses such as 'Execsafe' and 'Be Your Own Bodyguard' are highly transferable and can save your life in a variety of situations.

Active Protection Solutions

Personal Risk Management & Threat Assessment.

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