10 Personal Safety and Security Tips
Fundamentals: Body language is 55% of communications. That’s your walk, posture, facial expressions and eye contact. Awareness is being alert to your surroundings at all times. Intuition is when the hair on the back of your neck stands on end. Voice tone and pitch equal 35% of communications. The way a person communicates physically and verbally can determine whether or not a predator deems you a good target.
Prevent Abductions: When returning to a parked car, scan the area around your car, be alert to suspicious activity. Be aware of vans. Abductors and rapist open up the side doors and pull in their victims.
Never Use Your Keys As A Weapon: Contrary to popular belief your keys are not a good weapon. Using your keys as a weapon can injure your hand, the keys can break, you lose your “key to safety”, and you lose access to your car and home which are safe havens. Unless it’s a LARGE key. Then it’s a good weapon.
Prevent Home Invasions: You tell your children not to talk to strangers, so why do you open the door to a total stranger? Home-invaders pose as delivery people, public workers, or people in distress. Install peepholes, talk through the door. Under no circumstances do you open the door unless you get phone numbers to call their superiors. If someone is in distress tell him or her you will call the police for them. Install security cameras and a home security system.
Safety On The Streets: One dollar bills and change in an easily accessible pocket. Then if someone tries to rob you, you can throw the “chump change” several feet away. The robber will draw his attention to it giving you time to escape. Do not fight over material items.
What To Do If Attacked: Fighting, running and screaming are all options. Remember: You are worth fighting for!
Safety In Your Car: In the event of a minor accident, stop only in a well-lit area. Carjackers often provoke such “accidents” just to get a victim to stop. DO NOT stop on a deserted, dark street. Drive to a police station or a gas station. Use a cell phone and call 911.
Home Safe Home: Consider a second line or a cell phone in your bedroom. That’s because burglars often remove a telephone from the receiver when they enter a home. Of course, an alarm system activated while you are sleeping will prevent a home burglar from getting this far. Newer home alarms have cellular options, a safeguard even if the phone lines are cut.
Vacation/Business Traveler Safety: Be suspicious of a call from the hotel desk just after checking in requesting verification of your credit card number “because the imprint was unreadable.” A thief may have watched you enter the hotel room and called from the guest phone in the lobby. Never open your hotel room to anyone.
Telephone Security: Never give personal information over the phone unless you initiate the call. Do not click on links in text messages asking you to update banking information. Set your mobile to require password access in case it’s lost or stolen.
Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing home security and identity theft on TBS Movie and a Makeover.
