Security Tips
Protecting Yourself Against Muggers
The best defense against becoming a crime victim is to avoid a setup. Muggers, like most people, don;t take risks or work harder than they have to. Point:They choose victims who seem easy to handle. and they create situations that make the attack simpler.
Chief defense: Don't allow yourself to be distracted, isolated or simply stopped on the street by a stranger. Muggers prefer victims who have stopped moving. They use every technique to accomplish that: asking for directions, a match, or a handouts.
First and most important rule:If you're spoken to a suspicious stranger, don't stop.Move away quickly, Don't slow down to watch an argument or any other commotion on the street. Fake street fights are a favorite way to set up a robbery
Defensive tactics:Walk down the sidewalk near the street. Be wary of corners and doorways. Reduce the possibility of being grabbed from the shadows. Hugging the curb permits you to see around the corner while at a distance. Be alert to someone hiding between or behind parked cars.
Walk a couple of extra blocks to take a safe route, especially late at night. Keep to known neighborhoods. Identify in advance where the places of refuge are, in the event of trouble.
Look ahead up the street (not down) to see what's happening. Be alert, especially to people loitering or moving suspiciously. Example:Two men up ahead who suddenly separate and begin walking apart. They could be preparing to set you up.
However foolish or rude it may seem, don't get on a self service elevator if there's somebody on it who looks at all suspicious. Never let an elevator you are on go to the basement.
How to avoid it:When entering an open elevator, keep a foot in the door while pressing the floor number. Keep your eyes on elevator indicator. If the arrow points down, don't get in.
Don"t go into a self-service elevator late at night without making sure that nobody is waiting on an upper floor to intercept you. How to do it:Push the top elevator button, but don't get in. If the elevator does not stop on any floor on the way up or down, it's safe.
Avoid places where gags of juveniles congregate. They can be more dangerous than professional muggers because they will often hurt a victim rather than take the money and run.
Get into the habit of automatically saying excuse me when you bump in someone on the street. Say it no matter whose fault it is.
Never show money in public, whether at a newsstand, market, bank, or getting out of a cab. Muggers are watching.
If you are mugged:
Cooperate. Above all, communicate the willingness to cooperate. Keep calm. It can help relax the mugger, too, which is crucial. Reason: If a mugger is pointing a cocked revolver, nervousness on his/her part could be fatal to you.
Ways to calm the situation:
Say something reassuring, or ask a distracting question that establishes the mugging as a businesslike transaction. Example: You can have anything your want. Do you mind if I just keep my driver's license?
Never move suddenly. Tell the mugger where you wallet is ask: Do you want me to get it, or do you want to get it?
A woman mugger with a knife or gun can kill just s easily as a man.
Letting macho feelings interfere with cooperating can be suicidal.
Don't show the slightest condescension or hostility.
Be careful of your tone of voice. Cooperating with disdain can set off violence. Best attitude to project:
You've got to earn a living, too. Or:I don't hold this against you at all: times are tough.
Don't make jokes.
They are too risky, and the chance for misinterpretation is too great.
Avoid direct or steady eye contact. If a mugger is particularly hostile, be super cooperative. Offer money or possessions he has overlooked.
Bottom line: Always carry mugger money. Keep $25 to $100 in your picket as insurance. A happy mugger is much less likely to do harm than one who comes away empty-handed.
If you are attacked in the hallway of hotel or an apartment building, yelling for help often won't bring assistance. People who hear you may be too afraid to come out of their doors, worrying that the attacker is armed.
Smarter:Yell, "Fire!" Most people will rush into the hall for their own safety, and your attacker will be frightened off by sheer numbers.
What a Burglar Thinks About Burglar-Alarm Systems
Michael Weaver, in Walla Walla prison, tells what he learned about burglar alarms in his years of dealing with them professionally-mostly successfully.
His from-bi hind-bars report:
Systems to Avoid
Door and window alarms. They are usually tuned on by key when the last person leaves the premises.
The alarm systems monitor all the doors and windows. If anyone tries to open them , an alarm sounds.
These systems aren't only worthless,they are an invitation to the burglar.
Reason:They are visible (tape on windows and contact points around doors), so the burglar knows what he has to deal with. Hi may supply enter and leave through a roof vent, or he may use a jumper wire to "fool" the electrical system.
Electronic eye alarms. These rate no better than door and windows alarms. They operate like automatic supermarket doors. When an invisible beam is broken, a silent alarm is tripped. Since the eye can be moved and aimed easily, it can be shifted to cover doors, windows,walls, or a safe. Like door and window alarms, these systems are easy to breach using optical equipment to discover their position from a safe vantage point. Once the burglar spots them, he just works around them.
Effective Alarms
Proximity alarms. Usually, they are activated by noise. Microphones are place throughout and area and activated when the premises are empty.They are sensitive to any nose they are programmed to register. They are generally very effective.One weakness: The last person to leave will activate the system. If anyone wishes to return, he/she/must telephone the monitor, giving a code number and the length of time hi expects to be in. Ff a burglar spots this kind of activity, he may (among other things) place a miniature recorder near the phone and learn the code. Solution: Code numbers, security information, and schedules must be protected and changed frequently.
Tip: If you're shipping for and alarm, check out systems used by drugstores in your area. They are generally the best.
Key and Safe Advice
As vulnerable as they are, keys are the most cost-effective security device.
Ways to make those keys significantly more secure:
Stamp "Do Not Duplicate" on keys. It's not foolproof, but it helps to hinder unauthorized key copying.
Use locks that require very hoard-to-get key blanks. Some blanks are secure; that is, licensed keymakers don't stock the blanks; they must be acquired from the lock maker. There is a delay-not long, and worthwhile.
Many lock combinations (those that can be adjusted) are set to the user's birthday. Social Security number, or some other obvious set of digits. And crooks know that. In "casing" a potential burglary site, sophisticated thieves gather all the obvious numbers and usually open the sage quite easily.
If none of the numbers work, the burglar looks in the "obvious" places for hiding the number: In the executive's diary or calendar, under the desk pad.
Recommendation:Don't use a related number. Memorize the digits,and don't put them in "safe" places.
Signatures. For important papers, sign your name in ink and with an italic pen. It's very hard to forge.
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