Personal Safety

1. Personal Safety 2345 Crystal Drive, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22202 202-261-4153 FAX 202-296-1356 pharris@ncpc.org www.ncpc.org/ncpa

2. Personal Safety

3. Training Precautions • This training focuses on Personal Safety for women because women are a good barometer for personal safety - they are more likely to express their fears about crime than most men. • This training does not make the trainer or the trained self-defense experts or authorities. • This class offers advise and makes no guarantees.

4. Continuum of Survival 1. Awareness 2. Avoidance 3. Defensive Resistance 4. Compliance 5. Physical Defense 6. Weapons Defense 7. Reporting the Incident

5. Victim’s Goals • Prevent or reduce bodily injury • Survive • Escape • Report

6. Please Remember • There is no one right option for everybody in every situation. • Avoid cookie cutter solutions - they can be lethal. • Crime can strike anywhere!

7. Safety Concerns of Women • Parking lots and vulnerability with children. • Safety while exercising – running/walking. • Safety when home alone. • Safety while traveling. • Stalking.

8. Violence Against Women For women, the leading cause of death in the workplace is murder.

9. Recognizing the Perpetrator It can be: • A stranger, client, customer or someone you know. They may use: • A ruse or trickery, followed by an attack, or a surprise, full-force attack.

10. Common Red Flags Perpetrator’s behavior may include : • Undue attention • Stalking activity • Blind side approach • Scanning the area • Hyper-alert • Practicing deceit • Smell of alcohol

11. Be Aware • Always be alert to your surroundings and notice who or what is around you. • Be sure to continually scan and inspect your immediate area.

12. Display Confidence • Your alertness, body language, and tone of voice communicate how you feel about yourself to others. • Project that you believe your safety is worth defending. • People who look like good victims are good victims.

13. Be Assertive • Communicate clearly and specifically about what you want. • When threatened, remain calm and don’t show your fear. • Quickly size up the situation, develop a plan and act. • Don’t ignore strong instincts!

14. Be Committed to Act • When a situation is uncomfortable or threatening, • take control to change it. • Act sooner rather than later. • Your ability to successfully defend yourself will depend on your level of preparation and training beforehand.

15. When Out and About • Avoid taking a bad position. • Don’t be preoccupied as you transition between your car and activities. • Avoid carrying lots of packages. • Become aware of situations & locations where crime may occur and avoid them.

16. When Out and About • Be confident and purposeful in your walk. • Use a firm, steady pace. • Dress comfortably, so you can move quickly if you have to. • Always let someone know where you are going and when you will return.

17. When Out and About • Keep a safe distance between you and any stranger - about 2 arm lengths. • Walk near the curb, walk face on-coming traffic. • Avoid passing close to shrubbery, doorways, blind corners, and other places of concealment. • If you think you are being followed, change the situation, cross the street, change directions, go to a safe place.

18. When Out and About • Avoid dark and isolated areas. • Avoid places were you cannot be seen, heard or escape from easily. • Avoid short cuts that conceal you from public observation. • Avoid traveling or walking alone. There is safety in numbers.

19. When Out and About • Carry a cell phone with you wherever you go: work, travel, exercising, shopping, walking, etc. • If you need assistance, as a last resort, you select your helper. Not vice-a-versa.

20. In Your Vehicle • When driving, and you think you are being followed, drive to a safe place, do not drive to your home. • Avoid strangers who contact you first. • Never let a stranger (male or female) into your car. • Don’t open the door for any reason. • Avoid vulnerable situations - drugs, intoxication, lack of transportation, etc.

21. The Workplace • Does the physical design and management of your workplace discourage criminal behavior. • Does it send out a strong message of ownership – caring. • Can you see and be seen. • Can you control access to the site.

22. Resisting - Decision Guidelines • The decision to resist or comply is a personal decision made only by the victim based upon their immediate circumstances. • Review the “totality of the circumstances” before selecting self defense measures. • You should be looking for a chance to escape.

23. Decision Variables • Location: isolated - day or night - help available? • Victim: mindset - capabilities - children to protect? • Perpetrator: mindset - capabilities? • The key to survival is the threat assessment of your immediate situation.

24. Escape When escape is possible, it’s your best choice. • Get back in your car. • Go back to the store. • Roll under a vehicle. • Move towards a safe place - people & light.

25. Verbal Challenge When on the move and a stranger contacts you from a distance of 15 feet or more ... • If you are moving don’t stop. • If you are standing, get ready to run. • Be forceful, make eye contact. Say, No, I can’t help you! Don’t come any closer!

26. Verbal Alarm • Not a good tactic if you are isolated. • Use short sentences to identify the crime to others and discourage the attacker. • Yell: • STOP! NO! GET BACK! • STAY AWAY FROM ME! • HELP ME! • RAPE! • POLICE!

27. Noise Makers • Whistles, car horns, or other noise devices. • Noise is best used during flight or when your attacker is at least 15 feet away from you. • Not a good tactic if you are isolated or your attacker is close.

28. Negotiate: Brains vs. Braun • Stall for time: I need - a beer, a cigarette, to go to the bathroom, to take my medicine.” • Use trickery: I’m pregnant, I have a sexually transmitted disease, my spouse is nearby • Bodily voiding: vomit, urinate or defecate

29. Robbery • Cooperate • Stay Calm • Don’t Surprise • Don’t Fight • Don’t Chase • You can replace property!

30. Abduction • Don’t panic - avoid antagonistic behavior. • Be observant - memorize details and sounds. • Establish contact and talk with suspect. • Avoid being blindfolded or tied up. • Plan to escape or launch a surprise attack. • The chance for survival decreases once you are forced into a vehicle and transported away.

31. Self-Defense in One’s Home “Castle Doctrine" One may, without retreating, use force, to include deadly force if necessary, to keep aggressors out of one’s own home.

32. Basic Self Defense Issues • Use of personal and improvised weapons against an attacker’s vulnerable points. • The force applied should equal the perceived threat. • You must consider your own abilities.

33. Basic Self Defense Issues • The goal is to STUN the attacker so you can safely disengage the fight and ESCAPE. • Once you start fighting back, there’s no turning back. • Formal training and practice is recommended.

34. Improvised Weapons What are some weapons available to you now? Anything that when used will have an immediate impact on the attacker and supplement your defense. • Keys • Pens • Flashlight • Bottle • Shoe Heel • Ice Scraper • Telephone • Nail File

35. Non-Lethal Weapons Weapons used to distract or incapacitate. Pepper spray Stun Gun / Taser Baton

36. Lethal Weapons • Lethal weapons are weapons used for a lethal effect, to cause serious bodily injury or death. • Examples: Knives and Firearms • Recognize that a lethal weapon may produce lethal results. Can you handle killing a person?

37. Problems with Weapons • Not always accessible when needed. • Not always effective. • Require close proximity to the attacker. • May be taken away and used against you!

38. Public Safety Issues You have a legal right to carry a weapon. If you do, you must consider the following issues: • Know and obey the law! • The weapon must fit the user! • Receive training - maintain proficiency! • Lock it up at home - child safety! • Carry it safely and protect it from theft!

39. Legal Issues § 18.2-308 Concealed Weapons - Virginia Any person 21 years of age or older may apply in writing to the clerk of the circuit court of the county or city in which he or she resides, or if he is a member of the United States armed forces, the county or city in which he is domiciled, for a five-year permit to carry a concealed handgun.