Personal Safety Tips
: Send this on to any woman you care about. Last night I attended a personal safety workshop, and it jolted me. It wasgiven by an amazing man, Pat Malone, who has been a body guardfor famous figures like Farrah Fawcett and Sylvester Stallone.He works for the FBI, and teaches police officers and Navy SEALShand to hand combat. This man has seen it all, And knows a lot.He focused his Teachings to us on HOW TO AVOID BEING THE VICTIMOF A VIOLENT CRIME. He gave us some statistics about how muchthe occurrences of random violence have escalated over the recentyears, and it’s terrible. Something like 99% of uswill be exposed/a victim of a violent crime. Here are some of most important points that I got out of his presentation:
1. The three reasons women are easy targets for random actsof
violence are:
a. Lack of awareness (you MUST know where you are &what’s
going on around you.)
b. Body language (keep your head up, swing your arms,stand
straight up)
c. Wrong place, wrong time (DON’T be walking alone inan
alley, or driving in a bad neighborhood at night)
2. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after
shopping, eating, working, etc, and just sit (doingtheir
checkbook, or making a list, etc). DON’T DO THIS! The
predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect
opportunity for him to get in the passenger side, puta
gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON
AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND
LEAVE. A few notes about getting into your car in a
parking lot, or parking garage:
a. Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the
passenger side floor, and in the back seat. Check
under the car as well.
b. If you are parked next to a big van, enter yourcar from
the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their
victims by pulling them into their vans while the women
are attempting to get into their cars.
c. Look at the car parked on the drivers side of your
vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting
alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to
walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman
to walk you back out.
IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY.
3. Always take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells
are horrible places to be alone.)
a. Do not get on an elevator if there is a weirdo already
on there. (of course bad men don’t always look bad).
b. Do not stand back in the corners of the elevator,be
near the front, by the doors, ready to get off or on.
c. If you get on the elevator on the 25th floor, andthe
Boogie Man gets on the 22nd, get off when he gets on.
4. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control,
ALWAYS run!
a. POLICE only make 4 of 10 shots when they are inrange of
3-9 feet. This is due to stress.
b. The predator will only hit you (a running target)4 in
100 times. And even then, it most likely WILL NOT bea vital
organ. RUN!
5. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOPIT,
it may get you raped, or killed.
a. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good looking,
well-educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathiesof
unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp,and often
asked “for help” into his vehicle or withhis vehicle, which is
when he abducted his next victim.
b. Pat Malone told us the story of his daughter, whocame
out of the mall and was walking to her car when shenoticed 2
older ladies in front of her. Then she saw a policecar come
towards her with 2 cops, and they said hello. She alsonoticed
that all 8 handicap spots in the area were empty. Asshe neared
her car she saw a man a few rows over calling to her,for help.
He wanted her to close his passenger side door. He wassitting
in the drivers side, and said he was handicap. He continued
calling, until she turned and headed back to the mall,and then
he began cursing at her. She wondered why he didn’task the 2
older ladies, or the policeman for help, and why hewas not
parked in any of the empty handicap spots. As she gotback to
the mall, two male friends of hers were exiting, andas she told
them the story, and turned to point at the car, a malewas
getting out of the back seat into the front, and thecar sped
away. DON’T GET CAUGHT IN THIS TRAP.
6. Tips to saving your life, if you have gotten into a violent
situation:
a. REACT IMMEDIATELY: If he abducts you in a parkinglot,
and is taking you to an abandoned area, DON’T LET HIM GET YOU TO THAT AREA.
* If you are driving, react immediately in the
situation, and crash your car while still going 5 MPH.
* If he’s driving, find the right time, and stick your
fingers in his eyes. He must watch the road, so choosean
unsuspecting time, and gouge him. It is your ONLY defense.
While he is in shock, GET OUT. (This sounds gross, butthe
alternative is your fault if you do not act.)
b. RESIST: don’t go along with him: run, if you areable:
* Scream.
* You DO NOT want to get to crime scene # 2. DON’T
EVER GIVE UP!
7. Always keep your distance when walking past strangerson the
street or in dark areas.
8. GET A CELL PHONE.
a. There are packages for $19.95 a month that allowyou to
program only 911 into the dialing out program (thisis for
parents who say it is too expensive for their kids tohave a
cell phone.)
9. BREAK DOWNS: (avoid this by ALWAYS keeping your car ingood
working order)
a. If your car breaks down: you better have a cellphone to
call for help, and lock your doors.
b. Keep a blanket, and a pair of warm clothes and boots,
and a flashlight in your car always for emergencies.
c. If you don’t have a cell phone: (shame on you) * If it’s noon on a business day, you MAY want to put your hazards onand walk to safety.
* If it’s 2 a.m.: put on your warm clothes, and walk to a lighted area * You are a perfect target if you are sitting in your
car broken down. Predators search the highways for easy targets like you.
f. If you’re on a desolate road: walk away from thecar (in
your warm clothes) and go to some bushes, or some area
AWAY from your vehicle. It will be cold, and uncomfortable,
but you DO NOT want to stay in your car, and there areno
psychic boogeymen waiting in the bushes who knew you
were going to break down.
10. Physical defenses that we can use against the violent
predator:
a. The eyes are the most vulnerable part of the body.Poke
him there, and you have (possibly) your only windowof
opportunity.
b. The neck is also a vulnerable spot, but you MUSTknow
where to grip, AND HAVE THE STRENGTH to cut off hisbreath.
c. The last place is the KNEES. Everyone’s knees arevery
vulnerable, and a swift kick here will take anyone down.
— A cautionary note about these things is that if you
do not do these things right the first time, you area in
trouble, because it will only anger the individual,and that
anger will be TAKEN OUT ON YOU. I’m not saying don’t
attempt them (it may be your only hope), but be forceful
when you do. —
11. If you are walking alone in the dark (which you shouldn’t
be) and you find him following/chasing you:
a. Scream “FIRE!”, and not “help”.People don’t want to
get involved when people yell “help”, but”fire” draws attention
because people are nosy.
b. RUN!
c. Find an obstacle, such as a parked car, and runaround
it, like ring around the rosie. This may sound silly,but over
the years, 5 women have told Pat Malone that this SAVEDTHEIR
LIVES.
d. Your last hope is getting under the car. Once youare
under there, there are tons of things to hold on to,and he
will
not be able to get you out, and will not come underfor you
(most likely). Usually they give up by this point. The
catch
here is that YOU MUST PRACTICE GETTING UNDER THE CAR.
You must have a plan (he will have one); know if youwill be
going on your back, front, from the side or back ofthe car. It
must be practiced.
12. Never let yourself or anyone that you know be a”closer” in
any type of business (bar, store, restaurant, gas station).
*Pat knew Danielle, who was the girl that just diedfrom
being shot point-blank by some kids while she was closing
at the local gas station.* He talked with her the night
before she died, and asked whether it ever scared herto
close alone. She said yes, but said “I’ll be alright,Pat.
I’ll be alright.” She wasn’t.
I didn’t mean to scare you with any of this, but honestly,I hope
it did. It should. Our world is not as safe as we pretendthat
it is, and living in our fantasy worlds WILL get usin trouble,
sooner or later. “It won’t happen to me” doesn’tcut it, and is
a bogus expectation anyway. Pat Malone said again andagain that
the women who die EVERY MINUTE from violent crimes expectedto go to bed tonight, and get up tomorrow, and do it all overagain,
and again, and again. No one expects it, but we mustbe prepared
and aware so that we HAVE A PLAN.
I would encourage you to pass this on to all women,not just your
friends and family, but everybody. We all need to hearit