Aware, Not Afraid: Safeguarding Yourself and Your Loved Ones Against Crime & Disaster

By J. C. Owens and Melvin Groves

Aware, Not Afraid is a book about developing street-smart awareness and preparedness. It is a guide to help you better understand and combat the threats (both human and natural) that you are likely to encounter during your lifetime. Its intended purpose focuses on enabling you and loved ones to prevent as well as survive and recover from critical-life situations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9780990534020

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Introduction

In the time it takes to read this sentence, one property crime has occurred in the world around you.

Read a few more words of this introduction and a larceny-theft has occurred.

Add a couple more sentences and a burglary is in progress, affecting someone’s property and life; a violent crime has also been committed, leaving someone victimized and traumatized.

Nobody wants to hear about these tragedies happening in the community, but it’s even worse if it happens to someone you know and love. What if the victim were you or a loved one?

The statistics are shattering, telling us that one vehicle is stolen and an aggravated assault is being committed every few seconds. All of this chaos has occurred and not even one minute has elapsed, but unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there.

In just over one minute, a robbery has been committed by means of intimidation, violence, or force, and someone else has been violently raped, leaving that person injured and scarred for life.

Spend the next half hour curled up with this book and you’ve lived beyond a murder of someone’s mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, child, grandparent, or friend. Knowing this information, what is the likelihood that you or a loved one won’t witness or experience the tragic effects of one or more crimes in your lifetime?

This information should be a wake-up call to the world around you. Yet we live in a society whereby the average person knows more about a favorite sports team or reality show than he or she does about crime prevention or the emergency-evacuation plan for his or her child’s school. Is your family prepared in case a major disaster strikes your area?

Watch any news channel or read a local newspaper and you’re constantly reminded that crime lingers right outside our doors. No community or neighborhood is immune to the threat of crime or disaster; however, many people stick their heads in the sand and choose not to think about what could happen to them or their loved ones in the event of a critical-life situation.

Are you really doing any favors with this type of thinking? No. Quite possibly, you may be putting yourself and those you care about in more danger by choosing to ignore the facts.

If you continue living with this type of closed-mindedness, you might ignore or miss critical signs that could alert you to an impending threat.

A proactive mindset will always be your best defense in keeping you and loved ones out of harm’s way. Without it, you have severely reduced your chances of survival and are merely disposing yourselves to be victims.

Statistics clearly illustrate the number of crimes being committed against people is increasing with a larger number of locations being affected by illegal activities. Unexpected disasters are constantly occurring, leaving the unprepared fighting for their very lives.

It’s alarming to think that so many choose to place such little importance on protecting themselves against impending threats, even though experts repeatedly warn they are imminent and increasing in frequency. In many areas, the streets are like war zones. Crime rates are skyrocketing, with an escalation in burglaries, home invasions, muggings, carjackings, rapes, kidnappings, violent attacks, street violence, murders, school shootings, and mass killings.

Reflect on your experiences and ponder the following: how dangerous is the world going to be in the next five or ten years knowing that it has changed so drastically in the last few years?

These dangers might not seem real on paper or in your mind if you haven’t experienced them directly, but the truth is that these are dangerous threats you’re likely to face during your lifetime.

If it hasn’t happened already, how long until a tragedy occurs in your community or neighborhood? Do you wait until it strikes your home or family before you pay attention? At that point, it’s too late.

What will your children and grandchildren undergo regarding crimes and catastrophes? Perhaps more important, what can you learn and pass on that will give them a fighting chance of survival now and in the future when they are on their own?

Anyone who has spent time in public service will tell you that surviving victims always express regret for not having taken proactive measures for the safety of themselves and their families. What is their primary reason for not doing so? Perhaps they had one of the following beliefs: if it doesn’t affect my immediate situation, it doesn’t concern me at this time; nothing bad will ever happen to me; nothing bad will happen here because my community is safe.

These false beliefs are gambles, and although it is your right to determine the way to treat your personal safety and security, it is completely irresponsible to disregard the safety of your family; the ones you love are counting on your protection.

As someone whose family relies on him or her to be safe, how will you feel if something happened to loved ones that you could’ve prevented if you’d only taken the time and effort?

Don’t make your loved ones’ safety someone else’s responsibility, namely, the first responders, the police, or emergency medical personnel. How patiently will you wait for help to arrive while a loved one succumbs to injuries in a life-threatening situation?

We hope this book will serve not only as a wake-up call but also a call to action so you don’t wait until you’re forced to experience the devastating effects of a loss before you do something. You need to be proactive about your safety and that of your family, especially when it is as simple as becoming more aware and developing an easy-to-follow plan. We’ll show you the way to do it.

It’s time for you to stop procrastinating and take proper measures so you and loved ones can enjoy long, happy, and healthful lives, ones that aren’t cut short needlessly by some tragic event that could’ve been handled in a different way to avoid unnecessary tragedy.

With the right information and motivation, you can make adjustments to your current lifestyle that will help you achieve a long-term solution. In addition, being solution-oriented will also make you a greater asset to your neighborhood and community as you might be able to help others in time of need.

We challenge you to consider the potential threats of the area in which you live and realistically ask yourself the following questions: am I proactive in regard to safety and security? Am I prepared to save myself or my loved ones if I encounter a deadly threat? Have I taken steps to prepare for a crisis or emergency, or will I simply sit back and wait to become a victim?

People usually fall into one of the three following categories:

Those who take proactive steps to avoid becoming victims

Those who haven’t safeguarded themselves and stand helpless, awaiting rescue

Those devastated by a tragic incident asking, How could this happen to me?

Which category fits you right now? More important, in which one should you be placed? Will you be standing along the sidelines completely helpless, waiting to be victimized, or will you make the decision now to be part of the solution?

For those of you who choose to take responsibility for your safety and that of your family, a responsible solution is possible called Aware, Not Afraid, and this book has been created to help you become proactive.

The awareness and preparedness strategies you learn will provide a safe advantage against potential threats while allowing the peace of mind that accompanies a more secure lifestyle.

Do any guarantees exist when it comes to your safety and security? No, but the following is guaranteed: failing to take action now dramatically increases your chances of encountering the threats and dangers existing around you.

Aware, Not Afraid provides the practical, effective, and simple steps to safeguard your life, no matter where you live or the places you visit.

It provides real solutions to combat the threats increasing at alarming rates. It means taking responsibility for ourselves and our loved ones. It involves each of us becoming our own first responders so that we’re not left relying on false security or protection that might not be there in time of crisis.

In addition to being taught how to safely and effectively thwart crime and other dangers, you’ll be given information and security tips that professionals already know and use. You’ll have access to that knowledge to safeguard you and loved ones no matter your location in the world.

You will be given information about securing your home, your neighborhood, and your community. We’ll even delve into the dangers of social media. You’ll discover methods for keeping your children safe at school, kindergarten through college, and you’ll receive a few safeguards to use while venturing into new social situations, whether dating or beginning new friendships. We’ll discuss many aspects of travel safety and security. This information is essential for local outings as well as domestic and international travel. You’ll also be briefed on the best life-saving responses during active-shooter situations and life-threatening emergencies. The life you save could be yours.

Last, you will learn about natural-disaster preparedness and response. Even if you don’t live in an area prone to disasters, you might travel to one or have loved ones with whom you can share this information who live in areas likely to be affected.

We’ll help you create a victim-proof mindset that can be applied to any situation, environment, or event. Our goal focuses on helping you and the ones you love avoid experiencing the pain and trauma of falling victims to crime or disaster.

Experience reveals safety in numbers when stopping criminal behavior and preparing for natural disasters, but these efforts must begin with a willingness to do your part.

Collectively, we are the solution for safer, stronger communities. Everyone can make a difference and do what’s necessary to live a safer, happier, and higher-quality life.

We hope that you take the protection of your life seriously and are willing to take the steps that not only increase your awareness in avoiding dangerous situations but also create a response that provides the greatest chance of escaping potential harm unscathed.

With that thought, let’s begin with an understanding of how a criminal thinks.

Chapter One

Understanding the Criminal Mind

The goal of this book centers on helping you in safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against crime and disaster. To start that learning and transformation process, we’ll begin by focusing on the criminal threat. To victim-proof yourself and thwart crime effectively, you’ll need to develop an awareness of the criminal element that exists around you, not lurking in the shadows, but in many instances standing next to you in your daily surroundings.

This first chapter helps you understand the way criminals think and the reasoning they use when selecting victims. This understanding can provide a clearer vision of the actions and non-actions in our daily lives that can either help us avoid victimization or place us in harm’s way.

When you are walking in a mall, grocery store, parking lot, or down the street, you are typically encountering multiple criminal elements without realizing it. Criminals don’t have a certain look that readily identifies them, and they definitely aren’t advertising their search for the next victim.

Your best defense is not your ability to recognize them based on their physical appearance. Rather, your advantage will be in understanding the way they think and profile their victims to ensure you don’t meet their criteria. When you’re aware of your surroundings, you may also notice signs of a crime in progress or about to occur, but that information will be covered later.

Many people find the information in this book alarming. While our goal isn’t necessarily to shock you, this effect is actually beneficial because it may provide that a-ha moment, waking you up enough to save yours as well as a loved one’s life.

A Criminal Is Extremely Effective at His or Her Job

First, a criminal’s job is essentially to commit crimes. Similar to any person hoping to enhance his or her trade or craft, the criminal puts a great deal of time, thought, and planning into developing, perfecting, and implementing the techniques and tactics he or she will use, ensuring the best possible results. In other words, the criminal perfects skills in much the same way that you perfect the abilities you use at work.

In many crimes, such as burglary and car theft, the criminal is constantly gaining experience and learning advanced skills through hands-on training, thereby making that individual an expert at successfully committing crimes.

One of the fastest spreading criminal threats facing our communities is the rise in gang-related crime. These criminals are generously funded, well armed, and extremely talented at recruiting and networking.

They use mobile phones, Internet access, and e-mail, and because of their tremendous monetary resources and organizational skills, criminal gangs are able to take advantage of state-of-the-art technology for communication, monitoring, and surveillance.

Where do these gangs obtain such large amounts of cash? The skyrocketing drug trade makes many criminal organizations as well funded as some Fortune 500 companies.

They are expert at networking, and shockingly, participate in their own chat rooms, blogs, and websites. International terrorist groups, in an effort to expand terrorism, are now working closely with dangerous street gangs, further complicating law enforcement’s efforts to combat criminal and terrorist activities. Combine this expertise with affording the best criminal attorneys money can buy and you might better understand the problems we’re facing with this dangerous element.

Your Best Defense

The best defense in thwarting a criminal’s attack is limiting his or her opportunities and hindering that person’s chance of success. You become the prevention specialist, your own first responder ultimately responsible for maintaining a safe environment in which the criminal finds no chance to victimize you.

Criminals are opportunistic and predatory thinkers constantly looking for someone over whom they can gain an advantage. They prey on soft targets, essentially exploiting the weaknesses of others. It is no different than a cheetah stalking its prey. It doesn’t have compassion or empathy for the herd; it merely looks for any weakness or opportunity on which to capitalize.

Criminals easily justify or rationalize their illegal and harmful actions. In many cases, they blame victims for exposing personal weaknesses or presenting opportunities. Even worse, many convicted criminals have identified themselves as the victims.

These opportunistic predators have mastered the skills of deception and disguise. They are chameleons in society capable of blending in well to avoid recognition as predators; they think nothing of causing pain, injury, or death while committing crimes and evading capture.

You can’t recognize them by their looks, so your only defense is paying attention and being mindful of your surroundings at all times. You must be constantly aware of what’s happening in your immediate environment and perhaps most important, become aware of your own actions while making a proactive effort to ensure that you are as victim-proof as possible.

There’s a process by which a criminal deduces who’d make a good victim and who should be left alone. This knowledge is extremely helpful when thwarting crime and although it is virtually impossible to shield yourself from the criminal element completely, you can implement many techniques to keep you and your family out of a criminal’s focus when he or she is looking for an easy target.

Experts will tell you the best way to win a confrontation is avoiding one, so we want to help you become less attractive to the criminal mind.

Understanding the Criminal Mind

As mentioned previously, criminals are masters of deception and disguise, blending in perfectly with their surroundings. They have the ability to go undetected while standing in line at the grocery store or within arm’s reach as you fill your gas tank. You might unknowingly be standing at adjacent ATMs or innocently conversing with them as you wait for your children after school.

The goal of telling you about this reality is not to frighten or intimidate, but rather to open your eyes to the fact that criminals prevail in daily life. They live in every community. They are someone’s child, spouse, mother, father, cousin, grandparent or friend. They eat, sleep, drink, and breathe no differently than the rest of us, meaning, you can’t easily identify them.

Think about the following question: when you hear the word criminal, what specific image comes to mind? Most of us have a preconceived notion about a criminal’s appearance. However, criminals come in all shapes, sizes, genders, ages, and ethnicities with no identifying features. They have varying degrees of education, income, and family dynamics, so you can’t discern criminals merely by looking at them.

Physical qualities can be deceiving. It’s similar to seeing a tiger in its cage at the zoo. This amazing animal appears calm and peaceful but if given the chance, it will tear you to pieces in seconds. Criminals act the same way. On the surface they might look safe enough, but under the right circumstances you or a loved one could easily become their next victim.

Your best defense is ensuring you aren’t an easy target. Criminals will always be around since crime is trending up, not down. Unfortunately, we don’t foresee any change affecting those upward trends.

If offenders want to commit crimes, then someone is going to be their prey. We want to provide the knowledge and awareness that prevents you from becoming their prime candidate.

You must function in all aspects of life to avoid becoming an attractive target to the criminal element. You must increase your awareness enough to recognize the signs of criminal action being planned or taking place. You must be able to realize when something feels out of place.

Criminals have the ability to fit in so they don’t attract attention. If you are observant and know the criteria, you might be able to see beyond their cover and expose them, potentially saving you or someone in the process.

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of experiencing or witnessing a crime, common-sense awareness can turn you into a valuable asset to law enforcement and prosecution. We don’t ever advocate that you respond as if you were law enforcement or take independent action when you see a crime occurring unless forced to defend you or a loved one. Our goal focuses on helping you become the best eyewitness, another proactive way to assist in fighting crime.

To help you improve these skills, you need to understand the criminal mind and the way it thinks. Essentially, you have to go into the criminal’s head and figure out the way his or her mind works. A few of the following traits of criminals make them especially dangerous to the world around them.

They Are Predators

As we mentioned previously, criminals prey on human weaknesses the way cheetahs prey on gazelles. If you watch any nature program, you know a cheetah will scrutinize a pack of gazelles before it attacks to determine the weakest one. This process increases the likelihood that the cheetah will be successful when descending on the herd.

Criminals act the same way. Some draw their conclusions rather quickly, such as in the case of a purse-snatcher walking down the street, rapidly eyeing all of the women holding handbags. They’re looking for the one individual not paying attention, the one texting