The Frugal Yankee's Guide To Personal Security

By Harwood Loomis

People like Michael Bloomberg have armies of private security agents to keep them safe. Celebrities have bodyguards. Not everyone can afford to hire private security, but everyone deserves to be secure as they go through life. Based on a lifetime of experience, from an Army deployment to Vietnam to having been a material witness in two federal white collar criminal investigations, the author provides a number of suggestions for low-cost and free strategies that can help anyone to be more secure in their daily lives.

Not a "self-defense" book, this book touches on all areas of daily life, from the locks on your doors to the "locks" on your computer files, and examines simple, low-cost (or free) ways for readers to increase personal security in all aspects of their daily lives without spending a lot of money.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elderslie Press
• Release date: Jan 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781736443422

Harwood Loomis

Harwood W. Loomis is a semi-retired architect, clinical hypnotherapist, and author whose technical articles have appeared in publications dedicated to architecture, engineering, and property management. A life-long automotive hobbyist, he has crewed for a stock car racing team, built his own race car, and he is a former state champion in the Connecticut Council of Sports Car Clubs autocross series. Harwood is a Vietnam veteran. His awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with Two Bronze service Stars, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm Device, and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal Unit Citation, First Class. He was a member of the 1814 Color Guard and a member of his battalion competition shooting team. Professional affiliations include being a founding member and Director of BOCA Professional Chapter Number 1, a professional organization which became the Connecticut Chapter of the International Code Council; his positions included Vice President, President, and multiple terms as a Director. In addition, he has served as a Director, Vice President, and President of the New England Building Code Association (NEBCA), and Chairman of the Building Codes and Regulations Commission of AIA Connecticut. He has been an instructor on building code issues for the State of Connecticut Office of Education and Data Management. Harwood has served as a member of the board of directors and Vice President of Cornerstone, a mental health halfway house in New Haven, Connecticut; member of the board of directors, author, and contributing editor for the Trumbull [Connecticut] PC Users Group; and member of the board of directors and newsletter editor for The Phenix Society [a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for senior citizens]. He currently acts as a moderator on three Internet discussion forums and writes for and serves as Senior Editor for an on-line magazine. Harwood lives with his family of Jeeps in Woodbridge, Connecticut. The house stands on the last remaining portion of a larger tract of land that was granted to a maternal ancestor by King George of England before the American Revolution. He qualifies for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution as a result of service during the revolution by ancestors on both sides.

Book preview

Book_Complete_B_N_2021-01-23_v1AsposeHarwood Loomis202021-01-04T21:43:00Z2021-01-24T04:12:00Z2021-01-24T04:12:00Z16743891250183Aspose208458629348816.0000

The Frugal Yankee’s Guide to Personal Security

Copyright © 2021 by Harwood W. Loomis

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, scanning, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

International Standard Book Number: 978-1-7364434-2-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021900294

Published by:

ELDERSLIE PRESS

172 Peck Hill Road

Woodbridge, Connecticut 06525

United States of America

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This book is dedicated to the memory of my parents, Harwood and Eleanor Loomis, who raised me in safety and security, and my maternal grandparents, Thomas III and Eleanor Wallace, who taught me what safety and security mean.

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Fear is not to be overcome, or dreaded, or avoided, or expelled from our life; neither is it to be our dwelling, obsession or constant companion. But it should be respected, recognized, and humbly listened to for its singular solemn advice. Indeed, its wise and cautionary warnings should always be heeded. Fear was designed to function as a familiar adviser, an overly critical, cautious, conservative friend—not our foe. When it is accepted, and appreciated for what it is, fear is a sage, a warning system, and one of our oldest, most experienced guides. When it holds itself at bay as necessary, it is like the security detail that waits at some serious attention in the back of the room, ever watchful, ever ready, benign, non-threatening—until circumstances require its sensitive, timely services.

― Connie Kerbs, Paths of Fear: An Anthology of Overcoming Through Courage, Inspiration, and the Miracle of Love

The way to be safe is never to be secure.

— Benjamin Franklin

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Acknowledgements

John Caradimas and Spyros Georgilidakis were both supportive in encouraging me to write this book, despite my questioning my ability to do it. Spyros was also helpful in commenting on the early drafts; his insights were invaluable. John came to the rescue when I needed to know how to perform certain operations on a Mac computer. When I encountered issues in formatting the images for use in the book (both the print and digital versions), I found the answer in a freeware program that Spyros recommended to me. Paul Acampora was always available to act as a sounding board and to offer suggestions when I needed to discuss a particular kind of situation and how best to respond to it with a limited budget. David Kantrovitz always answered the call when I had questions about self-publishing and producing one’s own book creation. When I had questions about police procedures or equipment, Steve Shields was always ready to answer my questions. Finally, Rick McCleery offered a number of invaluable suggestions that helped to polish the final manuscript.

Without the help and encouragement of all these people I could not have written or published this book.

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THE FRUGAL YANKEE’S GUIDE TO

PERSONAL

SECURITY

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Introduction

ALTHOUGH on a national level statistics show that violent crime has declined over the past ten years, there is no escaping the fact that violent crime still exists. Moreover, although the statistics talk about the number of incidents, what these statistics don’t tell us is that the level of violence may be getting more severe in many types of incidents. And, of course, statistics about national averages are of no help if you live in an area that currently suffers from high rates of violent crime. It’s nice that residents of Taos, New Mexico, don’t have to worry much about violent crime, but that’s not going to help if you live in Baltimore, Chicago, or Detroit.

The advice from many police chiefs and politicians is to Call 9-1-1 when there’s a problem. That advice, sadly, is useless if there are home invaders breaking in your front door or, worse, already in your house. Realists understand that When seconds count, the police are only minutes away. When the wolf is at the door, you don’t need help in the five to fifteen minutes it may take for a police car to respond—you need help right now! The unhappy truth is that the primary role of the police in combating violent crime is to document the evidence after the fact, and then to go looking for the person or people they think might have committed the crime. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the police do not have any duty to protect individual people against individual criminal acts.[1] What does this mean? It means that when it comes down to a need to defend yourself and your loved ones, you are responsible for your own security and self-defense.

For a gruesome example of how true this is, we need to look no farther than Cheshire, Connecticut. Cheshire is a wealthy, upscale bedroom community located between New Haven and Hartford. Cheshire was considered to be safe. A little more than ten years ago as I write this, two career criminals invaded the home of Dr. William Petit. After bludgeoning Dr. Petit so severely that it’s a miracle that he survived, the two men raped and then strangled Mrs. Petit, sexually molested one or both of their two daughters, then doused the house and the women in gasoline and lit the house on fire. Mrs. Petit and the two girls all died, horribly.

Before Mrs. Petit was strangled, and before the perpetrators had lit the gasoline, the Cheshire police were on the scene. What were they doing while the murders were being carried out? They were setting up a perimeter. They had their perimeter in place by the time the two perpetrators left, in the Petit’s mini-van, and they caught the men red-handed. By then it was too late. Mrs. Petit was already dead. The fire escalated so quickly that, by the time the fire department arrived, both girls were also dead, and the interior of the house was completely gutted.

But…the police had the perpetrators in custody, so it was another closed case for the Cheshire Police Department. Remember—the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the police do not have any duty to protect individual people against individual criminal acts. We need to always remember that, ultimately, each of us is responsible for his or her own safety and security.

This has always been in the back of my mind but it was brought to the front a couple of years ago when my daughter went away to college. She is from South America originally, and that’s where she went to attend university. Within her first year there she had her cell phone stolen twice, and she was held up at gunpoint (in a country where private citizens are not allowed to carry guns except at a licensed shooting club) and had her backpack, including her identification papers and her ATM card, stolen.

Decades earlier, I had the misfortune of being a material witness in a case of federal white collar crime. I received threatening telephone calls, and I arrived home one afternoon to find a threatening note stuck in my screen door. I called the local police department. They sent an officer who looked at the note, listened to my story, and then asked, What do you want us to do? It’s a federal case. Never mind that the federal office handling the case was 100 miles and more than two hours away. Clearly, if I wanted any sort of protection I was on my own. I did not have a firearms permit and I didn’t own any firearms. I hadn’t fired a gun since I left the Army 25 years before.

I’m not a wealthy person. My incident was frightening but, ultimately, it was resolved without any injury or direct confrontation and it appears that the threats were intended to be psychological rather than physical. The incidents involving my daughter were concerning to me and frightening to her, as well as physically dangerous in the moment. Thankfully, she wasn’t harmed—but not because of anything she did or could have done to prevent being injured. More importantly, they got me started on the road to exploring ways in which ordinary people, who aren’t billionaires with their own, private, armed security forces on duty 24 hours a day, can find inexpensive (or free!) ways to make their lives and themselves more secure. This book is the result of those explorations.

I hope each and every reader will find something in the following pages that they can put to practical use in their everyday lives.

Harwood W. Loomis

Woodbridge, Connecticut

January, 2021

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[1]             See DeShaney v. Winnebago Cty. DSS, 489 U.S. 189 (1989) and Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005). Also Warren v. District of Columbia (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981)

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Chapter 1

The Difference Between Personal

Security and Self-Defense

AT VARIOUS TIMES in world history, great men have expressed variations of the concept that the best defense is a good offense. As long ago as the ancient Han Dynasty of China (circa 500 BC), the master strategist Sun Tzu included this principle in his seminal work, The Art of War, which is now required study for United States military leaders.

Closer to home, in 1799, George Washington wrote … offensive operations, often times, is the surest, if not the only (in some cases) means of defence. The principle is obvious in modern sports. Whether your game is football, basketball, or soccer, if the offense can keep the ball in the other team’s half of the field or court, constantly pressing the attack, your defense gets an easy day. We can adapt this timeless principle to increase our own personal safety and security, without spending a lot of money and without putting ourselves to a lot of inconvenience.

I’m not suggesting that we change into antagonistic people who go through life looking for excuses to attack other people. Far from it. What I’m referring to is the difference between being proactive (offense) rather than reactive (defense). Once you find yourself in a situation where you have to defend yourself, you have already lost half the battle. Your antagonist has chosen the place, the time, and the method of his attack. You are on the defensive, and defense (reaction) is almost always more difficult than offense (being proactive). A primary goal of personal safety and security should be to avoid being on the defensive if at all possible.

Personal security is, above all, a state of mind. Self-defense, on the other hand, usually involves some degree of physical response to a direct threat or attack. Monetary or budgetary issues aside, many of us simply aren’t physically capable of offering effective self-defense against a direct, physical attack. I’m a good example. I’m a Vietnam veteran—I served in combat in Vietnam in 1968. That was more than fifty years ago, so basic arithmetic tells you that I am now a senior citizen. I’ve undergone open chest heart surgery, I have a bad back, I’m walking on an artificial hip, and my knees are questionable. Clearly, I’m not in any condition to become involved in a physical contest with a younger, stronger person who may have spent years studying martial arts or who may have spent several years in a prison, using his recreational time pumping iron in the prison’s gymnasium. I’m also not in any condition to make like King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.[2] Running is out of the question for me. The best I can manage on some days is a hobble; that’s not good enough.

What I’m suggesting is that our goal should be to make every effort to simply avoid putting ourselves into situations where self-defense might become necessary. By being proactive about our personal security, we can hope to avoid being forced into a situation requiring reactive self-defense tactics and techniques. We don’t need to spend a lot of money to accomplish the goal of improving personal security.

As I will discuss in the following chapters, the most important element of this is simply common sense. We need to adjust our thinking and our habits so that we live our lives as much as possible to avoid putting ourselves in dangerous situations. Is that always possible? Of course not. Who could have foreseen, for example, that a nutcase on the 32nd floor of a luxury hotel would start shooting into the audience at a popular country-western music concert? Or, a number of years before, who could have foreseen that a music group’s pyrotechnic stage effects would burn down The Station nightclub in Rhode Island, killing 100 people and injuring 230 more? Both of these were real life events. They happened. Does that mean we should stop going to concerts?

Not at all. But, in the pages that follow, I’ll probably use the words common sense more than a few times. Maybe because my profession involves building design, construction, and building and fire safety codes, whenever I enter a place where I haven’t been before the first thing I do is look around to see where the emergency exits are located and what my best route will be to each exit. If I see that exit signs are obscured or that an exit door is blocked (as they were at The Station), yes, I’m going to be that guy and I’ll talk to someone in charge. And if an exit isn’t unblocked—I’ll be that guy and call the fire marshal, because I know that disasters don’t call ahead to make appointments. Common sense should tell us not to voluntarily put ourselves in a trap.

Inevitably, in discussions about personal security someone always says, But you can’t be paranoid about all this. I want to live a normal life. There’s an old joke to the effect that, Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me. Things happen, even to people who lead normal lives. It’s not generally considered paranoid to wear a seatbelt in an automobile or an airplane. It’s also not considered paranoid to have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen, somewhere near the range. To expand our personal security, then, we can simply use some common sense and look for additional ways to enhance safety against other things that might happen—without spending a lot of money for dubious return on investment, and without creating an existence that’s like trying to live in a bubble—or a fortress. Like buckling your seatbelt each time you get into your automobile, many common sense actions to reduce our exposure to danger are so easy that they quickly become just as automatic as buckling your seat belt.

There are times, of course, when personal security precautions fail and self-defense becomes necessary. We won’t pretend otherwise, and in later chapters I will discuss self-defense on a budget, too. However, self-defense in and of itself is not the primary focus of this book.

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[2] For those not familiar with that classic British comedy, when King Arthur and his knights were confronted with the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, their strategy to escape from all being slaughtered was, Run away! See YouTube for Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

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Chapter 2

Street Security

IF WE AREN’T GOING TO LIVE life in a bubble or behind the walls of a medieval stone fortress, we’re probably going to spend a lot more time out in the world than we’ll spend sitting comfortably at