Personal awareness during the holiday season

Every year during the holidays criminals prey on unaware shoppers and homeowners throughout the country.  I would just like to take this time to point out some helpful awareness tips to consider while doing your holiday shopping and stocking your homes up with expensive gifts for your loved ones.

It is extremely important to be aware of your surroundings at all times. This is to include people, objects, and potential means to escape should an attacker target you.  While out and about it is always a good idea to let someone (husband, wife, friend, girlfriend, etc.) know where you are and to give them your estimated time of arrival back home.  This is a good practice seeing as if something should happen to you the authorities can be notified in a timely manner.

When deciding on where to park in a large, full parking lot during the holidays a lot of people look for the furthest spot from the entrance or a less crowded area in order to not get a “door ding” on their vehicle.  Those parking spaces are usually dimly lit sometimes not having any lights at all and are prime spots for predators to be hiding.  Keeping your safety in mind, make sure to park as close to the entrance as you can and preferably around other vehicles in a very well lit area thus taking away the element of surprise from a would be attacker.

When exiting a mall, department store, grocery store, etc. in the evening hours, it is always a good idea to place your items in a cart (should the store provide one) in order to keep your hands free to defend yourself should you become a victim of an attack.  Also, make sure to have your keys in your hand while walking to your vehicle.  This will limit the amount of time it takes you to load your items and get safely inside your vehicle.  If you are shopping at a store that, as a courtesy, offers help out to your vehicle, you should always accept this during the evening hours. 

There are numerous personal safety “tools” out there that you can easily carry on your person while out and about to include a small bright flashlight, a key chain pepper spray, the key fob for your car alarm (with panic feature), and a CHARGED mobile phone.  The flashlight and pepper spray can be used to blind/incapacitate an attacker thus giving you time to get to a safe area and call the authorities.  The panic feature on your car alarm will potentially draw attention to the area thus scaring a would be attacker away.

Home break-ins around the holidays are on the rise as well.  To ensure you do not fall victim to a break in there are a few precautions one can take to make your home less enticing for a thief.  First, make sure all bushes/plants around the entry points (front door, side door, and back door) are trimmed back as to not provide a place of concealment for a thief. Secondly, ensure all windows and doors are securely shut and locked at all times.  Thieves tend to target the “homes of least resistance,” homes that they see are good targets to get in and get out without issue and in a timely manner.  Homeowners who have dogs either in the house or outside the house rarely fall victim to burglary/break-ins.  I am not telling everyone to go out and buy a dog for the holiday season, but if you do not have a dog you can very affordably make it look as though you have a very large dog in the house.  Go out to the local pet store and pick up an extra large dog food bowl and water dish filling each of them about a half to two-thirds with food and water and leave them by your back door hence making it look like “Brutus” is inside the home therefore leaving your home less likely to be chosen by a thief.  Another good deterrent for would be thieves is to leave a large, semi-muddy, pair of work boots outside of the front door.  The last thing a thief wants is confrontation. 

Lastly, the most effective form of protection for your home is an alarm system.  These systems can be costly if your home is not pre-wired for it.  An alternative to actually purchasing and having an alarm installed is to pick up an alarm company sign for your front yard and possibly stickers for you back and side doors.  As I mentioned before thieves like to target homes in which they believe there is not a potential for confrontation or apprehension.  By placing the sign and stickers outside of your home you give the impression that there is in fact an alarm system installed thus leaving the would be thief with no other option but to skip over your home and move on to another.

These are just a few tips I hope everyone will practice this season to ensure a safe and happy holiday. For a more in-depth education on self awareness and preparedness please visit www.caswells.com for a list of our courses surrounding personal protection. 

For more detailed information on securing your home please contact the Maricopa Police Department at 520-316-6893 to set up a free By Appointment In Home Crime Prevention Evaluation. 

Bridger Kimball is a Maricopa resident, NRA Certified Personal Protection In the Home Instructor, and Co-Owner of Caswells Shooting Range.    

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