Today I saw an article on the Fox News website, “NYC sees disturbing sex crime trend, as police hunt serial assailants attacking women on Manhattan streets”.
One woman was raped at 4 am and another at 5 am. One can say, “Why were they out at 4 am or 5 am”, but let’s face facts, even during “regular hours” too many young people have their faces in their phones, playing Sloto instead of paying attention to what is going on around them. There is nothing wrong with taking advantage of a Slotocash no deposit bonus, but not while you are walking down the street.
Tip 1: Pay Attention To Your Surroundings
“There is a time and a place for everything under the sun”. There is a time and a place to play Sloto … on the bus, on the train, sitting on a bench in the park … but walking down the street is not one of them.
The first rule of personal safety is to be aware of your surroundings. That does not mean living in panic, but it does mean using common sense. If your face is in your phone, do have no idea what is going on around you (lack of vision), especially if you also have headphones on that are blocking out outside noises (lack of hearing).
Tip 2: Have Your House Keys And/Or Car Keys In Your Hand
The time that you are most vulnerable is when your face is in your purse while you are looking for your house keys or your car keys. You are distracted and focused on your bag looking for your keys, so you have no sense of what is going on around you.
The best approach to take before you go outside to walk from the store (or office building) to your car or from the bus to your house is to take your keys out and hold them in your hand.
Do not just hold them in your hand. Hold your keys in such a way that the top part of your key is poking out between your fingers and the bottom part of the key is in the palm of your hand. You end up with your hand in a fist, with the metal keys tops sticking out between all of your fingers.
If you only have one key, buy a couple of fake keys. Just go to any key-making place. You can either buy a blank, or they can cut it to be “anything”, or they may even have “mistake” keys they may be willing to give you for free or at a discount.
The most damage that you will be able to realistically do is to scratch the assailant. But the point is not to actually confront the assailant, but to give the impression that you are “not an easy target”. So walk tall, head held high, while holding your keys with confidence in your hand. In most cases, any “bad person” will see you as somebody who is “not worth the trouble”, and will keep looking for an “easier target”.
Most criminals are lazy, because if they were not lazy, they would do their homework when they were kids, and got an education, so they would have more options for a career than being a criminal.
Tip 3: Safety Sound Personal Alarm For Your Keychain
There are several different versions to choose from. Some are “cute” (kitty where you pull the tail to turn on the alarm), to ones that just look “standard”. In general, these are around 140 dB. They include a safety light, so you can have some light, as well as see the keyhole to your front door or car door, so you don’t waste time unlocking the door (not get distracted and lose sight of your surroundings).
To quote the top comment on Amazon for a “Safe Sound Personal Alarm,3 Pack130 dB Loud Siren Song Emergency Self-Defense Security Alarm Keychain with LED Light, Personal Sound Safety Siren for Women, Men, Children, Elderly (Black/Purple/Green) ” –, “This is an artist rendition of the man that ran away from me because I pulled the tail on the kitty. What you can’t see is that he also pooped his pants. Victory!” (Personally, I love reading stories like that.)
I do not want to infringe on copyright by posting the image, but you can go to the website and see the image in the comment section for yourself.
There are other designs that include more “features”, but being on a keychain that is attached to your keys or can attach to the outside of your bag within easy reach is the best. But being on a keychain, while your keys are in your hand, as suggested in “tip 2” is the best.
Tip 4: High Tech Version Of Personal Alarm
The personal alarm is great, but it is still only local. It will produce and loud sound, and it will scare a person off, but in all likelihood, the person will just find another target, If not that night, then on another night.
But not all of us are like my husband’s grandmother. A 5′ woman who worked in an ice factory, so when somebody tried to extort “protection pay” from her, she turned around and threatened them with an ice pick — no fear. The “men” tried to file charges against her for threatening them. The judge essentially laughed at the thugs. Judge: “She is a 5′ tall teenager, and you are 6′ tall, and you expect me to believe that she threatened you.”
So, most of us need other options. “POM Safe Smart Protector – Keychain Personal Safety Device – Trigger Fake Phone Call, Emergency Dispatch, GPS Location, Silent Text Alert, 2-Way Speaker, Location Check-in, Key Finder” to the rescue.
There are two parts to this device. One part is a small black circular device you can carry on your phone, similar to the safety personal alarm above. The second part is an application on your phone.
Features:
• Discreetly trigger a fake call to your phone to excuse yourself from an uncomfortable situation.
• Send an auto text.
• Start an auto call that also shares your location. (so help can come or reported later).
• Quickly connect with POM Emergency Response who see your precise location and profile information saving precious time (subscription required).
• Dial 911 without a subscription (required by federal law).
• Works on iPhone and Android.
• Battery lasts for 10 days without a charge (charge once a week, and works for the rest of the week).
A disadvantage is no light, like the personal alarms have.
There are three options that the button can do, but these options have to be turned on or off individually in the app settings.
1. Autocall – start a phone call with a specific person. Cannot be combined with a fake phone call.
2. Autotext – Sends an automatic text message with a custom message and/or location.
3. Fake phone call – Sends an automated phone call to your own phone. Good for during a date or commute when you are not being threatened, but just uncomfortable.
4. Tap three times, and you are automatically connected with a trained POM Response dispatcher. A two-way speaker is built into the POM device. In other words, it works even if your phone is in your bag or pocket.
There is even the option to have a virtual escort. Let’s say you want to go for a run. You tell the app, you are going for a run, and when you expect to be back. If you fail to check in at the time you set or go somewhere unexpected, POM checks in and makes sure you’re ok. This is great for a single person, so that “somebody” knows where you are. Or even for an elderly relative, so “somebody” once a day is checking in to make sure they are okay.
The cost is $9.99 per month for an individual, but there are discounts for small businesses, schools, and enterprise editions. A nice benefit to your employees if their job either requires them to travel, drive to customer locations, and/or start or end the day during “non-regular” business hours. In terms of the safety of the employees, it is “low cost” and gives the impression to your employees that you care about them and their safety.
