Most of the information you read about criminals and criminal behavior is put together by college professors or criminal profilers; the problem with that is everything they’re telling you is based purely on theory or their academic observations. It’s one thing to develop a bunch of theories based on case studies while sitting in the safety and comfort of your office. It’s an entirely different thing to learn about crime as you’re looking down the barrel of a gun.
So to really understand the criminal mindset, you must go deeper. There are simply some things that can’t be learned through reading case studies or studying crime statistics. While the best way to understand the criminal mindset is to talk to the criminals, most of them aren’t going to open up and share their secrets. So the next best thing, and where I’m coming from on the issue, is talking to someone who has lived with criminals and has had to learn how to survive in their world. And trust me, their world is not your world, and it’s not like anything you’ve seen in a Hollywood movie.
My observation and my advice comes from years of living around people who engage in crime. I’ve dealt with many of the topics that I’m going to share with you, so everything you’re going to read is largely based on my real-world experience. It’s also based on my relationships with some pretty nefarious people—hey, I grew up living in some pretty rough cities. If you didn’t associate with some of these people you probably weren’t going to survive for very long.
The goal of this chapter is to help you develop a self-defense mindset that will help you avoid being a victim of crime, or if avoidance isn’t possible, to survive the situation with as little harm as possible. To really understand self- defense, and to wrap your head around why learning how to protect yourself is so important, we must first look at the criminal mindset.
There are a few characteristics that are found in nearly all criminals.
While you’re hard at work, trying to make a living to feed your family, the criminal is hard at work perfecting his craft. While some of these people aren’t the brightest bulbs in the bunch, you have to consider the fact that a criminal has nothing to do all day but think about ways to perfect his skills.
Also remember that many of them have more training and education, in regards to their criminal profession, than most doctors fresh out of medical school. The prison systems are like Ivy League schools for criminals. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week these people have nothing to do but learn from other criminals. While I’ve never been to prison, I grew up knowing a lot of people who have, and I can tell you they come out a hell of a lot smarter and, in most cases, even more ready to get back to their criminal ways.
Threats of law enforcement do nothing to stop these people. While none of them want to be caught, they aren’t scared of the consequences. Like I said, the prison system isn’t really a deterrent; in fact, some of criminals look at their time in prison as a mini vacation where they get to perfect their criminal skills.
I haven’t been to prison, but I have been to jail a couple of times. I did some dumb things when I was younger that I’m certainly not proud of, but my experiences taught me a lot about real-world defense. I’ve disclosed this information about my past to tell you what I’ve seen firsthand, and it sure isn’t pretty. Jails are filled with people who have no fear of the prison system. In fact, from what I’ve seen, most convicted criminals sentenced to a prison term couldn’t wait to get transferred from the local jail into the prison system, where, ironically, they have more freedom and more opportunity to perfect their criminal ways.
There’s only one thing that motivates criminals—they’re selfish. Many people in today’s society try to excuse criminal behavior by blaming it on things like social injustice, oppression, or economic circumstance. But there is really only one reason for crime: selfishness. Thankfully for the rest of us, selfishness is a weakness that makes the criminal somewhat predictable, and in a way easy to outsmart.
This is probably one of the most important things to remember, and has the largest impact on your ability to defend yourself. In the case of a violent attacker, you must understand that the attacker is coming prepared for violence. Not only is he ready to harm you, but he has mentally accepted the fact that he may be harmed in the process. This puts him at a huge advantage.
It’s impossible to be instantaneously mentally prepared for a surprise attack, unless you are living in the state of constant paranoia, which I don’t recommend to anyone. The criminal, however, is coming to the situation mentally prepared to be harmed, and this is where most wars are won. The guy who’s willing to die definitely has the upper hand because there’s nothing holding him back.
Situational awareness is being aware of your surroundings and the potential threats around you. It’s a critical skill that you need to develop. Chapter one helped you identify the potential threats around you. In terms of everyday situational awareness—taking notice of what is happening around you in the moment—most people are simply tuned out.
Between texting, daydreaming, or dealing with the never-ending bombardment of modern-day life, most people are tuned into everything except what’s really taking place around them. How many times have you arrived at your destination only to realize you have no memory of the route you took to get there? This would be the opposite of situational awareness, and people who live in this state are much more likely to fall victim to criminals, threats, and accidents that could have been easily avoided had they been aware of their surroundings.
Having spent years needing to protect myself on the streets, I can tell you from firsthand experience that situational awareness is the number-one thing you can do to protect yourself. Remember, criminals are coming into the crime or attack with the upper hand. They had the luxury of planning, watching, and waiting for the perfect target. After they’ve selected you, your best weapon is your ability to spot the danger before it’s too late. That being said, if they have selected you, nine times out of ten it’s because they picked up on your lack of awareness.
There are a number of simple steps you can take to improve your situational awareness. Develop your situational awareness mindset by doing the following:
Identify Threats. The simple act of taking the time to identify the most likely threats you’ll face and studying these threats gives you an edge that can help make you a less-appealing target to criminals.
People who go through life in denial about crime often make the best targets; criminals can smell these people from a mile away. Being ignorant of the threats that are out there makes your chances of recognizing and avoiding those threats nearly impossible.
Take control of your personal safety and security. Those who are able to defend themselves because they took the time to train in self-defense are much more likely to spot a potential threat before someone who failed to take the adequate training. Chapter thirteen details self-defense training and practices.
Recognize behavioral clues. Noticing the behavior of those around you is one of the best was to predict an attack. Be on guard and pay particular attention to the action of someone who
Use profiling to your advantage. While this may not be politically correct to say, the fact is criminals often fit certain profiles. The chances of being robbed by an elderly lady in a wheelchair are a lot less likely than being robbed by a teenager who is sporting gang colors and covered in gang tattoos. In my opinion, profiling has nothing to do with race, but does have everything to do with appearance.
That being said, remember that appearances can be deceiving. Smarter criminals are going to try to blend into their environment and will often change their appearance to try to deceive potential victims.
Use technology to your advantage. You can increase your overall awareness by using technology to give you a better idea of what’s going on around you. Before going to a large public event, or visiting a large public place like a mall or theater, take a couple of minutes to do some reconnaissance online. Images from Google Earth can give you a good idea of possible escape routes should something happen, and social media websites like Twitter and Facebook can help inform you of disturbances or large-scale acts of violence before they happen. It’s kind of shocking, but many of today’s violent attacks, riots, and large-scale disturbances are often preplanned and coordinated via social media.
While the thought of people actually bragging about their crimes might be disturbing, it does help give you an extra layer of protection by allowing you to look up your destination before leaving the house. Searching for the name of your destination on a site like Twitter can help you get a better picture of what’s going on and can help you avoid potential threats.
Trust your gut. One of the best things you can do is to learn to trust your gut. Our subconscious minds have a way of picking up on subtle details that we might otherwise miss. These small clues often give us a gut feeling that something just isn’t right. Unfortunately most people ignore these feelings, and often find themselves in trouble because of it.