QUITE interesting heading; not one meant to demean anyone however. If you are presently reading this, then I have achieved my objective. That is, to capture your attention on a matter that is of extreme importance to both of us – your security – which you have not been taking responsibility for. Rather, you have been leaving it at the hands of others who themselves are incapable of dealing with the myriad of circumstances conducive to acts of criminality both social and geographic. Not to mention their personal, administrative and organisational limitations which I aim to deal with in a comprehensive manner later. They can only do so much and nothing more; you cannot squeeze milk from stone. No manner of wishful thinking can change this. How we confront these limitations, seek innovative solutions and our willingness to depart from unworkable, tried, tested and failed solutions and fixed ideas is what will get us through. This is where you come in.
There are certain things you can do for yourself. Hence, I am going beyond just telling you, you must be more security conscious. Don’t we all know that? The point is how do we become ‘security conscious’?
Stop being lulled into a sense of false security because you are the owner of a handgun! Check the statistics. Most, if not all who have handguns never fired a round while being robbed or even after. In fact, their guns were taken away along with their money and other valuables.
Disabuse yourself that because you have a weapon you are powerful. Let me tell you something, it’s not the weapon. It is the mind, the trigger behind the trigger! You may manage to have your weapon cocked and ready to shoot as an instinctive reaction, but in the split second it takes, the fear factor jumps in and you begin shivering in your knees because your mind has already concocted your own gory and bloodied death and disfigurement. That is the mental motion picture you vividly see passing before your eyes.
If you overcome that initial phase, you will unfreeze yourself in action. But here is the catch. This kind of response does not happen automatically. Maybe many of you have seen too much Western movies where the ‘star’ just pull a huge six shooter and shoot the ‘shizer’ out of three or four bad guys. Reality check! Never happens that way. You have to practise. Practise and practise with your weapon. The more the better: know your potential and that of your weapon.
You spend probably close to two hundred thousand dollars to purchase a good 9mm or .32 weapon and some of you have never fired it because you are too busy making money. Why did you buy it in the first place? To give free of charge to the bandits together with your hard-earned money!
Ensure you engage your Police Divisional Commanders and arrange for weekly shooting practice. Make this one of your priorities. It is for your security: your life and that of your family. Not me or the police!
In all of this, commonsense must prevail. Remember, resorting to your weapon is a personal judgement call. In many instances things happen so fast that it becomes almost impossible for an untrained mind to respond accordingly. And even when you may have a chance to respond, it may not be the best thing to do, given the risk factors which you will have to judge.
You are not ‘Rambo’ or ‘Steven Segal’, hence the need for training, more training and working out of various security scenarios! Your security is ultimately your responsibility, not the weapon or the four or five ex-police or army men you have employed to ‘keep guard or security.’ While this may provide some added level of mental comfort, know this now if you were not aware of it: being a ‘policeman’ or an ‘army man’ does not make you a ‘security man’ or a ‘bodyguard’ for that matter. Personal security is distinct from policing.
Whether you are the owner of a licensed firearm or not, there are certain mental safeguards essential to your security and wellbeing, probably most important of which is your power of observation or awareness.
Ensure you are comfortable both inside and outside of your work environment. There is something inside of you called intuition which can heighten your awareness and thus your power of observation. It can be a tower of strength if we know how to harness and channel it. Whenever you are feeling uneasy or uncomfortable (not from booze) heed that inner feeling – gut feeling – some may call it. Step cautiously in everything that you do. Become aware of your surroundings, the people around you and the place you are in. Be aware of the norm and anything that is out of the norm however insignificant it may be to you. These could be strange faces and unfamiliar people, strange behaviour, strange cars, motorcycles, bicycles, objects, one or more person or people liming suspiciously around your area. You will know. Just observe their actions – the constant and deliberate movement of the head or eyes in a particular direction, place or home; or looking at their time piece. Trust your instincts.
Remember, they too are anxious and are driven by fear, but the greed has made them overcome fear because they see you as an easy prey! They also fear the police and they fear physical discomfort – hasty and shifty looks, always attempting to conceal their faces or fading into the environment or neatly dressed and out of place – they too are under stress. Remember, no bandit wants to be identified or caught. So he or she is also driven by fear, greed and the need for safety after committing a criminal act. Your awareness or observation can make the difference.
Whatever you do, never assume. I usually say, it makes an Ass of U and Me. This is the most dangerous mental response to any situation – assumption. I always enforce this among my subordinates. Never assume. Always double check. Take a second look. Enquire! Ask again if you do not understand, no matter how foolish you may appear. Appear foolish, but get it right. Ask questions and you may be surprised to know even those who are supposed to have the relevant information do not know because they do not ask the pertinent questions! They too assumed they understood and so they feed you half baked information. In the long run, double checking under such circumstances may save your life. If you don’t have time to do so, it is simply because of your inefficiency! No two ways about it. Do not take things for granted.
Communicate! Speak to someone about your ‘gut feelings,’ apprehensions, suspicions, or observations. Write down if there is no one to discuss with at the time. You may completely forget. Do not keep them to yourself by mentally passing them over as ‘nothing’. Some of us are afraid we’ll look foolish if we raise certain issues that may be seen as trivial. For all you may know, that ‘trivial’ occurrence may be the key to prevention or finding a solution. Therefore, drop that foolish ego. It is the act of being afraid to look foolish that in the long run will make you foolish, if you do not lose your life before. Write down vehicle numbers, colour, make, description, etc. Same applies for strange people suspiciously lurking around. Make it your business to know. Call the police, inform them of your suspicion. Give accurate description which is a prerequisite for interception or arrest. Whatever may have been your experience, the police are not your enemies.
Routine is another dangerous trait. But hold on. Aren’t we creatures of habits, so why change what has been my ‘thing’ or way of life all these years? There is usually an ingrained stubbornness to change on the part of some people. Well! It’s your rear end on the line. Know that while may be the majority of petty crimes are crimes of opportunities, most major crimes are well planned and thought out. Just as you are planning to increase your profits, bandits are planning to deprive you of it. They are making a conscious choice to rob you and even kill you or your family if it becomes necessary.
So, do not establish patterns easy to read by using the same route, banking at the same time, drinking at the same watering hole at a particular time and a particular day, using the same vehicle, going for walks in the park or the seawall at the same time each day or alternate days, etc. Look at yourself and habits and you will know what to do. I am only pointing these out to you. Within your possibility change all as often as you can.
By no measure do I consider myself an expert on security. In fact, I cringe away from that word anytime I hear it. We have had so many of these ‘experts’ to advise on crime and criminality, by now Guyana should have been a paradise – with minimal crime. For me, plain ole’ commonsense, deep introspection, observation, spotting patterns, a bit of wisdom and intelligence always prevail. It can be the same for you. Just know yourself, your limitations and strengths.
What I did here is to establish general points applicable in any given situation. Given the opportunity for publication in this public awareness campaign, I will proceed to deal with specific problem areas in our society. Next in line is Security for Dummies: Returning Guyanese/foreigners followed by security for dummies: taxi drivers. Not the end.