For Your Safety: The ‘For Your Safety’ summary!

Over the past years’ time, I have given readers of this column numerous professional tips to help them stay safe in a troubled world. While the nation is currently experiencing an alarming crime spike, it is important for us all to think about our personal safety and take steps to reduce risks.

Unfortunately, bad things happen to good people. “I never thought anything like this would ever happen to me,” has been verbalized by thousands of innocent victims throughout time. Why would anyone think that and is that an enlightened attitude to adopt? Pretending that bad things will never happen to you is comforting, but unrealistic.

Prior columns in this series have addressed such topics as burglar proofing your home, surviving a carjacking, Street Smarts, international travel hints, staying safe in a hotel, safety aboard airliners and at airports both domestic and international, handling a dangerous home invasion, terrorism, self-defense methods, mass shootings, and numerous articles focusing on international espionage topics and the possible danger to you and your family, especially overseas. I have dug into my past to provide you with proven methods and tactics to deal with these and many other dangerous personal safety threats.

It is very unpleasant and unsettling to think about life threatening situations but it can be even more unpleasant to find yourself involved in such a mess with never having thought about how you could save yourself and your loved ones. So many victims of criminal events occurring at malls, churches, crowd gatherings, nightclubs, and many other places find themselves frozen with fear and indecision with no idea what to do. They become totally lost and helpless, ending up facing whatever may happen next. At a time like that, a life-long Pollyanna style mindset can get you injured or killed! To quote an oft-used phrase: “ignorance is not bliss.”

Avoidance is your best strategy in any bad situation. Don’t get embroiled in it in the first place. How do you do that in many cases? It’s called SA!

If there is one absolutely essential element necessary to promote safety it is “Situational Awareness.” Be aware of what is going on around you at all times. Be proactive in the identification of threats. Stay awake!

As I bid you all adieu, may I wish you health, happiness, and effective personal safety! Remember, preparedness not paranoia wins!

K.H. Kraft has over 40 years of affiliations with intelligence and police organizations. Sources for these articles are decades of personal experience and numerous official manuals.


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