2011年11月18日
Basic Personal Safety
Over the past few months, I've had a lot of questions about crime and safety, both by people worried about being victims of crime when they go to visit America, and people worried about crimes committed by Americans in Japan.
It is true that America has a much higher violent crime rate than Japan. I don't know why that is. It's also true that American life is not nearly as dangerous as most Japanese people seem to believe. It's like earthquakes in Japan. Americans think that Japanese earthquakes are almost constant, and always disastrous, when, in reality, they're not that common, usually not a big deal, and it's just something most people have learned to live with without noticing it very much.
I was a security guard for a few years. I liked my job and took it seriously, and I took a lot of classes with the local police, and I've learned a few things about personal safety. Here are a few key points:
When we teach about fire safety, we often show a chart of the fire triangle. A fire needs three things: oxygen, fuel, and heat. If you don't have all three of those things, a fire can't start. Similarly, there is a crime triangle. A criminal needs three things: ability, motive, and opportunity. If they don't have those three things, they can't commit a crime. You can't do much to control someone's ability to do crime, but you can do things to reduce their motivation and opportunity.
Just like everyone else, criminals are driven by incentive. If something has low risk and high reward, lots of people will want to take that action. If something looks like it has high risk or low reward, people will avoid doing it.
Criminals are typically opportunistic predators. They want to hit an easy target and get away as quickly as possible. If you appear to be distracted or lost, you're an easy target. If you're alone when it's dark, you're an easy target. If you have an expensive watch or a nice new cell phone or other signs that you have money or valuables, you're an easy, delicious target.
Be alert to your environment. Get off your cell phone and your PSP and look around you. You'll see problems coming and be able to avoid them. Moreover, you'll appear alert, making you a much harder target, and just from that your problems will usually avoid you.
It is true that America has a much higher violent crime rate than Japan. I don't know why that is. It's also true that American life is not nearly as dangerous as most Japanese people seem to believe. It's like earthquakes in Japan. Americans think that Japanese earthquakes are almost constant, and always disastrous, when, in reality, they're not that common, usually not a big deal, and it's just something most people have learned to live with without noticing it very much.
I was a security guard for a few years. I liked my job and took it seriously, and I took a lot of classes with the local police, and I've learned a few things about personal safety. Here are a few key points:
When we teach about fire safety, we often show a chart of the fire triangle. A fire needs three things: oxygen, fuel, and heat. If you don't have all three of those things, a fire can't start. Similarly, there is a crime triangle. A criminal needs three things: ability, motive, and opportunity. If they don't have those three things, they can't commit a crime. You can't do much to control someone's ability to do crime, but you can do things to reduce their motivation and opportunity.Just like everyone else, criminals are driven by incentive. If something has low risk and high reward, lots of people will want to take that action. If something looks like it has high risk or low reward, people will avoid doing it.Criminals are typically opportunistic predators. They want to hit an easy target and get away as quickly as possible. If you appear to be distracted or lost, you're an easy target. If you're alone when it's dark, you're an easy target. If you have an expensive watch or a nice new cell phone or other signs that you have money or valuables, you're an easy, delicious target.
Be alert to your environment. Get off your cell phone and your PSP and look around you. You'll see problems coming and be able to avoid them. Moreover, you'll appear alert, making you a much harder target, and just from that your problems will usually avoid you.
Posted by teachers at
09:00
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