Progression of The Event
4. Assault progresses to physical
contact
Approach/Closing Distance Gap
How to recognise an ‘assault approach’.
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Loiterer conversation stops.•
Any verbal calling or comments.•
Very close walk-by and reverse.•
Followed or flanked.•
Some innocuous request.•
Personal space violation.•
More than one approaching.•
Your time to decide diminishes quickly!Immediate Response Necessary
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Sound off and give a directive - if youhave not seen the incident develop with enough time to alter course and seek safety, your first weapon is your voice.
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Be specific when yelling for help.•
Run/spread the distance and find people.•
Forget your doubts.•
Forget the embarrassment factor.•
If you don’t do these things the event will progress and you will need Part 2 of this book sooner than you thought, and if it progresses anyway what have you learned.Reaction To Physical Contact
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Listen to what they want if they tell you.•
Don’t turn a theft into a violent assault.•
Give up the item.With Compliance/Co-operation
opt-ions - there are positives and negatives. They may still inflict violence gratuitously or they may take the items and leave and at the point you accede to any request you do not know.
With Resistance/Fighting options -
there are positives and negatives. You may lose and suffer greater harm than if you had cooperated or you may win the day with little or no injury. There is also the degree to which the other party may suffer injury. One point to
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approach the more options you have. Awareness factors.
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Consider temporary cooperation which may assist in reassessment and better positioning - in other words can you buy some time.•
If able to break and run - do so.•
Ineffective defensive manoeuvre will make matters worse.•
If you must, fight to escape - Timing, Technique, Tenacity.You are more vulnerable when;
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You are isolated (safety in numbers).•
You are in darkness (stay out).•
You are near areas of concealment (hiding places).‘You must consciously plan to avoid these’ - Security (vs) Convenience.
remember you can never resist you can only fight. To simply resist would
get you seriously hurt.
As you will read throughout this whole book I keep emphasising that at the time of the event this is no place to be making carefully balanced decisions about the pro’s and con’s. There is much you have to take in, does he have a weapon? perceived physical capabilities, is anyone around to help, is he changing location, is he hurting you? now- it all becomes a question of priorities.
General Reaction Guidelines
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Don’t let them transport you elsewhere.•
The sooner you notice theDon’t walk with your back to the traffic. You have no time to evaluate ie. ‘Condition Orange’ any threat if a vehicle pulls up alongside - it’s straight into ‘Red’.
ATM’s - stay aware and don’t let people stand too close, particularly if they can look over your shoulder.
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Worst Areas
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Subways at night.•
A deserted station or bus depot.•
Lonely, narrow and poorly lit streets.•
Short cuts through parks, wasteland, back streets or alleys.•
Walking alone - the later the worse, particularly in a known dangerous area.Other Specific Problem Areas
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Parking areas at shopping centres, sports events, transportation terminals.•
Stairwells, elevators, toilets.•
Automated teller machines (ATM’s).•
Public recreational facilities - Parks.•
Any ‘Drive through’ service area.Selection
Most criminals have a process of selection i.e. the most vulnerable, low risk option such as a purse or handbag snatch from behind. You don’t have to be small, weak or old you just have to be careless. Also you must bear in mind that selection of you as a target could be made in a busy area, but perpetrated in a quieter one.
•
What most people think are spontaneous robbers have usually had many minutes in the planning.•
The most switched on people are crooks- they are minor psychologists and work by a sense of feel and intuition. The burglar who was followed by a TV crew whilst he walked the streets targeting houses to burgle,made intuitive, but accurate guesses about the occupancy of houses.
Geoff Thompson in his book Dead or Alive clearly illustrates how muggers
operate.
Muggers follow a ritual. Most have accomplices.
Most muggings involve stalking and dialogue entrapment.
The greater the crime the greater the deception.
He also outlines the ritual for gratuitous assault which can be only one step removed from being robbed as well:
1. The eye contact. 2. The question.
3. The physical approach. 4. Question reiteration. 5. Actual challenge. 6. Single word exchange. 7. Assault.
Pre-Incident Indicators
a. Unnatural impediment to your movement.
b. Correlation of third party move- ment to that of yourself.
c. Sudden changes of status of a person or persons near you. Predatory movements i.e. circling and two or more moving in from opposite directions (pack actions).
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d. verbal exchange initiated by a stranger.
e. Target or escape avenue glancing.
f. Person or persons approaching at an oblique path that will intersect with that of yourself.
g. Hidden hand or hands that cause an unnatural walking posture.
h. Bumps, pushes, shoves or grabs. i. Relative absence of locals or authorities.
j. Automobiles stopping alongside, slightly to the front or behind.
k. Any obviously intoxicated person or persons.
l. Any second pass by a vehicle. m. Obvious attempts at ‘Baiting’. n. Glances between apparent strangers as they approach, impede, hail or otherwise interact.
o. Undue attention to your presence or vehicle.
What signs can we look for in the demeanour and body language of others that will indicate to us that they are building themselves up for either aggressive dialogue or worse?. Also how can we tell that the point has been reached where they may be about to move to physical violence and escalate the threat. If we are going to preempt this occurring we must be sensitive to mannerisms and the signs along the way.
Warning signs an assault is possible:-
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Head and shoulders back.•
Facial colour is dark/red.•
Breathing fast and shallow.•
Belligerent, challenging/shouting.•
Exaggerated movements - particularly with the hands.•
Hands held high on or above the waist.•
Direct uninterrupted eye contact .•
Kicking the ground.Danger signs indicating an assault is imminent include:-
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Head down.•
Eyebrows move down into a frown.•
Facial colour pales.•
Lips tighten over teeth.•
Breathing becomes rapid and deep.•
Stance changes from square to bladed ( one ‘lead’ foot in front ) i.e. a fighting stance.•
Fists clench and unclench.•
Target glances.•
Dropping body-weight and lowering stance.How The Professionals Do It
The following is an extract from a Close Protection (Bodyguarding) training manual on how to spot trouble arising in your environment. In the CP field there may be many more reasons that cause a threat to exist than if you are a civilian on the street, but
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whatever the causes for someone's interest in you the body language is appropriate to both. The following will be of particular interest to police officers:
Body language is described as ‘non-verbal communication by means of subconscious gestures, movements and physical attitudes’. People’s body language may contradict their spoken or intended message, confusing the observer or betraying their true feelings, e.g. a person may sound friendly, but convey hidden hostility via his body language.
The human voice is also a great ‘indicator’ of stress and tension. The voice -pitch and tone (voice attitude) is effected by emotions e.g. an angry voice is both loud and belligerent, the voice of reason is calm and quiet. Experienced law enforcement and security personnel have used body language and verbal indicators for a number of years. The average police officer and bodyguard are trained observers (cynics), they expect to be lied to and deceived. Therefore it is important that the individual officer is able to identify and understand these verbal and physical signs (clues), in other words - read the body language. Remember that it is always better to detect and avoid a potentially violent
confrontation so use the following techniques to detect the potential for violence.
Watch, Look & Listen
Watch and listen for the following points - read the body language for verbal and physical clues that will indicate that an aggressive act or physical assault is highly probable. Remember to watch the hands and recognise the key indications.
They are :-
1. Non Verbal Clues - Physical