In your golden years the only thing you should have to worry about is how to enjoy the remainder of your life to the fullest but sadly that is not the case.
Now, more than ever, senior citizens need to worry about their personal safety and do what they need to in order to remain safe.
1. Auto Dialer alarm system for your home. Criminals enjoy preying on the elderly and this can keep you from coming home to an intruder. It will call you if it detects motion in your home and you can then call the police instead of walking in on the criminal.
2. Electronic Dog Chaser. This will help keep you safe as you walk around your neighborhood or local parks. It emits a 130db ultrasonic frequency as well as utilizing pulsing lights to scare off aggressive dogs. This is perfect for you as you walk your dog or simply walk by yourself out in public where there is a risk of an off leash dog attacking you.
3. Runt Mini Stun gun. It is a very small, light and easy to use stun gun. It fits nicely in your hand or pocket and can be used on the attacker even if he is touching you since the electricity will not pass through to you.
4. A small, lightweight Pepper Spray for your key chain. If you happen to use any type of wheel chair or walker, you can hide one in the pocket of the chair so you always have it on hand. Be sure to aim for the eyes and get to safety as quick as you possibly can.
5. Personal alarms. They are a must have addition to your safety tool chest. When you need assistance, having the 110db alarm can mean the difference between life or death. This is true for security as well as medical situations. Should you need help for any reason, a Personal alarm can help get you the attention you need.
All of the items on this list are lightweight and very easy to use which is something you should be sure any self defense weapon you may choose has for a feature.
The last thing you need is more stress when trying to protect yourself from an attack.
During the holiday season people seem to completely loose their minds and as a result the crime rate shoots through the roof.
Unless you want your holiday season to include becoming a victim, you should take a few simple steps to stay safer.
1. Regardless of the time of year people tend to keep too much out in plain sight inside their vehicles. People keep loads of spare change, mp3 players, expensive sneakers and even purses right out in plain sight. All this serves to do is entice criminals to break out your windows and reach in and grab your stuff since it only takes a few seconds.
2. Utilize the buddy system it is a good idea for more than one reason. If you must unload packages into your car be sure you have someone to either stay in the car or drive the packages back to your home. If done right you can safely knock out the holiday shopping for you and your 1 or 2 of your friends or family members
3. Never place packages inside the car if you can avoid it. Just covering things up with a blanket will not do enough to disguise your items and keep crooks away. The best place to place packages in your car while you finish shopping would be inside of the trunk. Just be very careful while unloading.
4. Carry some sort of key chain pepper spray or even a stun gun to ensure should something bad happen you have some sort of defensive weapon.
5. As you go to either get into or out of your vehicle, you need to be paying attention to who is in the parking lot with you. I personally know a man who just got jumped by 4 men a week ago. They severely beat and robbed him after he left a store and went to get into his car. If you feel weird or see anyone who makes you nervous, park somewhere else or leave altogether since it is better to be safe than sorry.
The biggest thing you can do to remain safe during this or any holiday season is to use your head for something more than just a hair holder!
A little common sense can go a long way to helping to keep you safe while you enjoy the holiday season.
In order to learn how to properly use a stun gun you need at least some idea of how it works. In the most simplistic of terms, they use high voltage and low amperage to temporarily disable your assailant and provide you with what hopefully will be enough time to escape.
When you press the trigger the electricity stored in the stun gun will instantly dump into the assailant’s muscles causing them to do a great deal of work very rapidly. This instantly depletes the energy supply for his muscles and his body is unable to function properly. The stun gun also interrupts the tiny neurological impulses that control muscle movement and it overwhelms the assailant’s nervous system with electricity.
Although the word gun is in the name, stun guns do not fire out anything at all and can only be used up close by pressing and holding it against your assailant. In order for the stun gun to achieve its effectiveness, you need to hold it against your assailant’s body for more than 1 full second.
Less than 1 second will simply cause some minor muscle contractions and will have a repelling effect, the effect goes away almost immediately after removal from contact. Touch your assailant for 1 to 4 seconds and it should cause them to fall to the ground and it may also cause some mental confusion. The effect also goes away almost immediately after removal from contact. A full 5 seconds or more should cause the assailant to become disoriented and off balance causing him to fall to the ground. It should then leave him weakened and dazed for a few minutes afterward although the actual time will vary by person.
The stun gun is effective on all parts of the body but it is most effective when used on certain areas of your assailant. The lower abdomen area is a prime target area you want to aim for and this includes right under the ribcage and the upper hip areas as well.
Another prime target area should be the upper shoulder and neck region and using it in these areas will help to maximize the effectiveness of the stun gun you are using at the time. There is also no need to worry if your assailant happens to be touching you when you stun him, the electrical current will not pass through to your body. This is especially helpful if he grabs you to try and drag you off to a secondary location.
As I mentioned earlier, stun guns are designed to help buy you a chance to get away from your assailant. You should try and give him a full 5 second jolt if at all possible . If you have a self defense spray with you, spray him before you run off to try to stop him from being able to chase you. Also be sure you scream as you run away for help. You want to do your best to attract as much attention to your plight as possible.
Parking garages are common hunting grounds for many lowlife criminals who just lay in wait for some unsuspecting woman to come along. They seem to like these types of structures due to the fact that there are many ways to exit the structure and usually not much in the way of surveillance cameras or security.
Another benefit to criminals is that there are many places to hide and wait for a victim. This is a problem people, especially women, need to keep in mind as they walk through the parking garage to their vehicle.
There are a few simple tips you can follow that will help to lower your odds of falling victim to attack within a parking garage.
• If you have a car alarm, which you should, be sure that if it has the feature that allows you to turn on your inside lights with your remote be sure it is enabled and that you use it. It will help to expose anyone that may be hidden inside of the car should they find a way past the alarm.
• Be sure to carry at least one type of self defense weapon such as a pepper spray or a personal alarm or even a stun gun. Not only do you want to have it but have it out and ready to be used.
• As you walk look around and listen. Don’t be on the phone and not paying attention as it makes you too appealing a target.
• If the building you are coming from or the parking garage has security, ask to be walked out to your vehicle or walk with a friend and then drive them to their vehicle.
• Take a self defense class. Not only is it a great way to boost your self esteem it is a great way to get healthier while preparing yourself should you ever need to save your own life.
One of the main ways to help lower your odds of attack whether it is in a parking garage or anywhere else is to make yourself look like a bad target. Criminals don’t want people who look like they are prepared to defend themselves, it is much easier to wait for a weak person to come by.
One of the key places that women can find themselves most vulnerable to attack is while getting into or out of their vehicle. With just a little prudent behavior on your part, you can lower your odds of ever being attacked this way even more.
Here are simple tips to follow:
• Be sure as you get in and out of your car you are looking around. Most of the women who get attacked at their cars are not paying attention to their surroundings.
• If your car alarm has the ability to turn the inside light on for you be sure it is active and that you take a second to check your backseat before you get into your car.
• Try and always park in a well light and public area. You don’t want dumpsters or bushes near where you will park as they are perfect hiding spots for criminals to wait for their next victim.
• It may sound silly but you really need to take a second to look underneath your car before you get too close.
• Be careful not to park next to any types of van. It is far too easy for someone to grab you and drag you into the van as you pass by the doors.
• You may have heard this a million times before but here is one million and one for you. There really is safety in numbers, it doesn’t guarantee your safety but it surely does help to lower your odds even further. So try and travel with a friend when at all possible and this goes for both day and evening hours. Plenty of bad things occur in the light of day so don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security.
• Carry and prepare yourself mentally to use, self defense weapons of some type. Preferably a Mace Pepper Spray and/or a Stun Gun as well as a personal alarm. It is better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them with you.
The objective here is not to be scared but instead be informed and prepared. With just a little effort on your part, which could easily become routine, you can significantly lower your odds even more of ever being attacked while getting into or out of your car.
It is sad but many people do not see the benefits to carrying a personal alarm, especially for a woman, child or senior citizen. I can personally think of quite a few instances where an inexpensive personal alarm could easily be used to save your life.
Say for example you are walking to your car in the back of a parking lot at night and some man jumps out and grabs you from behind covering your mouth. Even if there are people in the parking lot that could come to your aid, how would you get their attention if your mouth is covered?
If you had a personal alarm on your key chain you could set it off and then you can bet that anyone with your immediate area would be alerted to your plight. Mouth covered or not a 100+ decibel personal alarm will get you the attention you need if not scare off the attacker altogether.
The last thing that most of the violent criminals out there want during an attack on a victim is attention being drawn to the activity.
This goes for children as well. It is hard to find a responsible self defense weapon that we can give to our children, even the younger ones. But this is where the personal alarm is just the right tool for the job.
Since it isn’t an offensive weapon it can be given to much younger children to use in case some creep tries to grab them. Once again the hope being someone will hear and help or the scumbag will just run away.
Another perfect example would be when a woman finds herself being followed by someone. She can run off screaming fire while initiating her personal alarm to help ensure maximum attention being drawn to her.
As I am sure you can see the goal in each example is to take what could be a stealth crime which is what the criminal wants and make it as loud as possible and hopefully change the outcome as a result.
This is also useful for senior citizens. It is not always easy to signal for assistance when you need it even in public. With a personal alarm a senior citizen can up their odds of getting assistance when they need it be it for medical or security reasons.
Personal alarms come in various forms and features such as having built in lights and safety straps. You should be sure to think about what you will want to carry and use as a personal alarm so you find the best one for you.
It would be nice if the world we lived in was one where a woman could go about her business without fear of some predator setting his sights on her, sadly we don’t.
There have been many studies done with various violent offenders over the years where information was gathered on how and why they committed their crimes. They were asked what their idea of a “good victim” was and overwhelmingly the response was someone who wouldn’t put up much of a fight.
Most criminals are cowards and this is why they prey on the weak. So your main goal for safety and this is for both men and women, is to not look like a good victim.
This means that you follow some simple life rules that can help to save you from falling prey to some scumbag when you are out and about.
1. Always be aware of your surroundings when walking, biking or jogging. This one thing alone can help to keep you safe but most people don’t heed this warning. You need to know who and what is going on around you. You do this by turning your head and looking around. Most criminals if they had to choose between a victim that was looking around and paying attention or someone who wasn’t, they will choose the latter.
2. Confidence is key. We all know that someone who is confident appears stronger. This needs to be you! Getting informed and being prepared is a good start to this.
3. Take up a martial art. It is great for your health, confidence, safety, and even family time. I know a family who started taking Kempo as a family and now they have all lost weight, the kids are doing better in school and I pity the fool that breaks into their house because the entire family can kick some serious butt! Its all pros and no cons in my eyes.
4. Get some self defense weapons. Be that pepper spray, stun gun or some type of key chain weapon, just make it something you will use. This also helps to boost confidence as well as help to give you the edge that may save your life one day should it be needed.
5. Lastly, follow your instincts. If you feel uneasy there may be a reason for it and better safe than sorry.
You can’t control everything that happens to you in life but you can take these simple steps to help to lower your odds of becoming a victim of crime.
Many home burglaries can go from just a property loss crime to something much more heinous if the criminal is interrupted by the homeowner and usually the results are devastating to the homeowner and anyone with them.
But at least you can lower your odds of coming home to find some lowlife there for very little money by getting an alarm system. Most people think right away about monitored alarm systems when you mention home alarms and these can be very expensive to purchase and get installed not including the monthly monitoring fees.
The monthly fees and expensive contracts that can come with monitored alarm systems can put these types of alarms out of the reach of most us, especially these days. The good news is that thankfully there are other options from which you may choose.
I am referring to auto dialer home alarm systems which generally range in price from $75.00 to about $200.00. The real beauty of these devices being that once you purchase them there is no additional fees to pay as you have with the monitored type of alarm systems.
Now you may be thinking “so what is an auto dialer type alarm anyway”?
Simple, auto dialer alarms are generally motion activated and are connected to an active phone line. When the alarm detects any motion it will sound a loud alarm as well as call the first number on the phone list you programmed into it during installation.
Many of these alarms will allow you to listen in to the room to see if maybe a pet or authorized visitor accidentally just set off your alarm before you incorrectly dispatch police to your home. Some even allow you to broadcast your voice.
Most of the better models of this type of alarm will continue to dial a predetermined amount of phone numbers until the alarm has been properly deactivated by using a code.
This is especially helpful if you have family, friends or neighbors that you trust to be backups for you in the event that you cannot be reached.
Since an auto dialer alarm will call you to warn you that someone is in your home, I am sure you can see how it can help to prevent ever coming home to walk in to a bad situation with a criminal.
Whether you need to protect your family while you are working nights or you are a woman living alone, these types of home alarm systems can help you lower your odds of becoming a victim!
It never ceases to amaze me. Ocean city Maryland was the newest mislead city to ban stun guns and tasers.
What kills be is that they do it under the guise of wanting to keep people safe when that isn’t it at all. They just want another way to get money from people and keep you scared and reliant on them to keep you safe. It is sad really. These people wouldn’t even have the right to concealed weapons if it wasn’t for the fact that the NRA has more money than Bill Gates, ok not really but they have a ton and can buy quite a few politicians’ support.
As you can see by the links ALL of these items and many other regular everyday items have all been used in crimes at one point or another.
Like I said it is silly. All they do is make it harder for the non gun toting people to protect themselves by using non lethal weapons like stun guns or tasers.
We need to get a leash on our politicians cause I think they have forgotten they work for us and they may need a reminder kick in the pants!
An 18 year old college woman from Virginia was attacked on her way home a few days ago but she can thank herself for safety now.
She was heading home last week when an “older” male approached her and tried to take her backpack by punching her in the face.
After he punched her in the face she turned and pepper sprayed him which gave her the opportunity to get to safety.
I am really happy to hear she was smart enough to not only purchase and carry a pepper spray but actually decide to use it!
The only issue with this whole story was how long she waited. If you are ever in the same situation, don’t wait until he is close enough to punch you.
Pepper spray him as far away as you and your pepper spray can manage. Most go 6 feet + so the decision to fight made earlier would have saved her some pain.
If you feel threatened warn and then attack and do so quickly. If you say back off (while he is still away from you) and he doesn’t stop….blast the bastage!
We all know crime is on the rise here in the US, that is why you came to our site to begin with but this isn’t confined just to the US.
Some of the world’s most popular tourist destinations have become crime ridden and down right dangerous as too many people are learning the hard way. We are talking places like St. Lucia, Antigua, Barbuda and many others. It is so bad the British and US Governments have warned travelers to St Lucia to beware of violent crime after several rapes and robberies by gun-men preying on tourists.
The kicker is the Antiguan Prime Minister says “Those criminal deportees with skills developed in the US and UK are impacting tremendously on our society” is the problem. You see immigrants from Antigua are coming to the UK and US and committing crimes. They then get deported back to their home countries with newly found crime skills.
Just one big mess. Another issue in the Caribbean now is that the drug trade has moved there to avoid our anti drug efforts elsewhere. Like I said one big mess.
Many of these small countries aren’t prepared for the increases in crime they are seeing and their police force is to put it nicely is inadequate. Ok pathetic actually
You can’t carry self defense weapons in most of these countries as a resident or as a tourist which means you need to rely on local authorities to keep you safe.
Problem, they aren’t doing the job. Just the other day a 50 year old couple from Briton was attacked in their villa in St. Lucia. The man was beaten almost to death and his wife raped.
Another couple, Catherine and Benjamin Mullany both 31, were asleep in a bungalow in Antigua this weekend and 2 men came in and shot both of them in the head. Catherine died, they believe right away since she was shot in the head point blank and her husband was hit in the neck but the bullet went into his brain. He is in England in a coma and is believed to be brain dead.
I don’t tell you this to sell products, you can’t them to these places. I tell you this in the chance that you or someone you know is planning a trip to the Caribbean. You need to take your safety smarts with you even on vacation.
Remember, most of these places have nothing but the hotels and resorts. Outside of there everyone lives in squaller in very high crime. Little if any, of the billions of dollars that roll into these resorts finds its way back to the poor people of these areas. I went to a wedding in Jamaica a few years ago and we wandered off the resort grounds and found ourselves in some places we were quick to leave from, crime is rampant in the poorest areas.
When “we” go to these places on vacation, to the locals we must be rich; richer than them for sure! That’s makes us all huge targets for crime.
My advice, stay in the US. We have tons of crime but at least here you can at least attempt to protect yourself!
Pass this on to anyone you know that might be considering a trip to the Caribbean.
I have noticed in the news as of late, an increase in home invasions across the country. If you go to google news and search home invasion you will get back thousands of recent news stories of home invasions, many of which ended in death.
The worse our economy gets, the worse crime will get; any third world nation can show you that. Eventually our economy should recover, we are pretty good at that but in the meantime, we need to take steps to try and avoid becoming a target.
This may sound silly but things like not placing electronics boxes out in front of your home, can help keep from drawing unwanted attention. Too may times we get the urge to, well frankly, show off what we have. Bear in mind that doing that just ups your odds of becoming a target.
I am not saying build fake walls and hide your stuff. Just be smart and not draw a lot of attention your way. Take electronic boxes (after breaking them down) to be recycled and then no worries about them sitting out for people to see and you help the environment so it is win win
Get some solar powered lights for your walkway and get motion activated lights for the all 4 sides of the house. If you can’t afford to do it all at once do it in phases. Something is better than nothing.
I have before and will again, recommend getting a door brace for both front and back doors and secure sliding glass doors (as much as glass can be secured). It may sound paranoid but better safe than sorry. Inside your house you have better control of your situation so keep it secure.
This includes not being lured out of your house at night or into opening the door for a stranger. Also, be sure to talk to the kids, they should not be opening the doors even in daylight. These crimes happen as often in daylight these days as they do at night. If only adults are in control of who enters your “safe zone” you will be much better off. More than one crime has started but some little child opening the door for the wrong guy.
As far as your own self defense, some may choose a gun next to their bed, I prefer they never get in by following the steps above. But if they do you need to be prepared. For those of you with kids, determine a hiding place where they should go should you tell them to. If they are safe then you can concentrate on getting help and protecting you and your family.
I like the steel baton approach. I keep one next to my bed, in close reach should I need to get to it. I also have pepper spray in various spots around the house so no matter where I may encounter an intruder, I can get something in my hands to help protect myself.
In my truck, I keep one of the new double trouble stun guns in my center console and have both a heartattack keychain weapon and a pepper spray on the keychain as well. I would make a good boy scout cause I am a firm believer in being prepared for any situation.
A while back I told you story about a deaf woman attacked while walking her dog along a busy street and no one stopped. A lot of my preparation goes into not just protecting myself but in being able, should the need ever arise, to intervene and protect someone else as well.
This story goes to show that you should always be prepared to protect yourself, day or night.
A young lady called for a cab which came to drive her the 10 minute ride to our local college. Fro the start she stated the guy was rude making comments that it was close enough that she should have drove herself. Real customer service oriented guy right? hahhaha
After she gets to the destination she fills out the slip to use her credit card to pay the fare which was about 6 bucks. On the form she writes something like “no tip, driver was rude” and hands it to him, she was smart enough to get out of the cab first.
He got mad and jumped out demanding money from her. He then grabs her and rips the jacket right off of her. Thankfully, that was the extent of the attack. Police arrested the man within minutes and now he is in big trouble.
This comes down to something simple. Never let them get close enough to put their hands on you, period. She should have screamed, run and if she had been prepared, she could have used pepper spray on him. His trip towards her would have ended quickly.
People seem to forget or ignore this rule far too much. Another perfect example from tonight. I walked to the grocery store across the street and as I was leaving I twisted my ankle and it was killing me.
I hobbled back towards home when I noticed a young lady finishing unloading her cart. Not thinking, I walked towards her and asked if I could take her cart since she was done with it.
Granted both of my hands were full and I was hobbling and I smiled and asked nicely BUT she got close enough to me to have grabbed her had I been a nut.
It was dark, only a few people in the parking lot and none were paying attention to this area. This was the perfect setup for an attack. She was lucky it was me and not some creep.
Well, she was lucky until I kind gave her a lecture about getting so close to some strange guy in a dark parking lot. hahha I know but I couldn’t help myself but I did admit to her that I should never had approached her to put her in that position.
NEVER let someone get close even in a public parking lot. I could list tons of stories of women taken from public places and raped, tortured and/or murdered by some scumbag.
What she should have done to be nice yet safe was slide the cart over to me, not hard enough to try and knock me down but enough that it keeps me at a distance. If at that point had she done that and I still kept approaching then it is time for her to fight!
You know, I have given a lot of advice on how to keep you and your kids safe, including holidays like Halloween.
But never would I have thought to warn against what happened this Halloween to a poor 12 year old child and his brothers.
T.J. Darrisaw and his family decided to go out house to house trick or treating. Like you used to be able to do, back in the day. Yup I said it…
Sadly this time, they made a deadly mistake. It doesn’t say if they knew this area or not but they must not have known who’s door they were knocking on.
The light was on and even I know this means welcome to the trick or treaters on this one day of the year. But 22 year old Quentin Patrick wasn’t planning on welcoming anyone.
He was recently released from prison for drugs and evading police. Most likely this idiot is a meth head which would explain the lack of thought process.
You see when T.J. pushed his way in front of his brothers and knocked on Patrick’s door, he thought someone was trying to break in and rob him.
So what did the scumbag do? Freaks out and grabs his Ak47, yup the jailbird has an automatic LOADED weapon, and he fires 30 rounds into the closed front door.
13 bullets hit the 12 year old and one hit his brother in the leg and the father in the arm.
All this happened in just a split second and none of the kids or the father even had a chance to react.
When they pulled off little T.J’s mask he had a bullet in his head just over the eye. He died there.
Knucklehead comes out the front door still holding the AK47 and says “oh no!” when he realized he just went ballistic on a group of little kids trick or treating.
He then tried to flee the scene with a sack of cash, which is what I guess he was so paranoid about, but the cops got him.
One knock on the wrong door ended a life a second later. How crazy is that. How f’d up in the head has this lowlife got to be to open fire on his front door like that? Halloween no less, the day people come to your door knocking sometimes even when you don’t have a light on let alone when you do.
This guy is nothing but a drain on society and has contributed nothing at all in 22 years. If they don’t put him to death they should set him free and give the dad a free pass to kill this scumbag.
Stories like this really piss me off if you can’t tell. This guy was out on parole. How the hell does he have a loaded AK47 automatic weapon and not have it found by his parole officer?
This goes back to my rant last week. These weapons have no place in civilian hands and should be restricted to military use as they were designed!
This type of situation, where too many innocents get hurt in the name of defense, that got me preaching the non lethal self defense methods.
You screw up with a gun, people die. You screw up with a pepper spray or stun gun and someone is mad but they are alive to be mad. It’s a shame.
You know researching crime can become a very depressing thing if you let it get to you. There are so many people out there that can leave you saying “HOW?”.
You may or may not have heard about the attack the other day in Philadelphia on the subway, out where I am there hasn’t been anything on the news.
As I began reading the story and the updates in the story I could only shake my head. For those that don’t know, a 20 year old lab tech was coming home from work on the subway.
He sat down and fell asleep without any incidents beforehand. Some nut walks on the subway with his CHILD and begins wailing on this kid with a hammer!
The attack went for what they say was close to 5 minutes as this guy tried to kill this 20 year old kid with a hammer. The sad part is that there was at least 10 people (other riders) and not one helped.
Now after watching the attack I can understand why some would have just run. It was incredibly brutal and started so fast. Now had even one of those people had a pepper spray or steel baton on them (stun guns are illegal) or if they had been trained in self defense or martial arts they could have stopped this.
The fact people were too scared to help doesn’t really surprise me much but what did was this. These two didn’t know each other, never spoke or even glanced at each other, the guy just went nuts and why he chose this kid is unknown for now at least. Now the guy turns out to be a known criminal who has a long record but it still doesn’t explain the motive for the attack. It is crazy.
Now to really show how people can be, during the attack the kid lost the ipod he was listening to but it turned up. One of the witnesses/fellow riders, stole it and sold it to some girl for 150 bucks.
Some people are just scum!
This brings back up my point from Monday. Just because you are in a crowd, in a public place it doesn’t mean you are safe. The only way to even attempt to be safe these days is to carry and be prepared to use, a self defense weapon and if at all possible take up a martial art. It is great for your health, family bonding and safety and well worth your time I assure you.
Philadelphia needs to rethink its concealed handgun and stun gun bans. Their crime rate is insane, I feel bad for those that life in this warzone of a city.
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but they have a ton and can buy quite a few politicians’ support.