Personal Threat Preparedness

If you're reading this blog, it's likely that you're involved or interested in security.  Security comes in many forms - Information Security, physical security, personal protection, etc.  This article will deal with what we need to do to be safe as we move through our daily lives.  With all the recent violence, it is important that we both understand the risks and have a threat preparedness mindset.

I know our special agents and law enforcement personnel are given some training on assessing threats, but where does that leave the average citizen?  I've searched "the Google" extensively but guidance for the private citizen on assessing and dealing with threats is very limited.  As a former law enforcement officer, hopefully I can share some important tips as we go through our daily lives.

If I go to the grocery store, I expect to go through each aisle, finding the items I need to complete my grocery list.  But how many of us keep an eye out for potential threats?  Do you really believe no active shooters, homicides or assaults happen at the grocery store, mall, theater or other public gathering?

If you are a law enforcement officer, a federal agent or a military operator, you're trained in threat assessment.  But what does that mean?  This article will deal with assessing and dealing with threats for the average citizen.

We are most likely not deployed to a foreign country - kicking down doors and looking for terrorists.  However, we do frequently enter rooms, situations where the unknown and surprise situation may happen.  If we are walking through life unaware of possible dangers, we will certainly miss the advance clues and most probably will be just another statistic.  If we are aware of both the possibilities of danger and the best ways to prepare, we may be able to spot things out of place.  We can develop a habit of identifying possible escape routes, improvised weapons, as well as spotting potential dangers.

So let's say I'm at the grocery store or gas station at 10 PM.  I can, 99.999999% of the time, just get my groceries or gas, oblivious to danger.  But that .00000001% of the time, danger will strike.  That danger will manifest in a robbery in progress, a deranged, suicidal maniac, even a drive-by shooting.  What habits should I develop to ensure that I am as prepared as I can be, without being paranoid?

The best plan is to avoid danger altogether.  The first thing I do is to look through the windows.  Is anything out of place?  Are people acting normally, or are they afraid, stressed, focused on one area?  Think about a scenario with a robbery in progress.  Everyone inside would be afraid and focused on one point - the robber.  Make sure you look first before entering, and if you spot the likelihood of a robbery in progress, don't go in.  DON'T be a hero...  call 911.. Give a description, location and direction of travel.  Those are the most critical things law enforcement needs.  Move away from the danger and ensure law enforcement has the most correct and up-to-date information.

Assuming no obvious threat exists, you enter the establishment.  Just because no obvious clue of threat was present doesn't mean a threat isn't there.  As you enter the establishment, do three things:

1. Identify the location and description of all persons
2. Identify all escape routes
3. Identify all potential improvised weapons

When you enter the location, look around.  Note any persons present - note their demeanor.  Are they behaving normally or do they appear to be stressed?  Note the persons gender, approximate age, race, height, weight, hair color...  These things are difficult or impossible to change.  Additional factors to notice will be the clothes they are wearing - the color - any distinguishing marks like hairstyle, tattoos, scars...  Also if they leave the scene in a car, note the car's color, approximate age, make, model and license plate number and State, if you can.

If you walk in a room, take note of any persons present.  Certainly a person with a gun would stand out, but someone overly stressed should catch your attention.  Is the person wearing a heavy coat in the summer?  Do they appear to be under the influence of some substance?  Do they seem to be acting weird?  Mentally gauge each person's state - mental/physical.  Most times, you will assess the threat of each individual and determine that they are not a threat.  It's a quick mental exercise but worth the effort.

Occasionally you will encounter someone who appears out of place - who seems suspicious to you.  Note that person and if there are no further threats, proceed with your business while keeping an eye on that person, as well as #2 and #3 above.  Listen to your instinct - if you have a bad feeling, don't ignore it.  Head for the door and get the bread, milk and eggs tomorrow.  Get to a safe place and call the Police if needed.  Better to be safe and mistake the situation, than to be a victim.

As you enter any room, make sure you are aware of all possible escape routes.  Do they have fire escapes?  Are there exit signs posted?  If danger in any form manifests, can you get yourself and others out?  Or will you simply panic and freeze?

If that suspicious person pulls a gun or starts causing an issue, what will you do?  The purpose of the exercise is to think through all likely scenarios.  The truth is that, in a crisis, you will do whatever you've trained to do - even if that's just thinking through possibilities and at least having a game plan (however unlikely it is that you'll use it.)  If you haven't trained yourself in this way, you will again do exactly what you've trained to do - nothing.  You will panic and freeze.

If a danger arises, you will have already already identified escape routes and improvised weapons - move to exit the scene and call 911 with description and direction of travel, identifying marks, etc.  If you find yourself unable to leave or are directly engaged with the danger, you must act quickly and with certainty.

We have heard of several active shooter incidents over the last few years.  The police have targeted training for civilians, especially teachers - the core of this training is "run, hide, fight."  If you realize you're in such a situation, the best thing to do is run.  If you're responsible for your family or students, gather them together and run.  If you find that you cannot run without increasing the danger, or find yourself in a locked room or otherwise unable to get away from the danger, hide.  Hide everyone behind a locked door.  Get on the phone with 911 immediately.  And if the danger comes to you and you are unable to escape, you must fight.

If you cannot run and must hide, you must be prepared to fight should the shooter find you.  If that active shooter comes in the room, obviously intent to mow down everyone, you have little choice.  Get in a position where you can surprise the shooter - when he comes through the door, ambush him.  If you don't act, you're likely going to be shot anyway.  Grab the gun and point it away from everyone, then shove your fingers in the attacker's eye sockets as hard as you can.  Have a letter opener or scissors - shove that into the attacker with every ounce of strength and bravery you have.  You must mentally prepare yourself and decide that you'd be willing to do this, faced with such a situation.  It isn't a nice thing to think about but if you don't mentally prepare yourself, you will just be a victim.

If we have this mindset and diligence, we will be prepared should an attack occur.  Unless we're deployed to a wartime situation, the likelihood of occurrence is low.  However, the impact of this occurrence is so high that we must prepare ourselves both mentally and physically.

Be safe out there - keep your eyes open.  The most important thing we can do is to always be situationally-aware - be aware of our surroundings and don't walk into a dangerous situation.  Quickly identify and assess each person - note all possible escape routes.  If you find yourself in the midst of danger, run.  If you cannot run, hide.  And if you cannot run or hide, be prepared to identify anything that can help you fight and win.

Our agents of national security are trained to assess and deal with potential threats.  We can utilize this basic set of principles to ensure that we are prepared to spot a threat and, if needed, to properly deal with the threat.  A proper mindset and preparedness may avoid our being just another statistic.  If you have questions or comments, please let me know.

What Condition Are You In?

The military and police are trained to be ready - their jobs inherently put them in circumstances which are dangerous.  But as we constantly see in the news, just going to the gas station can be dangerous today.  I see people all the time with their head in the clouds, their eyes on their smartphone - oblivious to their surroundings.  

A few years back, I knew someone who lived in a very upscale area of town.  His wife went to the gas station to fill up.  She was just filling up her tank - some guy in the next row of pumps came up behind her and shot her in the head.  He then went back in his car and shot himself.  She didn't do anything to him - he was just crazy and woke up that morning determined to die and take someone with him.  

We never know what the dangers are - all we can do is be prepared.  Preparedness isn't paranoia - it is just common sense.  We must know what is going on around us.  If we are at the gas station, we look around and see what everyone else is doing - do they have anything in their hands - are they getting something out of the trunk?  When we go inside the station to buy a soda, before we walk in we look through the windows.  Are the people inside acting normally?  Are the clerks acting normally?  Do they have their hands in the air?  Are people running?  Shouldn't you look before you go walking in, just in case?  Has there ever been a hold-up before?  How do you know there isn't one happening now?

As you're driving down the street, are you aware of the other vehicles around you?  Are the occupants of the vehicles acting normally?  Is there anything up ahead or coming up quickly behind of concern?  At the workplace, are you keeping an ear open for anything out of place?  Would you spot someone acting strange?  Workplace shootings are happening more frequently - have you thought about what you would do if that scenario manifested in your place of work?

As you can see, it is very important to be in a condition of relaxed preparedness and alertness, even as we're going about our mundane activities.  Depending on what neighborhood you're in or line of work, the risk of an attack or other danger is relatively low - however the impact is very high.  In risk management, we quantify risk in terms of likelihood and impact.  A tornado hitting your datacenter is a very low likelihood, however the impact of that event would be catastrophic.  Therefore companies plan for that contingency by building alternate sites, standing up standby servers and syncing their data to that disaster recovery facility.  The business understands that, even though it is highly unlikely that the event will occur, the impact to the business would so disastrous that they had better spend the money just in case.

We must think of ours and our family's safety in the same way.  The likelihood that you will walk into a hold-up in progress is very low.  The possibility that someone will invade your home is also pretty unlikely.  However if that should occur and you are not prepared, the risk to you and your family is dire.  It is vital that we understand the risk, and understand what we can do to be better prepared.

http://armeddefense.org/the-color-code-of-awareness

The military and police have a set of codes or conditions based on the mindset and level of preparedness.  They are color codes - Condition White is basically when your head is in the clouds - you are oblivious to your surroundings.  This is the condition most people are in all the time - if someone had a gun and began walking in your direction, you would never see them coming.  This is a very dangerous state to be in, however it's the most common mental condition.

Condition Yellow is a state of relaxed preparedness.  In Condition Yellow you are aware of your surroundings - you recognize that danger can arise at any time in any place - although it is highly unlikely you understand the impact such an event would be.  You watch everyone around you - you know what they are doing, you know what they have in their hands.  You are, almost subconsciously, looking for anything out of place or any activity that is abnormal for the place and time.  If you spot something that looks out of the ordinary, you are already one step ahead.  If that situation appears to be dangerous, you go into Condition Red.

Condition Red is a high suspicion of danger.  You see people in the gas station running - you spot someone pulling what looks like a rifle out of their trunk - you hear what sounded like a gunshot in your workplace or hear people screaming.  You go into a state of high alert - the hair on the back of your neck probably stands up - adrenaline begins pumping.  If unprepared, you will likely freeze and panic.  If prepared, you will do what you've trained yourself to do - picking up the phone to call 911, moving quickly to a safe location, exiting the building, stopping from going into the gas station, etc.  

Condition Black is confirmation of a threat - you see the active shooter in your workplace - you see the driver next to you pointing a gun.  All your training kicks in, or you are left unprepared and act from instinct and fear.  You will either die or you won't.  That depends both on luck and your state of alertness, preparedness and training.  The soldier and the police officer understand this - they have prepared for the worst and have a better chance of surviving.  There are many things we can do as well to be better prepared.

Think about the potential for danger as you go about your day - think about these mental states and conditions.  In future posts, I will go deeper into the things we can do to prepare - things we can do to train for possible threats in terms of your physical security and safety.  We don't have to walk around in a state of paranoia - we can operate in a way that allows us to be aware of our surroundings and potential dangers, and understand the things we can do if we find ourselves in Condition Red or Black.  Stay tuned!