Lecture 9: Personal Security and Defense

Lecture 9: Personal Security and Defense
Deviant Survival Guide
Copyright 2006 by drewkitty


[Author's Comment: I wrote parts of this in reaction to a gay-bashing attack. I teach defensive tactics to security personnel.]


When you are subjected to unlawful attack . . .

Yes, I said WHEN. The average person can expect to be unlawfully attacked at least once in their life. Deviants run much higher on the percentages of attacks REPORTED, which is a fraction of the attacks that actually HAPPEN.

So, WHEN you are attacked:

1) DO NOT RELY ON ANYONE TO SAVE YOU. Mobile 911 in particular is very problematic. The 911 operators at the California Highway Patrol Golden Gate dispatch center in Vallejo have very high stress levels as the result of being forced to hear people injured, beaten, dying or even killed, and never getting enough location information to send them the correct police and EMS agencies.

Enhanced cellular 911 is being slowly phased in, but many cities and agencies do not have it yet.
Program into your mobile phone the seven-digit local number for your local police dispatcher (in the front of the white pages). Then all you have to do is dial and say, "Help! I'm being attacked by two men at Fulton and Lombard." The local police dispatcher can put this out on the radio in seconds -- knowing what you're talking about -- instead of you telling the local PSAP dispatcher what city you're in, being transferred to the correct agency, and then having to tell the whole story again.

Also, even from a landline telephone, the police may have delayed response times depending on local call volume and number of units available. So they may show up in time to save your life, but not in time for you to avoid crippling injury.

Realize however that once the bad guys have left the scene, it is no longer an emergency -- unless you have reason to believe that they'll come back. This means that the PD may take a half-hour to an hour to get to you to take a report.

My current record for hold time (literally, with hold music!) with a life and death 911 call via our local California Highway Patrol is seven (7) minutes. (I needed EMS and fire for an extrication and was traveling on the freeway out of area, not sure which city I was in.)


2) Your objective when attacked by multiple attackers is survival. "Even Hercules cannot fight two." Break contact. In other words, run. If you can't get away, protect your head and spine, curl up if knocked to the ground, and scream. Don't let your ego get in the way of your survival. Don't feel guilty about not fighting back.

I can't emphasize this enough.

RUN AWAY AND LIVE TO PLAY ANOTHER DAY.


3) If you decide to fight back against multiple attackers, realize that you are escalating the incident. If they're going to cripple or kill you anyway, you have nothing to lose. However, it is difficult for the ordinary citizen to quickly and seamlessly transition from saying "Excuse me" when bumping into someone, into the kind of person who will ruthlessly smash in faces with their elbows, jab out eyes with a thumb, and kick off kneecaps. That is what is necessary to prevail against multiple assailants. And consider what they will do to you if you lose -- SO DON'T LOSE. If you fight back, in the belief that you are protecting yourself from serious or fatal injury, THERE ARE NO RULES. Stop fighting only when you can safely escape or all of your foes are hors de combat. This is a French term that means, loosely translated, "fucked up beyond the ability to hurt you."

4) In nearly all parts of the world, an ordinary citizen cannot use deadly force to reply to a simple assault. Displaying a firearm in a fistfight immediately ups the ante and may defuse the incident -- or turn it into a shooting incident or even a gunfight in which all parties die. Don't laugh, it happens. I recall one incident where three men died over a 5 cent discrepancy in the price of an ice cream cone.

I fully approve of people who make the thoughtful choice to go armed. Get the proper training and go through the permit process to lawfully carry a concealed firearm. These issues will be discussed in depth during your training.

However, NEVER carry a weapon as a "magic bullet" or a rabbit's foot. Weapons kill (even the non-lethal ones after someone gets it away from you, hits you with it, and then kicks you to death), and many police are killed with their own weapons. Only carry a weapon after being trained in its proper use -- and proper NOT-use.

If you become a victim, others can best speak to how to help you deal with your feelings about the situation.

It sucks that we live in a world with predators in it. Don't accept the label of victim, before or especially after the fact.