A Little Bump and Crime

Over the past few weeks I’ve see a pattern of crime across the nation that you need to be aware of.

Imagine that you’ve been out shopping or you’ve just stopped at the ATM, and just back out of a parking spot in a garage and all of a sudden a car hits you from behind.

Your head is spinning!  You think “what was this driver doing?”  “How much damage has been done to my car?”  The driver who hit you gets out of his car to inspect the damage done and you do to. The next thing you know you are looking at a gun, and you are being robbed, or assaults, kidnapped or worse.

 If you are involved in a minor accident such as this to these things.

• Stay in your car
• Kkeep your Engine running, and in Drive
• Keep your doors locked
• Keep your windows up to prevent someone from reaching inside.
• If you have a personal protection product, like pepper spray, keep it handy.
• A cell phone is an excellent tool to call for help. Buy one and carry it. All Cell phones will dial 9-1-1 without being on a service plan.

 If a criminal event is attempted you will be better positioned to escape. Exchange information from within your car, opening your window only enough to pass information back and forth.

A few things to remember:

Unless you are fortunate enough to have a police officer within eyesight (typically not where the crime is taking place) you may have from several minutes to an hour or more before help can find you. No matter how hard they try, police must drive on the same traffic-clogged streets as the rest of us and getting to a specific location just takes time. In the meantime, you are likely to be on your own against the violent criminal. However, telling the 9-1-1 Operator everything that is going on, including you name, the location, details about the car, and the suspect, will help if something does happen and you can’t escape.

 In one of the stories that I heard a man who had this happen at the ATM, had a gun pointed at him through the window of his car. He grabbed the gun and chased the would be robber.

DO NOT DO THIS..EVER. He was lucky not to be killed

Fight or Fly?
The decision to fly or fight is a difficult and very personal matter. As most assaults occur quickly, the decision to fight or fly should be made in advance when you can think clearly and logically. Regardless of what decision you make, you should think through your ability to succeed at either course of action. Recognize the ugly reality of criminal attack: no matter what decision you make, if you are attacked during a crime there is always a chance you may be hurt or killed.

If you choose to fight, react swiftly and aggressively. You must recognize that in any fight you may be injured and commit yourself to surviving. Sudden aggression may surprise or momentarily impact your attacker, potentially creating a momentary opportunity to escape or gain control of the situation. Research shows that active resistance with a firearm or pepper spray is the most effective way to defend against a violent criminal attack. Some estimates indicate that a few million crimes a year are stopped when the law-abiding victim turns out to have a firearm or protection product.

If you choose to run, get out fast. The ability to run from danger is the oldest self defense known to man.  Those who choose to do so place their entire safety on their ability to win a race to safety, so a head start is one of the few advantages you can hope for. Think of the lion and the gazelle. The need to be mindful of your surroundings and recognize a threat early on is absolutely critical to a successful evasion. You should always wear shoes well-suited for running. Sorry ladies buy unless those high heels may make you feel sexy, but they can make you a victim. Of course, if you are not physically fit, this option may be severely limited, and you should consider other alternatives.

PepperEyes.com recommends that you receive competent self defense training in the use of protection products such as firearms, Tasers,  pepper spray and defensive tactics. You should develop your own personal defensive plan that is suitable to your physical abilities, your equipment and your willingness to use them. Play the “What If” game and think about different situations and determine what you would  and could do if… attacked in a parking lot, attacked at your home, ATM and so forth.

It is a sobering statistic, but 3 out of 4 women in America will fall victim to violent crime somewhere in their lifetime. This is not a slim chance or a far-fetched possibility, but sadly a real likelihood. How you survive such an event depends almost entirely on how well you prepare.

If you want to take personal responsibility for protecting yourself, your family and property arm yourself with the products and the knowledge about the best way to stay safe in an ever increasing violent world. In today’s society being equipped mentally and physically is no longer an option.

By Victor Swindell, owner of PepperEyes.com, a division of Swindell Enterprises. PepperEyes.com is dedicated to assist those people who are unwilling to become a victim and are taking responsibility to protect themselves, their cars, or their possessions .In today’s society being equipped mentally and physically is no longer an option.

Be mindful of your feelings.

Everyday, people take unnecessary chances with their personal security. The majority of the time, their mind set is that, “nothing bad is going to happen to me today.”  Sadly, all too often these people find out differently.

The small things in life can make a huge difference. Your mind and body when working in unison are an unbeatable team, when they are focused on any task including your safety. Taking responsibility for your personal safety and for the safety of your loved ones means simply being alert to obvious dangerous situations or potential criminal threats. It also means being more conscious at all times of harm that could come form unsuspecting places.  In today’s society too many of us are preoccupied with our own little world while we are talking or texting on our cell phones, or some other task when we should be mindful and not distracted  from tasks like driving, walking from one place to another, or just knowing  who is around us. When we are distracted by other things we are reducing the ability to watching and sensing our surroundings.

When we are not paying attention, and our mind is distracted this is when the unthinkable happens. This can happen when were are in the house cooking, or going to get mail, or going to the car, or getting cash from the ATM.

While you may not have Spiderman’s spidey sense, but women in particularly have a great sixth sense  they should listen too.  Learn to listen to and trust your gut instincts. If something makes you feel uncomfortable for any reason, there is usually a good reason.  Learn to pay attention to that nagging thought of not entering a house, garage, or building, don’t do it. If something tells you to look around, walk faster or even run, then listen to it. There is usually a reason. Is it not better for strangers to wonder if you’re “odd” than to end up in a grave or as the next crime victim.

 

 By Victor Swindell, owner of PepperEyes.com, a division of Swindell Enterprises. PepperEyes.com is dedicated to assist those people who are unwilling to become a victim and are taking responsibility to protect themselves, their cars, or their possessions .In today’s society being equipped mentally and physically is no longer an option.

Why would anyone fall for this

Don't be scammed

I know many of  of you have received messages like this one. I get about one a month, and I wonder “why would anyone fall for this?”

From:Jeff
27/04 Cocody Avenue
Abidjan
Cote divoire
Please call me:01122544747550

Dearest One,

I know this mail will come to you as a surprise since we have not had previous correspondence, please bear with me. I will really like to have a good relationship with you, and I have a special reason why I decided to contact you.
I am Jeff from Cote d Ivoire, the only son of Late Mr.Nick.Last year 2008, the Rebels in my Country Struck our township and killed my parents and my only sister in one of their attacks. My late Father,being the government opposition leader.

Before his death he had a domicilary account with a bank in Cote d’Ivoire, up to the tune of (Five Million Five Hundred Thousand dollars) . Please I need your assistance getting this money tranferred to you for investment and to be my guardian in investment.

I shall forward to you with the necessary documents on confirmation of your acceptance to assist me for the transfer of the money to your account.As you will help me to travel and to complete my studies in your country.

I am willing to offer you 20% of the total sum as compensation of your effort.

Your Sincerely

Jeff

But apparently they do  – to the tune of $100 to $200 million a year? The short anwers are stupidity, greed and desparation. Scams can be found everywhere and the internet is no exception. If anything, the internet lends itself to shady dealings, due to the complete anonymity of cyberspace. Here are several scams commonly found on the internet. Scams can be found everywhere and the internet is no exception.

According to the FBI and the Internet Crime Complaint Center – Internet auction fraud was by far the most reported offense, comprising 44.9% of referred complaints. Non-delivered merchandise and/or payment accounted for 19.0% of complaints. Check fraud made up 4.9% of complaints. Credit/debit card fraud, computer fraud, confidence fraud, and financial institutions fraud round out the top seven categories of complaints referred to law enforcement during the year.

Avoiding Investment Fraud

• Don’t invest any anything you don’t really understand.
• Don’t invest in anything based on appearances or emotions. Just because an individual or company has a flashy web site doesn’t mean it is legitimate. Web sites can be created in just a few days. After a short period of taking money, a site can vanish without a trace.
• Don’t invest in anything you are not absolutely sure about. Do your homework on the investment to ensure that it is legitimate.
• Don’t invest anything that doesn’t have a tract record.
• Do your homework on the individual or company to ensure that they are legitimate.
• Check out other web sites regarding this person/company.
• Use Google/Yahoo/Bing and add the word scam or complaints after their name
• Don’t judge a person/company by their web site.
• Be cautious when responding to special investment offers (especially through unsolicited e-mail).
• Don’t do it because a friend told you to, they can also be scammed.
• Be cautious when dealing with individuals/companies from outside your own country.
• Inquire about all the terms and conditions.
• Don’t invest what you can’t afford to loose
• If it sounds too good to be true it probably is

Avoiding the Nigerian Letter/Canadian Lottery Scam

• Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as Nigerian or foreign government officials asking for your help in placing large sums of money in overseas bank accounts.
• Do not believe the promise of large sums of money for your cooperation.
• You can’t win a lottery you didn’t enter
• There is never a processing fee for winning anything
• If you see where you have to cash a check and send part of it back, you are being scammed
• Guard your account and personal information carefully.

I’ve always sent the  Dantooine Scam letter back to them

RESOURCE:

Internet Fraud: How to Avoid Internet Investment Scams

Are you prepared with the knowledge, confidence and tools to protect yourself when the need arises?  Instead of feeling frightened, you can feel empowered if you have the right tools and the knowledge on how to protect yourself.

In today’s society being equipped mentally and physically is no longer an option.

 

PepperEyes.com is dedicated meeting your safety needs by assisting those people who are unwilling to become a victim and are taking personal responsibility to protect themselves, and their families with our pepper spray, stun guns, and other personal security products

Using Pepper spray helps woman fend off attack

Do you have what you need?

A student under attack relied on her wits and pepper spray to escape serious harm. Early Sunday morning, a 21-year-old student said she was attacked in the Fort Sanders neighborhood.  She has since gone home to Nashville with her parents. She asked News 10 not to use her name.

It wasn’t long before the attack that the victim began thinking about being prepared to protect herself.  “It was kind of ironic that we had this whole conversation about the pepper spray right before I needed to use it,” she said.

The UT student and some friends were chatting about pepper spray as they walked home from a friend’s house about 2:30 Sunday morning. She said they headed different directions about 2 blocks from her home.

“I’ve had the pepper spray since last year when my boyfriend bought it for me after the Channon Christian tragedy,” she said.

Channon Christian and Chris Newsom were killed after a car-jacking in Knoxville last January.
This weekend, the UT student said she was very aware of her surroundings as she walked toward home. She noticed a slow moving maroon Pontiac with two men in it.  “They turned around and started driving the wrong way on the one way street, and then I immediately knew they were coming after me,” she said.

She ran and tried to hide on a porch. She said the car passenger chased her and cornered her on the porch.
“And I said, ‘Don’t get any closer. I have pepper spray and i will spray you. Get away from me,’” she told 10 News.
She said he hit her with a rod of some sort, grabbed her by the hair, and yanked her down the porch steps.

“He was dragging me, so I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t had my pepper spray.”
The man ran after she sprayed him.

The victim suffered some minor bruises. Knoxville police are investigating the case as an aggravated assault.
“We’ll look at the forensic evidence, and we’ll look at the interviews and any kind of composite we get back from the victim and go from there,” said Captain Gary Holliday with KPD.

The victim’s father sent a letter to Knoxville’s police chief, UT police, and Knoxville’s mayor. The letter said investigators overlooked evidence at the crime scene and characterized the police response as “ineffective.”
Police said they collected the evidence, and it is part of their investigation.

Police are waiting for the victim to return from Nashville to work with a sketch artist to develop a suspect composite.
The victim said she intends to return to class later this week. She said it won’t be easy.
“I’m going to be afraid about walking to class even in the broad daylight.”

 

PepperEyes.com is dedicated to meeting your safety needs by assisting anyone who is unwilling to become a victim.  If you want to take personal responsibility for protecting yourself, your family and property arm yourself with our products and the knowledge about the best way to stay safe in an ever increasing violent world. In today’s society being equipped mentally and physically is no longer an option.

Sexual Assault by the Numbers

• 

During the past few years, concern over the sexual victimization of female college students has risen. In part, the interest in this problem has been spurred by increasing attention to the victimization of women in general; until the relatively recent past, female victims received very little attention. However, this is no longer true. Terms such as “date rape” and “domestic violence” have entered the public lexicon and signify the unprecedented, if still insufficient, notice given to women who have been victimized.

 Here are some statistics that should allow you to make an informed decision about how not to be the next victim.

Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Data — the country’s largest and most reliable crime study — there were 248,300 sexual assaults in 2007 (the most recent data available).  Since there are 525,600 minutes in a non-leap year, that makes 31,536,000 seconds/year. So, 31,536,000 divided by 248,300 comes out to 1 sexual assault every 127 seconds, or about 1 every 2 minutes.

Did you also know

•          1 out of every 6 American women have been the victims of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.
•  17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.
• While about 80% of all victims are white, minorities are somewhat more likely to be attacked.
• Lifetime rate of rape /attempted rape for women by race:¹
  • All women: 17.6%
  • White women: 17.7%
  • Black women: 18.8%
  • Asian Pacific Islander women: 6.8%
  • American Indian/Alaskan women: 34.1%
  • Mixed race women: 24.4% 
•  Women ages 20 to 24 are at highest risk for rape/sexual assault, followed by those 16 to 19.
•  Sixty-four percent of rape/sexual assault victims said they were victimized by a non-stranger—23 percent by an intimate partner, 3 percent by a relative, and 38 percent by a friend or acquaintance (2007)
• At least 80% of all sexual assaults are committed by an acquaintance of the victim. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001.
• More than 70% of rape victims knew their attackers, compared to about half of all violent crime victims. Dennison, Callie. Criminal Victimization 1998. Bureau of Justice Stats, DOJ. 
•   At least 1 in 4 college women will be the victim of a sexual assault during her academic career. Hirsch, Kathleen (1990)”Fraternities of Fear: Gang Rape, Male Bonding, and the Silencing of Women.” Ms., 1(2) 52-56.
  
•  48.8% of college women who were victims of attacks that met the study’s definition of rape did not consider what happened to them rape. Bureau of Justice Stats. “Sexual Victimization of Collegiate Women” 2000, US DOJ.
•  There are 35.3 incidents of sexual assault per 1,000 female students on a campus as recorded over a 6.91 month period (the academic year of ‘96 – ’97) as reported in the 2000 DOJ Bureau of Justice Statistics report “The Sexual Victimization of College Women.”
  
•  On average, at least 50% of college students’ sexual assaults are associated with alcohol use Abbey et al., 1996a, 1998; Copenhaver and Grauerholz, 1991; Harrington and Leitenberg, 1994; Presley et al., 199). Koss (1988), Within the study’s nationally represented sample of college students the results found that 74% of perpetrators and 55% of rape victims had been drinking alcohol prior to the assault.
•  In a survey of high school students, 56% of girls and 76% of boys [some of whom may be incoming college freshmen] believed forced
• sex was acceptable under some circumstances. Acquaintance Rape: The Hidden Crime, 1991.

 References

New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault

The Sexual Victimization of College Women

Rape Abuse and Incest National Network

 

This data was compiled by Victor Swindell, ower of PepperEyes.com

PepperEyes.com is dedicated to meeting your safety needs by assisting anyone who is unwilling to become a victim.  If you want to take personal responsibility for protecting yourself, your family and property arm yourself with our products and the knowledge about the best way to stay safe in an ever increasing violent world.

In today’s society being equipped mentally and physically is no longer an option.