Prevent Becoming a Victim of Crime
Crime is a pandemic that is fast taking over the world. With the recession in the world's economy; fraud, corruption, theft, falsehood and violent crime is rampant. In realizing that hurt people hurt others, one should understand that the chances of one becoming a victim of crime is no longer a mere possibility, but a reality. The purpose of this article is to advise people on how to close up some of the loopholes in their private lives that may enable potential criminals the opportunity to penetrate.
Remember, a fort with weak cornerstones is no fort at all and a castle built on sand will come crumbling down in no time. Naivety is a thing of the past and society should rather be acquiring skills in risk management, strategic living and be seeking wisdom above all else. It is not the intent of this article to raise fear among its readers, but it is to rather serve as a practical preventative survival method.
Steps
- Keep life in perspective. One can elevate one thing (often an unimportant thing) over what matters in life in no time. This could be money, a relationship, an asset, a job or a person. Conduct a priority check on a regular basis to ensure you have life in perspective and that nothing that you value has become out of sync in relation to the rest of life. This could place you at a risk of becoming a victim of crime. Potential criminals often study their victims and view areas where the victim is highly emotionally invested as a possible weak link for penetration.
- Think rationally. Participating in crimes will bring damage to the picture of your country.
- Avoid any form of bad behavior, such as stealing, promoting campus violence, or starting political riots.
- Protect your vulnerability. Vulnerability is beneficial as it keeps you connected with your 'humanness'. In current society, vulnerability should be run through a sieve of wisdom before being expressed. The reasons for this suggestion ties in with the point mentioned above.
- Carefully chose the company you keep. It has been said that 'bad company corrupts good character'. This is true. People also judge you on the company you keep. Often however, the seemingly most innocent person can turn out to be the most vicious at heart when provoked. This is therefore not a foolproof method, but one should keep a smaller circle of close friends whose actions and lifestyle you have observed in a variety of circumstances as opposed to exposing yourself to a large community of people without applying good judgement.
- Avoid allowing strangers into your home or closed living space. Communes and buddy-living are fast becoming a thing of the past. Bachelor apartments are in for those who prefer to go solo and families are even fast reducing their living space. This simple living concept is supported by those encouraging the prevention of crime. The reason for suggesting this is that you can easily invite a vicious criminal into your home or onto your property without being aware of it. Don't pick up strangers and invite them into your home. Don't easily go home with strangers either.
- Spend a little extra money on home security. This depends on the area you live in. Some areas are more prone to crime than others and therefore this needs to be placed into perspective. Comply with your Insurance Companies' minimum security requirements. Insurance Companies have a large database of losses per area that are made available to them. The better Companies make security suggestions to their clients based on loss history specific to the area they reside in. Although not foolproof, precautionary measures are recommended for a reason. Try to have a little more security fitted than your neighbours. The reason for this is their house may seem more attractive to an opportunist potential thief or armed robber at crunch time.
- Be cautious with dangerous objects in your home. Although a vicious murder can be committed with an item like a garden spade, one should be careful and responsible when it comes to your living environment. Keeping dangerous objects, like firearms safely locked away according to the legislation of your country when not in use.
- Don’t be careless with valuables. Keep valuables like expensive jewellery under lock and key when not in use.
- Be skeptical of your home-assistants. Some countries promote having maids, home-assistants, au-pairs etc. Try to use a reputable agency to locate these people. Check their credentials and references. Many thefts and armed robberies, once investigated, point straight to the home-assistant.
- Take advantage of neighbourhood watch. Some countries have neighbourhood watches or resort to protecting their communities by fencing off certain residential streets and appointing a guard to man a boom gate entrance point for these areas. All these things are not fool-proof, but serve as deterrents. Thieves will often rather bother the suburb next door that doesn’t have these little inconveniences.
- Avoid walking alone at night or in potentially unsafe areas. In some countries, this is still safe, but in most, this is viewed as a high risk and due precaution should be exercised. There is an element of safety in numbers and to deny this is foolishness.
- Break routine as much as possible. Suspecting criminals watch for routine in a potential victim’s lifestyle. The more information they have about the victim, the better. Try to not arrive at home or leave for work at exactly the same time every day. Control freaks who live by strict agendas, time frames and strict routines are at risk of being victims of crime. Being overly controlling of your environment is not going to protect you from this possible risk. Everything in balance is the key.
- Build a reputation of integrity. Ensure you keep your life clean and pure at all times. Live above reproach. This way, nobody will be able to blackmail you, be successful in bribing you to protect information or correctly point fingers of blame at you. Guard your heart, and your reputation.
- Avoid false senses of security. Communal or town-house living is promoted as the safest living option, but this is not always the case. The traffic into and out of the property is somewhat controlled, but living in your own house (if possible) where you have better control over the traffic in and out of it is probably the safer option.
- Don’t easily entrust your personal possessions to another. Don’t leave your assets at a person’s home if you can avoid it. Don’t be quick to loan items to a person, even to a friend. If you are prepared to do that, consider getting it back a treat. This is also a sure way to damage a friendship, rather than build it.
- Be aware of petty theft opportunities. The basics like holding tightly on to your handbag in public places, being aware of potential pickpockets, not flashing cash in public or not leaving your cellphone or handbag on the car seat next to you or in public view whilst driving always apply.
Tips
- We are each responsible for our own lifestyle choices. Change begins at home and in your immediate environment. Conduct a lifestyle assessment and make the necessary changes to protect yourself and your family as far as possible from the risk of crime.
- Don’t be fearful or paranoid. Paranoia and obsessiveness about being a victim of crime can be paralysing, especially if you have previously been a victim of crime. If you have been a victim of crime, ensure you attend trauma debriefing or counselling to effectively move on from the mental and emotional damage caused to you by the event as the stress surrounding the incident might come back to ‘bite’ you at a later stage.
- Become rooted in your faith. This will give you a sense of peace, strength and ability to overcome what has become of society. Be the change you want to see in the world.
Warnings
- Prevention is better than cure. It is better to prevent crime than to become a victim of it.
- Read article ‘How to Avoid Becoming a Criminal’ for further wisdom on this topic. Not only should you prevent being a victim, but also prevent crossing the line of becoming the perpetrator. This can happen to anyone, especially if you have been a victim of crime.
- Nobody can accurately advise you on how to get out of a sticky situation once you are in it. There are historical accounts of amazing grace stories and terribly tragic stories where one little turn of events in an act of crime ends in extreme bloodshed. This is where faith, wisdom and strength of spirit play an important role.
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