Years ago, I had a friend who was about the best deer hunter I’ve ever known. He nearly always got a deer on his hunting trips; it was nearly always a good buck. When I asked him for advice, he told me that you have to think like a deer. Where do they find the best cover? Where do they find the best food? Where are the paths that they like to travel when going from one place to another? "Think like a deer" was his advice.
Now, when I say that you should think like a crook, I obviously don’t mean you ought to turn outlaw. But, I would suggest that you examine your habits and your surroundings from the standpoint of how a criminal would benefit from what you do and where you are doing it.
Take your daily commute for instance. Does it take you through a rough part of town? Is there an alternate route, maybe taking a few more minutes, that would be safer? And even if your route is a good one, what if some group decides to hold a demonstration protesting this or that; do you have another way to go and will you take it? The time to think about that is now, not when you are face to face with the problem.
Consider your shopping habits. Where you choose to park is important. That well-lit area, nearer to the store is always a good choice. And suppose that you come out and see strangers hanging around your vehicle; do you go back inside and ask for store security?
Of course, there are those who would say they are going to go where they want to go and do what they want to do and heaven help the crook who tries to mess with them. In police work we called this graveyard courage. When trouble starts, too many things can happen and many of them are bad. The best fight is truly the one that you are able to avoid.
So we study what criminals do and try to use that information to make ourselves a harder target. News reports and the NRA’s Armed Citizen column are good places to get this sort of information. When we look at mistakes that others have made, we can more clearly see our own weaknesses and mistakes.
It really doesn’t hurt to take a bit of time and think like a crook. You can see weaknesses in your home security and weaknesses in your daily habits. More importantly, you have the leisure time to figure out ways to correct those weaknesses. The results are presenting an appearance and habits that tell the criminal that trying to make you a victim is probably going to be a big mistake.
