The principles of situational awareness are something that we have been taught since we were children. Don’t talk to creepy strangers, look both ways before crossing the street, pay attention to where you are walking, etc. Yet, as we grew into adulthood, many of us forgot the words of wisdom passed onto us by our elders.
Tsai Talks Situational Awareness Principles
Honestly, we see it everywhere. People stepping out into moving traffic, expecting speeding cars to stop for them, or staring off into space and walking into glass windows, oblivious to their surroundings.
We have all read articles or watched videos about people who are caught off guard and attacked, robbed, or killed while distracted. Many of these people were walking with their faces stuck in their cell phones and never saw it coming. I have honestly watched a guy walk for several blocks just staring at and admiring clouds. He never looked down or around at anything else around him.
I have spent nearly three decades in the security industry at almost every level. During that time, I have watched many stupid people do many stupid things. I mean things that I saw coming from a mile away where the victim did not.
Sometimes, I/my team would be able to intervene in time, and sometimes not. Either way, if the average person paid as much attention to what was happening around them as they did to the Mike Tyson/Jake Paul fight, they would be far safer.
1. Don’t Go to Stupid Places Where Stupid Things Happen
Generally, no one needs to be told to avoid trouble. However, some people look for it.
When your friends tell you about this “hot new club/restaurant” in the middle of one of the worst neighborhoods, do you go? My son lives in Wicker Park in Chicago. One of my favorites, it is a super cool neighborhood with lots to do and lots of cool shopping. I spent much of my youth there myself, so I do see the appeal.
However, it is surrounded by dangerous neighborhood pockets. If you park your car there, it will get broken into in broad daylight. It’s not far from downtown, and the Democratic Nation Convention recently took place there.
I told my kids to avoid downtown during the convention because bad people would be out doing bad things. Some people would say, “Well, that’s why I carry.” I would say that is just asking for trouble. Do stupid things, go to stupid places, win stupid prizes.
If you inject yourself into trouble-filled neighborhoods, daring someone to try you just because you have a firearm, there is a decent chance that you are going to find the problem that you are looking for.
Even if you win the gunfight, you will be entering into a very expensive legal fight. If you are about that life, then you do you. Adults make adult decisions, some good, some not so much. But then again, I am not Judge Judy, so lose everything you own at your own risk.
2. Bad Things Can and Will Happen in Good Places, So Pay Attention
We have all seen videos of people getting attacked while pumping gas at the gas station.
Within the past five years, there have been several shootings here in suburban Illinois that have made the national news. Three of them are the Highland Park parade shooting, the WeatherTech factory shooting, and the Oakbrook Mall shooting.
All three incidents occurred in highly affluent suburbs filled with multimillion-dollar single-family homes. These are low crime areas where I cannot afford to live myself.
Crime happens everywhere. I live an hour west of the city myself, in a modest but quaint little townhome community. My neighbor directly in front of my unit had their catalytic converter stolen right in their driveway.
Recently, I was parking at the grocery store and witnessed approximately 12-15 teenagers walking through the parking lot with hoods and face bandannas on, clearly looking for trouble. A few of them glanced in my direction, staring at my Grand Cherokee.
I made clear eye contact, as did they. I kept my vehicle in drive, watched, and waited until they passed the store’s entrance before exiting my vehicle.
Before anyone attempts to make racial Chicago ghetto kid comments, these teens were all white kids in an expensive neighborhood. Punks are punks, period. While I can fight and am always armed, I simply remained vigilant and prepared to just leave. Whatever I was buying wasn’t worth getting into a fight with—or potentially killing—a couple of kids over.
3. Don’t Ignore the Warning Signs
The following is a very unfortunate story where the stuff of nightmares became reality. As an instructor who taught active shooter classes myself, I was in Montgomery County, Ohio. Our team of instructors was in the county building, training 1600 employees over a four-week period.
During the first week, we wrapped up class on a Thursday night, only to return the following morning to crying students. There was a factory shooting less than a mile away that evening, and several of the county employees had family members who were in the building during the incident. Understandably, A couple of the county employees needed to be excused from class.
One story that stood out was one of the county employees had a son working in the factory. The son called his father and said he noticed the shooter was irate and acting out of character. He reported the shooter’s state of being to a manager and was told it was “noted.”
The son demonstrated situational awareness and removed himself out of harm’s way and survived the shooting. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about some of his friends and co-workers. I am unsure exactly “what” was said to the factory manager, as I heard it via third party through his clearly upset father.
4. Make Yourself a Hard Target
All self-defense includes situational awareness. You can STOP the threat/fight before it even begins simply by being aware of your surroundings.
- Bad guys look for individuals walking around staring at cell phones, not paying attention to their surroundings. Bad guys love a soft target.
- Just to see what would happen, I recently followed an elderly couple around a grocery store for about 5-10 minutes with a full-sized camera, taking pictures of them. No one said anything to me. (Editor’s Note: This was strictly for observational purposes. Athlon Outdoors does not recommend doing this)
- Similarly, in the grocery store’s parking lot, a lady was so busy loading her groceries that she did not notice me pointing a camera straight at her from my vehicle. All she had to do was look up. (Editor’s Note: This was strictly for observational purposes. Athlon Outdoors does not recommend doing this)
- Pay attention to everything around when getting cash at an ATM. Criminals are just waiting for you to get cash.
I think I have made it clear.
For example, if you see five loud drunks hanging out in front of the local liquor store, it’s probably a safe bet to just drive to the next store.
No one should live in fear, but you also shouldn’t be clueless. If you are walking down the street and your gut tells you that the group walking in your direction is trouble, cross the street. Don’t walk through them with your face in your phone, watching TikTok videos.
If they cross the street when you do, keep your distance the best you can and stay in open, well-lit, and populated areas. However, there are ways to deal with multiple attackers if you are confronted and it becomes combative.
5. There Is a Great Big World Out There – Keep It Out There
Also, don’t just dive into your own little world. Several of my neighbors leave their garage doors open all summer. I don’t understand this. It just shows junk collectors and would-be thieves a glimpse of items that could be stolen.
In addition, many people lock the doors to their homes but keep their garages unlocked. To me, this is just inviting trouble, like leaving your cars unlocked in your driveway. The easier you make it for criminals, the more you invite the criminal element to try.
The bottom line is to make yourself a hard target no matter where you are or where you live.
Don’t sit clueless in your car watching YouTube videos in front of your house. If you look up and see people you do not know approaching your vehicle from behind, drive off. Circle the block to see if they are still there—from down the street. If you still see them, watch them before returning home.
To some, this may seem all like common sense, and I would agree. Unfortunately, not everyone has common sense. Some people are simply just overloaded in their lives with personal problems and don’t have the bandwidth to process what is happening 10 feet around them.
In closing, don’t be that guy washing his car in his driveway who doesn’t notice a group of men surrounding him because he is overly focused on buffing out a scratch in his wife’s Acura.
