Most people when they think of a kidnapping think of a violent, dramatic event. The victim is ambushed, dragged from his car, threatened with weapons and restrained before being moved to a location where he is isolated. Many kidnappings do follow this model or something very similar. Speed, violence, “shock and awe” are effective tools…
One of the key elements of personal security is to understand the threat and the adversary’s method of operation, mindset and tactics. Rory Miller, the author of the excellent books Meditations on Violence and Facing Violence has released an outstanding video called Logic of Violence that delves into the mindset of the criminal, how they…
US citizen Shezanne Cassim and four other men are currently being detained in United Arab Emirates for making a satirical film about a fictional martial arts school in Satwa neighborhood of Dubai. The 20-minute film, which follows the format of shows like Fight Quest and Human Weapon begins with the film makers visiting the fictional…
There is a tendency to be drawn to the more exotic, spectacular or exciting threats when considering personal risk rather than the more likely but more mundane threats. In many parts of the developing world your greatest risk is a vehicle accident. Poorly maintained vehicles, lack or total absence of professional driver training and licensing,…
We have often discussed the importance of situational awareness and its role in keeping yourself safe. This pertains not only to personal security but to general personal safety as well. The massive use of different handled devices has had a demonstrative effect on the situational awareness of most of the public. The other day while…
While we generally tend to focus on the less physical aspects of personal security and self-protection or the “soft skills” it’s important at times to comment on some aspects of the hard skills, especially when it comes to the need for realistic and functional training. For those people who choose to pursue some type of…
At about 9pm on April 11, 2013 a group of 5 men forced their way into an apartment in Meriden, Connecticut in the Northeastern US and overpowered and restrained four people inside. The apartment was reportedly company-rented and used by employees of Lenox Jewelers in Fairfield who frequently transited between that store and another store…
Amorphous: Without a clearly defined shape or form; vague; indeterminate or unclassifiable When contemplating personal security situations we often envision the threat – whatever it may be – to be clear and direct. Sometimes it is but often that is not the case. Many crimes are direct and overt. A blitz attack, a knife or…
If you do business in an international environment then chances are you deal with a wide range of people with different ideas about acceptable business practices, business ethics, conflict resolution and competition. While some of these people may hold views very similar to yours many others may have a different perspective. Generally speaking the further…
Continuing with the theme of keeping travel security in perspective that we introduced in the last article I’d like to stress again the need to keep a realistic and practical view of your personal security when traveling overseas and to avoid alarmist perceptions that often follow incidents like the Sarai Sierra case and the sexual…