Pepper Spray, Stun Guns, and Tasers… Oh My!

The actual news headline was “Woman overpowers thief with tea and sympathy”.

A 30-year-old Tokyo woman and her 6 month old baby was confronted by a knife wielding stranger in the hallway of her apartment building the other day. The man brandished a knife and demanded that she give him her money.

The mother told the creep that she didn’t have any money on her and he proceeded to barge into her apartment. Luckily this story has an unusual (happy?) ending and neither the housewife or child were injured in this attack.

Apparently, the woman calmed the man down by making him some tea and providing a compassionate ear. When offered the tea, the man accepted, I suppose as any honorable Japanese man would. The man then put the knife away and began a 20 minute monologue describing his less than fulfilling life story.

Probably quite sick of hearing the sob story, the woman ended up handing over almost $100 and ran out of the apartment. The man quietly left the scene as the woman called the police from a pay phone outside.

The police rushed to the apartment but the thief was long gone.

I can’t say that offering tea would have been my first choice line of defense, but I suppose if granted that opportunity and had a pot ready, I would have capitalized by making the tea as blazing, boiling hot as humanly possible and “accidentally” spilling the extra large cup in the thief’s lap.

Or if you don’t feel like wasting perfectly good tea, plan ahead and stop the situation before being bored to tears by some whining thief and tool yourself up with some pepper spray, stun gun or a taser.

http://www.worthprotectionsecurity.com/weapons.htm

Not all knife-wielding criminals will be so easily distracted by good hospitality. This Japanese woman was quite lucky to escape this situation unscathed. Wrong place at the wrong time victimization can range from simple theft to severe beatings, rape or worse. You never know what is on the mind of an assaliant.

Also remember, this mother had a 6-month-old baby in tow.

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to you, but the reality of it is that an ounce of protection could be worth more than a pound of cure. What is Worth Protection to you? Your belongings? Your family? Your personal well-being?

Yours in safety,
Rob

Popularity: 5% [?]

Thanks for returning so frequently, I hope you are enjoying our blog! Please feel free to leave us your comments or suggestions! Also please add us to your bookmarks, Digg, Delicious, Stumble, Buzz, Tweet etc. Just click on the SocioFluid chicklets at the bottom of any post. Let us know, and we will reciprocate the link.

It really amazes me sometimes when I hear how oblivious some people are to the possible threat of crime. I’m not talking about full fledged paranoia all the time, but some people take the “It won’t happen to me” syndrome to the opposite extreme. There are even self-proclaimed self-defense experts that will lead you to believe that avoiding the dangerous neighborhoods and dark places will sufficiently keep you 100% safe. While avoiding potential trouble spots is not bad advice, by and large trouble may randomly seek you out, no matter what neighborhood or time of day you venture out.

I’m not sure where the false sense of security comes from when living in “good” or affluent neighborhoods come from. I mean, where do you think the criminals want to go to steal stuff, the run down projects or the “good” neighborhood where people have money and better stuff to steal?

And what about being safe in public during the day when there are crowds of people around to “deter” crime? What about that lunatic in Japan who decided to drive his car down the street in Akihabara, Tokyo’s biggest electronics shopping district? This disturbed individual intentually crashes his car into a crowd, then proceeds to get out and rampage through the street with a knife. He ended up killing seven random people.

This attack in early June followed the killing of a person in a random stabbing during the day outside a train station north of Tokyo in March. Five random people were hurt in a similar attack in January. Also in March, a teenager pushed a random stranger under a train in western Japan, simply saying he felt like killing someone. All of these particular incidents out of a country typically proud of its low crime rate.

While these random acts of violence are comparatively rare occurrences, they are not as improbable as some would make them out to be. And they don’t always happen in the bad neighborhoods or dark alleys late at night.

Some members of the public pointed to an economic downturn and government policy as reasons for rising frustration. “Politicians don’t think about the people, they raise taxes and change the healthcare system,” is the opinion of one Japanese citizen. “I think that’s what breeds this violent behavior. People begin to hate society when they can’t succeed.”

One of Japan’s top government spokesperson said it is hard to pin down reasons for attacks like these but thinks tighter controls should be considered on weapons, like the survival knife the attacker used. Again with the misguided weapon controls as the answer to end crime. Come on now. What about his car that he started his rampage with when he crashed into a crowd of people? Should the now try to ban automobiles, or only automobiles when used as weapons?

So what is the answer? Stricter laws and harsher penalties would likely not be helpful. Statistically this has not really seemed to work. “If they have the urge to commit suicide, people will do these things in countries that have the death penalty,” says a criminal psychologist at Tokyo Institute of Technology. “But when these people fail to fulfill themselves in socially acceptable ways, they are treated as losers and their frustration builds up,” he added. “A series of disappointments can lead them to try to regain their sense of self through crime.”

Not feeling too warm and fuzzy at the moment. So while the “experts” and government officials debate the issues, apply more misguided legislation and continue to depress the economy further causing desperate people to take desperate measures… You might want to take some proactive protective measures for your home, family and self.

Again, not the holy grail answer to keep you 100% safe against the randomness of violence and crime, but I’d rather have a security alarm, some pepper spray, Taser or stun gun on hand and ready… just in case.

http://www.worthprotectionsecurity.com

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to you, but the reality of it is that an ounce of protection could be worth more than a pound of cure. What is Worth Protection to you? Your belongings? Your family? Your personal well-being?

Yours in safety,

Rob

Popularity: 6% [?]

A “stocky” woman in her 20s broke a man’s leg in the UK
the other day by throwing him to the ground with a
martial arts judo throw.

The 22-year-old victim suffered a dislocated ankle and
spiral fracture to two bones in his leg after an alleged
unprovoked attack just before 2 AM on March 2nd. He is
now recovering at home after surgery on his leg, and
nursing a severely damaged ego after being beat up by
a girl.

Although this was a rare case of a guy getting roughed
up by a girl, (rare because most manly men would choose
not report this publicly), It goes to show women are not
always the inferior race and are able to defend
themselves when necessary if trained how to.

Whether with pepper spray, a stun gun, or some martial
arts moves learned in a self-defense class or on an
instructional DVD, leveling the playing field and
fighting back might just be enough to prevent being
a victim.

Perhaps that British gentleman in Taunton might want to
brush up on his self defence skills himself. Or maybe
next time he should at least tell his friends he was
beat up by 3 big guys in a dark alley, not “a stocky,
dark haired woman in her 20s…”

It may take quite some time for him live this one down.

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to
you, but the reality of it is that an ounce of protection
could be worth more than a pound of cure. What is Worth
Protection to you? Your belongings? Your family? Your
personal well-being?

Yours in safety,

Rob Cook

Popularity: 5% [?]

A mail carrier is already the perfect candidate for
carrying an electronic dog repeller and Mace Muzzle
canine spray.

In Hanover, PA, a female mail carrier ended up trapped
inside her vehicle for nearly two hours as two dogs
attacked her tires. Two dogs, one a rottweiler and the
other a pit-bull mix, flattened three of them.

When the mail carrier used he cell phone to summon help,
the police arrived on the scene. The dogs turned around
and attacked the police cruiser’s tire as well.

Authorities prepared to tranquilize the dogs named
Judge and Justice. Just in time, the surprised and
apologetic homeowner arrived and called off the dogs.

The dogs’ owner, described them “generally sweethearts”
and blamed the attack on a tire toy the dogs had recently
been given.

Using the latest ultrasonic technology, the electronic
Super Dogchaser uses two ways to repel a dog. One is the
discomforting but not harmful high frequency sound that
is audible to dogs but not to humans. The second is a
super bright LED flashing strobe that temporarily blinds
and confuses the dog, helping stop the approach of
unwanted dogs up to 40 feet.

http://www.worthprotectionsecurity.com/dogchaser.htm

EPA approved Mace Muzzle provides safe, effective and
humane protection against canine attack. Ideal
protection for walkers, joggers, cyclists or delivery
people, it stops attacking dogs and forces them to
retreat.

This specially formulated pepper spray is designed
specifically for dogs and has been proven to be
effective in encounters with aggressive canines. If a
dog attacks you, spraying this repellent in it’s face
will stop him in his tracks.

It will overpower the animal and he will retreat. If you
jog or take walks, then you should carry this dog spray
with you. It is lightweight, easily accessible, and will
provide fast protection when you need it most.

http://www.worthprotectionsecurity.com/dogrepellent.htm

It would be a wise investment to carry both of these
items if you are a delivery worker or mail carrier and
are routinely likely to encounter animals that may not
express happiness at your arrival.

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to
you, but the reality of it is that an ounce of protection
could be worth more than a pound of cure. What is Worth
Protection to you? Your belongings? Your family? Your
personal well-being?

Yours in safety,

Rob Cook

Popularity: 5% [?]