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"Fighting is a game of percentages.  All your training and moves should be based on development of high percentage finishes.  By this I mean a move that you have used a lot in the past, that has finished people 80 percent of the time."

Erik Paulson

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Survive and Thrive in 2003

Here's a disturbing statistic:  147 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty last year. And, if you are a civilian, violent crime is back on the rise after a brief lull.

Use the turning of the year to recommit to awareness, safety and survival:

1. Wake up!  Look around, keep your head up and stay aware of what's going on around you.
2. Lock your doors.  Car doors too.  A simple, but effective method of keeping the bad guys out.
3. Cops, wear your body armor!  I know it's hot and uncomfortable, but they are proven lifesavers.
4. Work out.  Your fitness level has a direct correlation of how well you perform during stress. 
5. Get more training.  Keep exploring and learning.  Make the effort to go to a few seminars.  Get a few video tapes.  Start working out with other like-minded individuals.  Enroll in program or school that you like and teaches realistic strategies and techniques.  Compete in IDPA or other action shooting sports or martial arts tournaments.  Anything you can do is better than nothing.  Even 5 minutes a week is better than procrastinating while you wait until you have enough time to do a full-blown training program.

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California Loses 33,000 Sex Offenders

California has lost track of more than 33,000 convicted sex offenders, despite a law requiring rapists and child molesters to register each year for inclusion in the Megan's Law database.

"We don't know where they are," acknowledged Margaret Moore, which until recently ran the state's sex offender registry.

The 33,000 represents 44% of the 76,350 who registered with the state at least once and have since vanished.  And it could be worse -- no one knows how many offenders never registered at all after leaving prison.

(Click on the thumbnail for larger photo) San Jose police officers, from left, Raul Martinez, Andrew Harsany and Eric Dragoo search through the residence motel room of a paroled sex offender during a routine parole violation check Wednesday, March 13, 2002, in San Jose, Calif. California has lost track of nearly half of its sex offenders, despite a state law requiring rapists and child molesters to register each year and be included in the Megan's Law database. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

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Top 10 Corporate Security Threats

Back in the not-so-distant past, the main corporate security concern in most companies was employee theft.  Pinkerton's says the threat of workplace violence is the top security issue that is now being faced by companies.  The threat of terrorism jumped up to the number three position, leaping from number 17 previous to 9-11.

Here's their top 10 list:

1. Workplace violence
2. Business interruption/disaster recovery
3. Terrorism (both domestic and global)
4. Internet security
5. Employee backgrounds and screening
6. Fraud/white-collar crime
7. Unethical business conduct
8. General employee theft
9. Property crime (both external theft and vandalism)
10. Drugs and alcohol in the workplace

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(Click on thumbnail for larger photo) The Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command's National Automotive Center unveiled SmarTruck II, (left) a prototype  multi-purpose vehicle capable of both counter-terrorism support and domestic security at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The heavily armed SmarTruck II is a sport utility vehicle with its front and rear seat jammed with high-tech systems. It carries a POINTER unmanned air vehicle and a SPIKE pinpoint laser-guided missile. Photo by Reuters.

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"Always cheat. Always win."

                        Clint Smith, Thunder Ranch

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Greenpeace breaks into nuclear plant

Greenpeace protesters have broken into a major nuclear power station in a bid to highlight what they said was the plant's vulnerability. Using just 30 pounds-worth of equipment, 19 protesters broke into the control building at Suffolk in England.

"It was very easy to get inside," said Blake Lee-Hardwood, Greenpeace campaigns director. "If we had been terrorists we could have caused big damage."

British Energy, which operates Sizewell B, played down the incident and denied it showed any vulnerability.

The protesters broke in by cutting a hole in a wire mesh fence and gaining access to the control building unopposed. Nine of them climbed onto the roof of the building and two made their way to the top of the dome that covers the reactor.  "It is a terrifying thought that if we can do this then anyone can," said Greenpeace volunteer Rob Gueterbock.

Speaking from experience having been stationed at a nuclear power power plant, there are two things about this incident that I will throw in:

1. Take the "break in" and "vulnerability" comments with a grain of salt.  Just because someone gets in the fence or into what they think is the control building, they may not be in an area in which they can do any real harm;

2. It's a good thing Greenpeace did not do this in the U.S., because they would have met with some very stiff resistance.

In fact, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has warned plants to be careful in conducting spontaneous mock brake-ins because security personnel came very close to using deadly force (i.e. shooting) a plant supervisor who thought he would spring a surprise mock break-in.

The plant I was at had multiple security systems including bomb sniffing equipment, metal detectors, and video surveillance.  The security force was also armed with weapons that could defeat attacks by forces equipped with even light armor.  In fact, the only successful infiltration of nuclear plants has been by Navy SEAL teams.  The SEAL teams were active at one point testing security at various government and power facilities to demonstrate their vulnerabilities (and, I suppose, to get some real world practice with their dark arts).  

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Amtrak Passengers Subdue Armed Man

Passengers aboard an Amtrak train took matters into their own hands when a man wielding a plastic knife threatened to kill them while screaming profanities against America. 

According to arrest reports, passengers already had Gerardo Damien Bedia, 21, restrained in an upstairs compartment when Big Sandy (Texas) Police Officer William Lakes arrived on the scene.

Witnesses told police that Bedia, armed with a knife, made threats against other passengers and said that "all Americans will die."

Norman said the knife was described as a black all-plastic polymer folding knife.  Bedia apparently is a U.S. citizen and had Army identification.

According to officer statements, Bedia was screaming "I'll kill you," as well as profanities. He spoke in English as well as Spanish and "some kind of Middle Eastern language," the report states.

Reports show that Bedia repeatedly tried to kick the officer and take his weapon before being placed in custody and later told Lakes he would "die from a bullet to the head."

I don't have much information on exactly how this guy was restrained, but one interesting aspect of this is that it was not widely reported in the popular media.

This is another example of a real life situation that can happen almost anywhere.  For some ideas on what you might do if you are a passenger in this kind of situation, go here.

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Use a Fly-By for Self-Defense Recon

When I was on my department's Mountain Rescue Team, we spent a great deal of time in and around helicopters.  One of the things that I noticed that most of the pilots did was to routinely fly by their intended landing zone.  They would fly by the landing zone prior to landing, even if everything looked totally normal and even if they routinely landed there a thousand times.  They told me they were trained to fly by and look for hidden obstacles like power lines or low fences that might not have been noticeable from the higher altitude.

This is a good habit to get into for self-defense reasons. 

When you drive to the ATM, drive by once first before you park.  Look for anything out of place, i.e. two guys sitting in a car watching the machine or someone loitering around the location trying to look nonchalant. 

Or, as you get ready to walk into a convenience store (often notorious as crime magnets), look through the windows as you walk up.  Check out the clerk.  Is he acting normal or is something wrong?  Are there other customers in the store acting normally?  Are there any weirdoes hanging around the front?

When you are driving in a parking garage or large parking lot (other crime magnets) drive up and down a few aisles before parking.  Do you see anyone cutting through any aisles in an attempt to get close to your car?  Are there any single males in the parking lot trying to look nonchalant?  Any trucks or vans shadowing you?

The "trying hard to look nonchalant" part is an interesting giveaway.  I was working once with a joint anti-gang task force and was in a pursuit of a car that was involved in a drive-by shooting.  We lost the car and drove up and down the street past a small group of juveniles sitting in a yard.  There didn't seem to be anything obviously wrong except that these kids would not even look at us when we drove by -- they were trying too hard to look as if nothing was happening.  Most people will naturally look at a car, just out of curiosity if nothing else.  We stopped and checked out the juveniles.  Sure enough, on closer inspection they were breathing hard, hearts racing and some of them had grass and leaves in their hair where they had crawled through the hedges after ditching their getaway car on the other block.  They gave themselves away by being too nonchalant.

Don't be in such a rush to park right in the front and race into the store or to the ATM.  You could walk right into a robbery.  Do a fly-by and check it out first.

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