October 2002 Newsletter for Defend University

In this issue: 

Gang Raped by a Baseball Team: Could it Have Been Avoided?
New Tape for Access Security
Retiree Death at Hands of Security Guards Highlights Need for Training
Testing and Recommendations of Products

Gang Raped by a Baseball Team: Could it Have Been Avoided?

A 15-year-old girl was gang-raped recently by a group of teenage baseball players traveling out of town from San Diego for a tournament for 16 to 18-year-olds.

According to police, a 23-year-old manager accompanying a Nevada team at the tournament is also under investigation. He drove the girl to the team's hotel, knew about sexual encounters and didn't notify police after the girl told him she had been raped.

The girl told officers she met players from the Nevada team at a water park, where she was a lifeguard. The players invited her to a party at a hotel where members from all nine teams were staying. Later that evening, Nevada players and their manager picked the girl up at her home and drove her to a motel.

The girl told police she had consensual sex with two members of the Nevada team in their room. Later that evening, she went to a party in the San Diego team's room. The players were drinking hard liquor and beer. She said six to 10 players forced her to have sex with them. The girl had difficulty identifying all of the players involved because they held her face down on a mattress in a dark room.

Of course, now the San Diego teens are saying the sex was consensual and initiated by the girl. The Nevada manager, whom police refuse to identify, also told officers that it seemed as if the girl was there to have sex with people.

However, a medical examination showed signs of physical trauma. Police do not believe the manager took part in the assault.

There are a couple of paradoxes here with this particular case.  First, rape is NEVER acceptable.  Also, it is a common tactic by defense lawyers to blame the victim for her behavior before, during and after a rape – a truly reprehensible move that we have all seen way too often.

However, imagining myself to be this girl, how would I get out of this situation?  It sounds as though she was the only female in the company of dozens and dozens of young, athletic males.  She already had consensual sex with two of them and now she is faced with multiple attackers.  They are holding her face down on a mattress. 

It is difficult to grapple with one person, much less 6 to 10.  The chances of defense and/or escape are slim.

Fifteen years old.  Alone.  Unknowingly putting herself in harm’s way.

Sometimes we will get a student who asks how to get out of a particular hold.  Unfortunately, the question is usually asked when the hold is completely on and there is little if anything that can be done at that point.

Jokingly we answer, “Don’t get there.”  In other words, don’t let the opponent put you into a position where the hold can be completed. 

Without joking in this rape case, the answer is still the same.  “Don’t get there.”  In other words don’t go to the hotel in the first place.  If you still decide to go, don’t go alone.  You can’t count on others to save you. 

As Mark Twain once said, “It’s easier to STAY out of trouble, than to GET out of trouble.”


New Tape for Access Security

There are two new types of tape that can determine if unauthorized access has occurred into a container or room. Originally designed for flight crews, the two special tapes can also be placed on access doors and panels. On one of the tapes, the word "VOID" appears if the tape is removed, so that the crew knows that someone tried to gain access to the aircraft. The other is a bright orange, center-perforated tape that will split in half if entry is attempted and can also be used with the ultraviolet light and invisible ink pen found in the kit. Removing the residue of both tapes is easy; simply use the treated cleaning pads for the void tape and nonabrasive tool for the orange tape.  Both are included in one kit.

For more information call Todd Smith at 713-430-7300. 

 
Retiree Death at Hands of Security Guards Highlights Need for Training

A 65-year-old retiree goes into a supermarket to get a loaf of bread. 

His wife waits outside for an abnormally long time.  After an ambulance arrives at the store – and leaves – she investigates.  She finds out that her husband has been in some sort of altercation with four security guards and has suffered a head injury.  The injury proved fatal.

Store guards told police Larry Melsky hit his head on a door frame after being detained for trying to shoplift ice cream and bread.  Melsky’s family said they believe he was beaten to death.

The investigation is still pending in this case, but it doesn’t look too good.  At the very least, the store is getting some very unfavorable publicity.  It is a good bet that there will be some sort of financial compensation offered or due to the family.

But, it’s not an uncommon theme – private security guards subdue a thief only to have them die later from head injuries, cardiac arrest from a neck restraint or from positional asphyxia.

If you or your personnel are in a position of public trust, you should be trained in a strategy of dealing with aggressive or violent behavior:

First defend, then control.  

If you are acting purely as a citizen, you only have to defend yourself.  That means the citizen can escape, evade or lash out with strikes.  He or she is only obligated to defend their person.   

However, with a public safety personnel or any type of agent entrusted with preserving public peace, a person or property, you must take a second, more serious step.  First, you must defend yourself or your partner; second, you must control the subject for arrest.       

That does not mean you can maim the suspect, it means you must use only the force necessary to effect the arrest.  There are plenty of examples of municipalities, counties and corporations that have had to shell out millions of dollars in wrongful use of force suits. 

We are going to assume that your subject will always be bigger and stronger than you (however in the case noted above, the perception is that the 65-year-old was no match for four security guards). 

To keep the upper hand, you will need as much help as we can muster from gravity, friction, and leverage.  In other words, remember that the ground is our friend.  There should be a minimum of striking and kicking in your curriculum -- we said ‘control’ not ‘concussion’. 

Despite the aura that surrounds the striking arts, it takes quite a while to develop an expertise in striking effectively.  In addition, by the time you beat someone into submission, they have usually absorbed enough blows to warrant serious injury.  If you have a combative patient, do you really need to be pounding on him to comply? Remember that everything you do today is under scrutiny.  You must assume the video camera is on you every time you make a contact on the street and pounding on someone looks really, really bad later on when the video is played in court at your trial. 

Plus, anytime you use strikes, there is the serious problem of blood-born pathogens.  I don’t want somebody’s blood or saliva on me.  I especially don’t want to punch people in the mouth where their fluids can be introduced into my system through cuts on my knuckles. 

We receive a lot of questions and feedback from public safety personnel on this very subject.  I include police officers, security officers, firefighters, ambulance attendants, correction officers, juvenile detention workers, loss prevention officers, bouncers, and bodyguards in this group.

If you are in this group, Defend University is working on a new video tape series to handle these kinds of problems.  We want to prepare students to defend themselves against physical assault and then control the subject allowing for arrest.  The techniques will give the student the option of picking any level of force along the continuum.  The emphasis is on defending against serious attacks and controlling with the minimum amount of force.

The student will learn strategies and tactics in these main areas:

Defense against an unarmed attack;
Defense against an armed attack;
Weapon retention;
Handcuffing;
Takedowns 

Look for more information on the project as it progresses.

Testing and Recommendations of Products

One of the other things that we run into is questions about certain products and services.  While we spend most of our time researching and testing techniques and strategies, we are going to start testing products and making recommendations.   Look for those recommendations and products later on as well.

Brad Parker
Defend University

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