and the chart below contrasts the various aspects we should adopt;
EASY TO MUG
Stopped.
Looking around and lost. Holding your wallet or purse. Looking at a map. Walking slowly. In a dream. Deep in conversation. HARD TO MUG Jogging.
Fast and purposeful walk (late for an appointment).
Aggressive. Alert demeanour. Fleeting eye contact. Erect and self assured.
Unknown Risk
Remember, most street crime is opportunistic and for this to happen a number of factors have to be in place. First you have to be chosen as a target.
S T R E E T S E C U R I T Y
People who look wealthy or display that wealth on their wrist in the form of a gold watch are a target
‘economically’. The final piece of the
selection is down to you and how you appear. Look switched off and you have put the pieces of the picture into place for you to be a victim, you are now also a target ‘opportunistically’.
We cannot forget the person who holds a permanent grudge against people who are patently successful, particularly women who are then easy targets of his abusive behaviour or violence. In many sexual attacks the desire to dominate and cause suffering is greater than the sexual gratification and, often, such a person will seldom fit the popular description of someone you would immediately be frightened of in the street. Both here and in the US the most gruesome of serial killers would cause no one to give them a second glance in the street . They are the ‘boy next door’ and the ‘husband next door’, which is how they are able to get close to their victims.
The very simple solution would be to trust no-one, but to put it in a less paranoid way ‘exhibit’ a healthy caution about anyone. Serial killers, of both sexes, ‘ply their trade’ with
subterfuge, cunning and high intellect, applying psychology to the capture of their victims. This allows them to get close even in broad daylight, particularly as this is when no-one is suspecting such an encounter.
If A Car Stops
Take nobody at face value and if you are asked for directions by anyone in a car, preferably do not stop, but if you have to keep a good six feet or more away and don’t be drawn towards the
car, particularly if you are asked to look at a map or piece of paper with an address on it.
S T R E E T S E C U R I T Y
‘Switched Off’ and drawn into what seems an innocent situation.
If a car stops and you are threatened scream and shout and set off your personal alarm if you have one to hand. Get away as quickly as you can - don’t run in the direction of the traffic as he can follow you easily, so back track and get into a shop or similar. If you can make a mental note of the number and description of the car and occupants, write them down as soon as possible after.
So that you cannot be surprised by a vehicle, endeavour to walk towards the oncoming traffic, this way a car or van cannot draw up behind you. I don’t want to differentiate between male and female, but certain situations do hold more danger for the lone female.
Muggings
(Street Robberies)
These can take place day and night but, generally they will take place in ‘secondary areas, to the main shopping and business areas of major cities, although attacks do take place in even the busiest and best areas. The perpetrators of street robberies are the disaffected and violent youth of today. The exhibit three things - need, greed and hatred.
If we take one Metropolitan Police area - Streatham, in 1995 there were some 71 street robberies a month. Studies showed that a small number of people were responsible for a large number of robberies, in fact there were some 10 and 20 active robbers aged between
S T R E E T S E C U R I T Y
Now it’s not so innocent and you could be in big trouble.
Keep away from the car, don’t get drawn into conversation and keep walking. If you are really unhappy, change direction and walk the oppo- site way.
S T R E E T S E C U R I T Y
12 and 18. Streatham did not have the worst robbery in the Met, but a diverse mixture of shops, restaurants, quiet side streets, six British Rail stations and a red light district offer chances for opportunist criminals.
It was reported that most hunt in packs or ‘posses’ and the greatest number of offenders were young, black males. It would appear very few have a drugs habit to feed; they are driven purely by the desire to wear the latest designer gear or carry a mobile phone. Streatham police instigated a very pro-active approach to the problem with dedicated teams of officers and vehicles. With plain clothes officers carrying out surveillance on the areas where they operate successes occurred quickly. On the first day of the operation they had a hit with a gang who attacked an 80 year old woman. Three youths pounced on the victim and stole her pension book, dislocating her shoulder as they bundled her to the ground. The youths were quickly arrested by officers working nearby. It is, however, not an easy task as the criminals have become surveillance conscious and are wise to the police tactics. As the police will admit about mugging, it’s easy to commit and takes a few seconds. Burglars by contrast, put themselves on show for a bit
longer. Muggers - “they change their clothes as often as three times a day and buy reversible jackets so we won’t pick them up in the area as a suspect for wearing clothes described by the victim. Sometimes they wear vests under so they throw their shirts away and look completely different in a string vest”.
A lot operate in gangs and intimidate people. Before they can be initiated into some of the posses they have to commit a violent robbery and, in one case, they have to stab someone. The police admitted anyone can be a victim of street robbery - “there are so many
different factors which make it a random offence and difficult for us to pinpoint where they might happen.”
S T R E E T S E C U R I T Y
One of the main problems facing the robbery squad is the fact that many of the victims are unable to provide a description of the muggers.
“A lot of offences are committed from behind, with jewellry and bags snatched. That means the victim never sees the offender properly. Other times the offence is based on fear, with the offender making so many threats about what will happen to the victim if the police are called that the offence goes unreported or is reported a long time after the offence”.
The Violence Involved
A young mother of two needed surgery after being brutally attacked in a quiet side street in Streatham. Lisa 22 was walking towards a late-night chemists at about 8pm on a Friday night when she spotted a man talking on a mobile phone. As she passed him he demanded her handbag then butted her in the face, sending her sprawling to the ground in agony. Lisa recalls he said “give me your bag, bitch and head butted me at the same time. I went stiff like a board and kept my head cradled in my arms. He hit me in the face again and kicked my leg really hard. I was in panic when I saw all the blood and I was worried he would stab me. If he had just asked me for my bag I would have given it to him.” He ran off empty
handed and laughing , she said “ my nose was dislodged to one side and I had to have an operation under general anaesthetic to reset it. This has made me very cautious about going out and I try not to carry a bag, but I want to live my life as normally as possible.”
She has been out in the police robbery car on several occasions trying to identify the thug who has left her wary about venturing out on the streets alone. The attacker enjoys inflicting pain and suffering - anyone who thinks this type of person is open to reason and that he thinks like we do probably still believes in the ‘tooth fairy’. Today there are still the remnants of a liberal thinking that believes that a bit of ‘social engineering’ will solve the problem and that all people are inherently good. It is a complete nonsense as it is not to accept that ethnic minority groups are not engaged in any crime. Need, greed
and hatred, plain and simple and until
it is recognised that there is a war going on in the streets the thugs and scum will have the ascendancy. Such crimes as ‘Taxing’ which is the act of throwing bricks through a lone woman’s car window in traffic to steal handbags, is only one example of the state to which matters have sunk.
S T R E E T S E C U R I T Y
Lets look at some of the general point- ers as to how a street robbery occurs: