How can we limit the risks of aggression and damage in the case of attacks in our home?

The latest episodes of crime news that have featured people being kidnapped from their homes or from their car, have left almost all citizens feeling quite unprepared, unused as they are to so much violence and poorly organised for their own security.

In other countries, where assaults in people’s private homes have been the order of the day for years, citizens are far more organised and ready to deal with such emergencies.

Let’s take a brief look at how we can limit the risks of aggression and damage, in cases where we are victims of aggression:

Equip the house with all the necessary safety measures (alarms, security doors, bars, air conditioning systems and video-surveillance systems etc…) availing of the advice of a trusted expert.
Do not open the door so readily to strangers who arrive suddenly with the most varied motivations
Do not show your state of agitation, which may always lead the potential aggressor into temptation. When you have to give a tip to a deliveryman or pay a supplier, avoid doing so by opening safes in front of them or showing where your money is kept.
Before welcoming a guest into your home, entrusting your garden to a gardener, or employing a domestic aid, find out about their behaviour and the people they frequent.
If you decide to get a guard dog, know that when a male dog gets the scent of a bitch in heat he will loose his sense of duty completely. Having only one guard dog as a form of security for your home is almost completely useless, it is always better to have two or three of them (they will support each other and face a potential aggressor in a more self-assured manner, feeling like a pack). Whatever kind of dog you use to defend or guard your home, he must be trained in the presence of his owner when he is aged between 8 and 18 months old (the age in which a dog can learn the most), without resorting to fear or pain. Lastly, every dog has his own disposition and large dogs that belong to ill-famed races, as much as they would like to, are not courageous and ferocious enough to know how to defend their owner and his property.
If you hold a fire-arm for your own safety, you must consider that it is not sufficient to just purchase a fire-arm in order to know how to defend yourself with it, you must frequent a firing range and learn how to use it from shooting courses. When armed, you must ponder any kind of reaction well, reacting to an aggressor will often cause more damage than what the aggression itself might have caused. It is a good idea not to react unless you have a 90% chance of being stronger than your aggressor, moreover, you should only resort to firearms if your life or that of your family members is in put in direct danger during an aggression. The unpleasant sensation of having been the victim of an attack will never be as unpleasant as that of having killed a man, even if he was a criminal.
Silent alarms or sirens can often be much more useful than firearms, as is the case for pre-recorded voices and sounds, anti-aggression sprays and tear gas devices. Arrange some objects and money “ready to give” to a potential aggressor so as to satisfy him and ensure he leaves you alone.
Lastly, it is vitally important for you to collaborate with the Police Force, informing them in a timely manner of any suspect presence, taking registration plate numbers and providing a physical description.

Published on: 28 Jul 2004