As I walked under the razor wire through the double gates of the prison, I was eager to begin my second week as a correctional officer. It was monsoon season in Arizona and the hard rain disabled all of the fence alarms around the whole prison. As I approached the middle of the prison yard, I ran into 2 old school correctional officers who were standing amongst the hundreds of inmates keeping an eye on inmate movement due to the heavy rains. I proceeded to blurt out in a very loud and confident voice, "When the rain stops, I will go do a fence check to see if the fence alarms are working yet."
The one officer, who had over thirty years working for the Federal Prison system, took a big dip out of his Copenhagen tin and said to me, "Son, do you realize that you just told 1300 convicts that all the fence alarms around the prison are not working and gave them an invitation to escape?" At that time I realized 2 things: 1) Being aware of my surroundings is extremely important, and 2) Did I make the right career choice?
It is important to pay attention to your surroundings no matter if you are working in a crime infested prison or out shopping in a store. Yes both risks are different, but they can both have serious consequences. For example, many times when I go to the grocery store, I see women leaving their purses on their shopping cart while they look at products on the shelf, unaware that someone would even think about taking their purse. This is easy-pickings for the most basic thief. You have to understand, there are people who frequent grocery stores in hopes of seeing people that leave personal valuables in their shopping cart. This is an example where normally a grocery store is not a dangerous place, but can change because of the actions of the unsuspecting shopper. And remember if someone steals your billfold or purse, not only is your money and credit cards gone, but identity theft is a crime that happens frequently and can lead to years of stress, anxiety and possibly financial ruins for the victim.
Another example is going to an ATM. Make sure the ATM is in a well traveled, well lit area and try not to become preoccupied on your cell phone or other technology while taking money out. Know what is happening around you and notice if someone is acting peculiar or is paying a lot of attention to what you are doing. Because ATM dispenses cash and cash is untraceable making it an attractive environment for criminal behavior. And if the ATM makes you feel uncomfortable, don't use it, find another one.
Lastly, teaching personal security over the past years, my biggest most frustrating pet peeve is seeing people wearing headphones in an uncontrolled environment. Every day I see people wearing headphones in downtown Minneapolis while riding their bikes or walking, not paying attention to the world around them. Yes it is very relaxing to listen to your favorite music while doing a mundane task of going to work or whatever the task is you're doing. But how in tuned to the world around are you when you have those headphones cranked in your ears? When you leave a contained area (home, fitness center, office) you should not have your headphones on because you cannot hear what is going on around you. You want to recognize types of danger and be able to react or leave the area and not become a victim.
So the above observations are simple practices to keep yourself and possibly family members a little safer. Think about where you are going and what you are doing today. Pay a little more attention and you will probably see people oblivious to their surroundings, which in turn could make them vulnerable to crime. I believe this will give you a better perspective on the importance of being aware of your surrounding.
