Posted on 02/05/2004 6:33:04 PM PST by JustPiper
Edited on 04/29/2004 2:03:51 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
The key to remaining safe lies in not leaving the place where the abductor approaches a child, said Bob Stuber of the Texas-based Escape School, which runs educational programs across the United States.
A kidnapper "wants to get out somewhere by himself," said Stuber, a former police officer and founder of the Escape School. "He may threaten the child, but he's not going to hurt the child right there. That's not what this is about. That takes place later."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
This would be of relevance if the child that survived had gone to Mr. Stuber's escape training, and the other had parents like my wife and I, who do not teach stranger danger. Was it the case?
Everyone should read this:
Years ago, my girlfriend was confronted by 4-5 men in a subway connecting tunnel, and had the sense to resist their attempts to get her to go to a deserted area. Thank God she did, 'cause all she lost was her purse.
You advice and attitude are truly ill-informed and unsettling.
"Get in the Car or I'll Shoot! One of the most terrifying crime scenarios begins with a criminal attempting to force a victim into a car, or somehow get them to a remote location. Make no mistake as this is deadly serious...
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER SHOULD YOU EVER ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE TAKEN TO A REMOTE LOCATION!!! AWAY FROM HELP, YOU WILL HAVE THE LEAST CHANCE OF SURVIVAL.
Law enforcement officers refer to the "remote location" as a secondary crime scene. Generally the secondary crime is rape, assault and murder.
Think about it. You are accosted on the street or in your home. The criminal can get your wallet, your jewelery, your purse and car keys. If they insist on taking you somewhere against your will it is for one purpose and one purpose only... to isolate you from help so they can hurt you as badly and for as long as they want. Victims, particularly women, who have allowed themselves to be driven into the swamps, woods or abandoned warehouses of some criminal's choosing have suffered the most horrible torture, sometimes for days on end. In many cases, the process ends only when the victim dies.
But he had a gun, what else could I do...?
RUN SCREAMING. Police statistics show that the likelihood of a criminal actually shooting at a fleeing victim, particularly in a public environment, is relatively low. The chance of being hit is even lower, and the chance that any hit is life-threatening is lower yet. If you are badly shot, at least it will be in public where you are likely to receive aid as compared to some ditch or swamp where nobody will find your body for years. The chance of dying if you go to a secondary crime scene is staggering.
Police Teach the 50/50 Rule as a way of looking at this issue. If you look at the progression of events that begin the moment you decide to run from a Bad Guy with a gun, you will see how quickly your chance of survival goes up when compared with the statistics of being taken to a secondary crime scene. The 50/50 Rule simply surmises that at every turn, the chance of a good or bad outcome is a flat 50/50 (when in fact the odds are statistically greater in many categories, but lets just walk through the 50/50 rule as it is taught.
IF YOU DECIDE TO RUN,
the chance a Bad Guy will decide to shoot at you is 50%.
OF THE 50% THAT SHOOT,
the chance he will hit you at all are 50%
(thus a 25% chance of being hit)
OF THE 25% THAT ARE HIT
the chance of it being a serious wound are 50%
(thus a 12.5% chance of serious wound)
OF THE 12.5% SERIOUSLY WOUNDED
the chance of fatality is 50%
(thus a 6.25% probability of being killed if you run)
IN CONTRAST... the chance of being killed, wounded and/or tortured at a secondary crime scene are so high as to be considered "a statistical certainty" in most law enforcement evaluations. You cannot guarantee that your experience will follow statistical averages, but since an average is just that, the odds appear overwhelmingly to favor avoidance or resistance rather than compliance in moving to a secondary crime scene.
This topic is not one for flowery prose or fancy analogies. If you are accosted and told to get in a car, do anything in your power to get away. Dropping a purse or wallet may provide a distraction as criminals often will track a source of money and even a step or two head start can make a huge difference. Make use of any cover available, such as ducking behind a car or van, or running through a doorway. Anything you can put between you and the bad guy that he cannot shoot through will help keep you alive. Scream as loud as you can and try to draw as much attention as you can, but do not EVER allow a criminal to take you away from help and away from safety."
Will children be able to implement this advice? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But certainly not if they're not given the advice in the first place.
I'm female, in my 20's at the time, coming home from work at midnite in my car, and three threatening young men stopped their car in front of me, forcing me to slam on my breaks. They jumped out of their car and ran back to my car (it was dark on a suburban road). They started screaming and banging on my windows and kicking at the side of my car, shouting, open up!
I thought the window on my driver's side was going to cave in (they caused significant damage to my car.) At this point in time, I seemed to freeze. Everything seemed to me to be happening in slow motion. I was frozen in the seat of my car. I wanted to scream, I was trying to make myself scream, but nothing would come out.
After some seconds, I remembered my umbrella with the four inch point that lay under my seat. I remember thinking, if the window goes, then I can jab that point in one of the attackers' faces. So I reached slowly, deliberately under my seat.
I assume that they thought I was reaching for a gun, and they ran off. They hit their car in reverse and stopped just short of my bumper, then drove off. If I hadn't still been in a sort of frozen state, I would have put my car in reverse and sped backwards. But I found that I couldn't think entirely clearly.
I've shared this story on message boards before. (Gun owners love it, I'm sure!) Maybe it will help someone realize how to mentally prepare for stress during an attack situation.
Freepers of all people should know what it takes to deal with this kind of person (hint: 2nd amendment).
I am very pro-2nd amendment. Life NRA member, annual contributor to CCRKB, SAF and others. Have concealed carry in two states, etc., etc. When it comes to 2nd amendment you are preaching to choir here. BUT, children cannot legally carry.
I want the kidnappers to be scared, not my kids
This sounds so PC it is astonishing but perhaps I am misinterpreting what you are trying to say. Kids should be scared of kidnappers. So scared that their adrenaline kicks in and they fight and scream with all their might. Would you rather they didn't fight for their lives at all?
There is no body of evidence indicating it works for kids. Even if the teaching is right, studies of these programs showed that the children wildly misinterpret what they are taught.
I understand you read this along time ago and cannot find the links. But, if these "studies" were valid I feel quite certain that they would still be out there for you to find and post or similar studies with similar results to back up your claim would be online for you to post. Until then I'm not buying it. As far as "children wildly misinterpret what they are taught" I give the average child a lot more credit than you, or these "studies" do. Children, taught properly, can learn anything whether it is math, english or self-defense techniques. Children, given half a chance, crave learning. It sounds to me like you want children to be defenseless and helpless which does not need to be the case.
I got a Buck Special for Christmas when I was a kid. Just the right tool for an effective defense. In those days though, very few of the adults would be mad if the kids hacked up the molester.
I also heard on Norville, who herself gave her kids a 'codeword'. Don't! Because they can get that out of a child!
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