Situational Awareness means simply being aware of your surroundings. It does not mean staring at your phone while walking to your car in the dark. That is what the bad guys look for. Don’t give them an opportunity. Walk with purpose, looking all around as you do. Have your keys in your hand. If you look like you mean business you will be more likely to be left alone. Bad guys want an easy target. When you walk around the corner of a building don’t hug the corner, we all do it. Swing wide a little bit so you can see if someone is hiding waiting for you.  When you are unlocking your car, look under the car before you get to it. Make sure there is no one hiding there. Parking garages are kind of dark anyway.  If you feel like someone is following you, drive right to the police station, a bad guy don’t want any part of law enforcement. 

Try not to take the same exact route every time. We are all creatures of habit. We take our breaks at the same time, we eat at the same place for lunch, we take the same exact route home every time. Change it up a little, keep the bad guys always guessing. They will look for an easier target.

If you get the feeling something is wrong trust it, something probably is wrong. The better you get at situational awareness the more control over your own life you will have.  You will start to notice things out of the ordinary. You will look at people a little different than before. If you don’t have situational awareness that is ok, it is something you can practice and learn, but please start learning for your own safety.

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written by Barbara Conover