On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 13:02:16 -0600, "Swingman" wrote:

... and drill them constantly in the steps they need to do to react to
danger and protect themselves against abduction!

Our family dodged a bullet last night.

My 19 year old daughter, taking care of an across the street neighbor's dog
while they are out of town for the holidays, was the subject of an attempted
abduction around 9:30 last evening.

I won't go into details, but suffice it to say that she got to spend last
night in her own bed in part because she had been drilled countless times on
ALWAYS being aware of her surrounding, the fact that we had gone over, many
times, with her the steps to take if she felt in any danger, AND the fact
that she had the local police number on her cell phone speed dial.

Luck, and our previous precautions, were on our side last night .. and it
took both!

If you haven't already done so, do something similar for your kids, TONIGHT!

I am still shaking with relief and anger (and, when I can think about it, a
bit of pride in her coolheaded response) ... which may explain why I am so
touchy this morning ... but for your kid's sake, please take this to heart
immediately!

God that's awful!
I really sympathize with both your and your daughter. As a police
reporter I got to talk to the parents of a few kids who weren't that
well-drilled and cool-headed. Even second-hand those situations stay
with you for the rest of your life.

You said one thing in there I'd really like to emphasize: Situational
awareness. It's worth more than anything else (including a gun in your
purse/waistband) in the case of street crime.

In addition to the parents and victims, I also got to talk to some of
the perpetrators after they had 'gone straight'. I remember one
evening sitting in an all-night coffee shop until the sun rose and
getting a lesson in 'Mugging 101' from an ex heroin addict who had
been a specialist.

What all the ex-criminals agreed on was that selecting a victim is not
a random process any more than a lion stalking a herd of antelope
picks a target at random. They were all looking for a particular kind
of mark and one of the most important criteria was lack of awareness
about what is going on around them.

If you stay alert and in touch with your surroundings you're a lot
less likely to become a victim.

The other thing, of course, is to know the danger signs of a
situation. It sounds like your daughter did. You should be proud of
how well you trained your daughter.

--RC
"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.