Police and fire dispatchers need to know your emergency contact information. Only so much information can be gathered based on a name and address on your driver’s license. What if you don’t have a driver’s license? On a daily basis, children are injured in vehicle accidents. Often, they are with a young driver, not a parent or family member, and they have no identification on them. When we take four kids to the hospital, without knowing if any of them will survive, we should be able to contact the parents. Unfortunately, far too often this information is unavailable.

Fire fighters routinely respond to house and business fires. As is often the case, the house is empty or the business is closed when the fire started. Although the relief that no one was injured is overwhelming, the fact that no emergency contact information is available is an all too common realization.

Throughout this country, on an hourly basis, a police or fire dispatcher is trying to make contact with someone to inform them of a tragedy that affects their life, their family or property. Wouldn’t you want to be contacted if something were to happen to your home, business or a family member? Shouldn’t you consider utilizing a service that will help to facilitate this contact?

To learn more about this long overdue and extremely important service, please visit www.EmergencyListing.com.

Although I and my staff were confident in our state’s ability to accurately document in the background check any and all relevant arrests within our state, we were not comfortable in the fact that many of our employees had at one time lived outside of our state.  Determined to provide qualified law abiding security officers to our new client, as well as to our existing clients, we began the arduous task of investigating each and every security officer in our employ. Since this was prior to the advent of online background screening services, the task at hand required us to pull each file, contact references, find all out-of-state addresses, contact employers to find gaps in employment, make contact with police departments, request documents from courts and/or background checks from the state of residency.  After several days of intense investigation, all employees had been thoroughly checked, a few fired and the process started all over again for newly hired employees.  A time consuming process, but well justified in an industry that expects only the best and most trusted employees.

Today, conducting background checks on employees, family members, boyfriends, girlfriends and neighbors doesn’t have to be confined to an industry or to a specific reason.  As a matter of fact, conducting background checks on those near and dear to you should be a right that all of us exercise on a regular basis.  How often, in the midst of a homicide investigation, is it learned that a loved one wasn’t who he or she appeared to be?  How often, in the midst of  a financial scandal, do we hear from a news reporter that the suspect had been previously arrested three times in other states for robbing elderly women of their life savings?

In a previous post about eliminating yourself from the Suspect + Victim Equation, I strongly advocate a heightened sense of awareness.  As you begin to take notice of all of the things around you that you have for years taken for granted, pay close attention to the people you associate with, both near and afar.  Start to listen to your senses and pay closer attention to your perception.  How long have you felt that your mom’s new boyfriend was just too good to be real?  How long have you discounted the strange behavior of your daughter’s new boyfriend or wondered how your neighbor has so much money when he’s unemployed? If a situation doesn’t appear to be right, chances are likely something is amiss.

Just recently a new neighbor moved in.  Within months, I observed two police cars parked in front of my neighbor’s house and my neighbors son being hauled away in handcuffs.  Obtaining the son’s date of birth from the police report, I conducted my own background check.  To my surprise, his son is a career criminal and had only been released from prison shortly before becoming my neighbor.  Although I had suspected something from day one, since the son was thirty years old, lived at home and didn’t work, I would have never guessed he was a convicted felon with over a dozen arrests during the two years prior to his incarceration.

Background checks help us to protect our business, our families and our way of life.  If I was in charge of creating “life laws”, number one on the list would be that everyone carry a current nationwide background check to be surrendered to anyone who requests it.  Not that I condone double jeopardy or the inhumane treatment of an individual because he or she chose the wrong path in life, I just want to know about those whom I may choose to allow into my life.  And, you should want to know as well.

If you have any doubts about an employee, a friend, family member or neighbor, conduct your own background check.  For less than $20, you may be able to save someone from serious bodily injury or financial ruin.

Click Here to Conduct Your Background Check

Chances are you answered “never” or “no” to most of the questions above.  You, like 95% of the rest of the population, may be very comfortable in your surroundings and have become complacent in areas that are familiar to you.  Certainly if you planned a trip to a foreign country your sense of security may be heightened, but at home, in your neighborhood and at work, you feel fairly safe and secure.  Did you know that this is where most people are attacked?

The number one self defense tool for staying alive isn’t pepper spray, a gun, karate, judo, alarm system, guard dog or muscle.  It’s “awareness”.  Being constantly aware of your surroundings will help to keep you from becoming complacent.  Complacency kills!  Why are most people killed in familiar surroundings?  Because they didn’t see it coming and therefore had no time to react.  Be aware of who’s in back of you, who’s in front of you and who’s coming at you.  Know what your escape route will be if you do not have a means to protect yourself.  The use of pepper spray, a stun gun or .44 magnum are definitely useful tools that can aid in ones efforts to counter an attack, however being alert and aware are most essential to staying alive.

I recently wrote a post on another of my blogs, www.cleanupblog.com/homicide/triple-homicide/.  Please take time to visit this post for more information about awareness.

A criminal act always has two particpants, the victim and the suspect.  Although the victim may at times be classified as a business, a structure, an inanimate object or an animal, a person will always suffer from the crime. If we are able to take ourselves out of the “criminal equation”, then there can be no crime.  For a crime must have a victim.  Although we don’t like to believe that we may actually be perpetuating a criminal act, without our involvement there would be none.

Think about what you do on a daily basis.  Think about how you live your life.  Think about your home and your family.  Now put yourself in the shoes of a criminal and write down on a piece of paper all the ways you could take advantage of yourself and your family.  If you take the time to think about your own personal security, or lack thereof, you may discover that you are part of a crime waiting to happen.

You, your family and friends must start thinking about safety and security.  It could mean the difference between life and death.  Although we often falsely assume that our neighborhoods are safe and the police will respond quickly enough to protect us, these assumptions will do nothing to deter a criminal.  As a police officer and security professional, I care about your safety and security.  I despise being dispatched to homes and businesses where innocent people have been hurt or victimized.  I feel a sense of failure when I see that steps could have been taken to prevent the criminal act.

Please bookmark this blog and tell your friends and family members about SecurityReaction.com.  Subscribe to our RSS feeds so that you’re kept up to date.  All of this is free to you and I certainly hope you will take advantage of the information and advice I have to share.