Accident, Chance...Or Bad Decision?

Accident's don't happen. Bad decisions do.

Accidents are rarely truly accidents. In law enforcement we called “car accidents” “car crashes”. Why? Because they are always a result of something or circumstances, that didn’t have to exist. Sometimes a faulty part that was unknown to be faulty, but most times they are faulty due to a lack of proper maintenance. Icy roads? Only if your speed is excessive for conditions. By far the majority of crashes result from bad decisions – not paying attention, going too fast, swerving for things that shouldn’t be avoided, lack of proper maintenance, lack of the right, or enough, training, and on-and-on.

Beyond car crashes, most criminal victimizations result from the very same thing – bad decisions. One minor mistake; one split second of a lack of attention; one thing that you don’t feel right about and dismiss as paranoia; one person that you allow to get a little too close to you and it’s all over! Everything changes!

And…many times what we label as chance wasn’t chance at all, it was chosen. Example: you are chosen as a victim by chance or, you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fact is No on both counts. You did something to make yourself attractive as a victim or put yourself in “the wrong place at the wrong time” because you didn’t pay attention or were oblivious to circumstances. Now, I know what I’m going to get from this from some people – “you are blaming victims”. And, you would be correct. Why, because in most cases the victim is to blame for what happens to them. Sorry, but this is a forum where I don’t worry about politically correct or softening things to make people happy.

So, security is much about decisions, or bad decisions, due to a lack of being able to make good decisions under highly chaotic circumstances.

The first bad decision, however, starts with not believing that it can or will happen and therefore doing nothing to prepare yourself, or your kids, to recognize potential problems.

I was talking to a mother whose children were now adults off on their own. She is a trusted consultant to my company who is well aware of the services and values that we provide to our clients. I asked her if she would have found $10/month to be worth it to receive our information when her kids were younger and her quick reply was “no”. When I asked her why she basically said that victimization was just not something she worried about nor wanted her kids to be concerned with at young ages.

And there is the problem!

This is the general way of thinking of most parents, school, businesses, etc.

The real problem is that they don’t believe that anything can or will happen and therefore they do nothing for themselves which transfer to doing nothing for their kids.

Do you think schools will keep your kids secure? If you do…think again. I am fairly intimately aware of a local school district whose residents began to complain about what they perceived to be an excessive budget, rising taxes, etc. So, the school board responded with cuts. Do you know what they cut? You likely guessed it – the school security officer. The question became, so what are they doing for security now? Very little and likely even nothing. So, your school is soooo concerned about your kids security that one of their first cuts is security-related. And then, when something happens, there will be sorrow, questions, and blame going to everyone but the ones really responsible – them and the parents who didn’t pay enough attention or care. Sound harsh and insensitive? Sorry but its truth and fact.

So, the lack of belief that anything can or will happen creates an inability to successfully resolve problems that result from bad decisions. In other words, bad decisions result in failed efforts to prevent, now what?

The next problem is that few actually stay abreast of the news. If you don’t know whats going on you cant possibly know what the threats are and, if you don’t know what the threats are, you cannot possibly defend yourself against them – you are ideal victims! I cannot many people aren’t aware of some of the major threats there are to their security!

So, back to the premise of this article – decisions. The ability, or lack thereof, to see a potential problem developing; the ability, or lack thereof, to prevent it; and the ability, or lack thereof, to resolve it when we have been unable to prevent it.

It starts with believing that it can happen. From there it really only requires that you invest just a bit of your time into understanding and learning.