Twist on Safety in NumbersPosted by laguardianangels on Mar 2, 2012 in online training, self defense law, self defense training | 0 comments
Their Safety = Our Legal Safety: On the surface, it seems like having a “gang” of Guardian Angels would make it easier to put a heavy beat-down to the bad guys. Ok, that actually might be true: having more people does make it easier to hurt fewer people … but that’s NOT what we’re advocating. We’re trying to STOP violence, right?!
The less obvious truth: with MORE PEOPLE, we can be LESS VIOLENT.Why? It’s simple, really. If I see a “bad guy” and decide to stop him on my own, then I’m going to be a little more scared of the consequences, and to ensure my safety I’ll need to use overwhelming force. I can’t take chances if I don’t have any back-up.
Yet, if I see a “bad guy” while on patrol with a few trained Guardian Angels, we can probably convince him to stop just by the threat of force! If we really have to get physical to stop his actions, it’s still better. For example, if we could each control one of the Subject’s limbs, we’d have greater control and less threat to our own safety.
In this way, we can do less damage to get the same result. That keeps our reputation as the “good guys” intact, and it keeps us out of the defendant’s seat in court, too!
We don’t usually think about this part. It’s less “macho” for sure. Most people don’t buy boots, BDUs, and handcuffs because they want to spend more time at the library researching civil and criminal laws. But, if we’re serious about being “Role Models for Real Life” then it means we have to pay attention to what’s important in the modern world. If we honestly want to influence kids to grow up and be law-abiding … we need to have a decent understanding of what those laws are.
Avoid the Trap: There is some down-side to having superior numbers in a violent situation.
For legal safety, we must take EXTRA PRECAUTIONS to show that we are handling the Subject safely. Imagine looking across the street and watching one guy arguing or fighting with four or more guys. Think he has a “fair fight” on his hands? Of course not.
Now imagine those four guys showing their hands open, leaving a clear opening for the one guy to walk away, showing body language indicative of a caring family worried about their deranged cousin. With the right external signals, it’s easy to see who the “good guys” are.
Yet, it’s easy to mess this up!
If somebody is yelling at your close friend or family member, you want to help it stop, and you want it to stop fast. With a group, everybody feels that way, too. Somebody gets angry with one group member, and it feels like he’s angry with the whole group, so the whole group wants to jump in and stop him … and that’s a very different picture.
And I do mean “picture” since somebody will show up with their iPhone video to show the police (and the attorneys) the rough, macho posturing and gesturing and swearing that preceded this guy’s beat-down … unless you are smart enough to avoid doing that in the first place.
“Role Models for Real Life” don’t get personally upset so easily, and don’t abuse the power of their trained superior numbers.
Story Time: I remember one night in Hollywood when a security team ejected a patron right in front of us, and we helped stop him from his (ridiculous) desire to fight back with the security.
A woman in line waiting to get in wanted to say something to feel important in front of her friends (my guess), and said, “Is it really going to take four of you to control that one guy?”
Obviously she:
Take-Away Lesson: We apply “Force” just by our presence. With more people present, that’s automatically more force – easy math. Let’s remember to make use of our guaranteed increase in force, and see how many people we can keep safe, even including the “bad guy” when possible.
Next time you have a training session, try to find the point where the problem came up. And if you are training to stop someone physically IT MEANS SOMETHING WENT WRONG before that. Note: Things DO go wrong sometimes … but if we only look at how to fix the problem, we might never find out how to prevent it … and THAT IS OUR MISSION – we are a “visual deterrent” to crime. Let’s remember to keep that in our training, too.
Their Safety = Our Legal Safety: On the surface, it seems like having a “gang” of Guardian Angels would make it easier to put a heavy beat-down to the bad guys. Ok, that actually might be true: having more people does make it easier to hurt fewer people … but that’s NOT what we’re advocating. We’re trying to STOP violence, right?!
The less obvious truth: with MORE PEOPLE, we can be LESS VIOLENT.Why? It’s simple, really. If I see a “bad guy” and decide to stop him on my own, then I’m going to be a little more scared of the consequences, and to ensure my safety I’ll need to use overwhelming force. I can’t take chances if I don’t have any back-up.
Yet, if I see a “bad guy” while on patrol with a few trained Guardian Angels, we can probably convince him to stop just by the threat of force! If we really have to get physical to stop his actions, it’s still better. For example, if we could each control one of the Subject’s limbs, we’d have greater control and less threat to our own safety.
In this way, we can do less damage to get the same result. That keeps our reputation as the “good guys” intact, and it keeps us out of the defendant’s seat in court, too!
We don’t usually think about this part. It’s less “macho” for sure. Most people don’t buy boots, BDUs, and handcuffs because they want to spend more time at the library researching civil and criminal laws. But, if we’re serious about being “Role Models for Real Life” then it means we have to pay attention to what’s important in the modern world. If we honestly want to influence kids to grow up and be law-abiding … we need to have a decent understanding of what those laws are.
Avoid the Trap: There is some down-side to having superior numbers in a violent situation.
For legal safety, we must take EXTRA PRECAUTIONS to show that we are handling the Subject safely. Imagine looking across the street and watching one guy arguing or fighting with four or more guys. Think he has a “fair fight” on his hands? Of course not.
Now imagine those four guys showing their hands open, leaving a clear opening for the one guy to walk away, showing body language indicative of a caring family worried about their deranged cousin. With the right external signals, it’s easy to see who the “good guys” are.
Yet, it’s easy to mess this up!
If somebody is yelling at your close friend or family member, you want to help it stop, and you want it to stop fast. With a group, everybody feels that way, too. Somebody gets angry with one group member, and it feels like he’s angry with the whole group, so the whole group wants to jump in and stop him … and that’s a very different picture.
And I do mean “picture” since somebody will show up with their iPhone video to show the police (and the attorneys) the rough, macho posturing and gesturing and swearing that preceded this guy’s beat-down … unless you are smart enough to avoid doing that in the first place.
“Role Models for Real Life” don’t get personally upset so easily, and don’t abuse the power of their trained superior numbers.
Story Time: I remember one night in Hollywood when a security team ejected a patron right in front of us, and we helped stop him from his (ridiculous) desire to fight back with the security.
A woman in line waiting to get in wanted to say something to feel important in front of her friends (my guess), and said, “Is it really going to take four of you to control that one guy?”
Obviously she:
- Doesn’t know that sometimes it actually does take that many big guys to control even the smallest people
- Has no actual concern for our safety
- Has no concern for the Subject’s safety, either
Take-Away Lesson: We apply “Force” just by our presence. With more people present, that’s automatically more force – easy math. Let’s remember to make use of our guaranteed increase in force, and see how many people we can keep safe, even including the “bad guy” when possible.
Next time you have a training session, try to find the point where the problem came up. And if you are training to stop someone physically IT MEANS SOMETHING WENT WRONG before that. Note: Things DO go wrong sometimes … but if we only look at how to fix the problem, we might never find out how to prevent it … and THAT IS OUR MISSION – we are a “visual deterrent” to crime. Let’s remember to keep that in our training, too.