Security Training & Awareness
By Mick Farmer. Regarding the recent and seems to be on going insecurity up-country. If your national and or international staff are driving in these areas and you would like to minimise the risk then please contact us as training does make a difference.
Obviously, there are risks in operating in insecure areas, therefore, necessary safety precautions have to be taken. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of good planning, awareness and management. These are the basics of adopting a "proactive" mindset.
For instance, in our counter car-jacking workshops one of the topics we discuss is how carjackers pick their targets. They are seldom spontaneous. The carjackers always have a plan and will have practised it! Therefore, to avoid car jacking you also need a plan and need to be prepared to put it into action if necessary.
We also discuss threats and trends and pre-incidence indicators. This information arms you with the intelligence necessary to avoid rather than to escape! Most of the information is generic and can be transposed to differing areas of insecurity. What you need, however, is accurate intelligence on what is happening when, where and how in your area. Remember that information is your first line of defence.
If you are operating in insecure areas there are certain key points to be aware of:
- Know what to be aware of. What are the threats and trends? How are the ambushes/attacks being set up? What time of day are they happening? What are the common areas for attack? Etc…
- Know your environment. Get to know what is "familiar vs. unfamiliar". Look for things out of the ordinary such as a strange vehicle or people looking out of place. Most human activity revolves around some sort of routine. Look for any breaks in the normal routine of your community. But try not to fall into a routine yourself, as this will help a potential attacker.
- Know your routes. Familiarise yourself thoroughly with the routes that you use and get to know any alternatives. Look for potential "choke points". These are areas either natural or man made that slow your vehicle down. These are where potential attacks are likely to be planned and carried out at. Look for places on your routes that you could be most vulnerable. I.e. blind corners. Work out "what if" scenarios to these areas. Get to know the safe havens on your route. A place to go where you know it's safe in the event of an emergency.
- And trust your instincts and those of your passengers. Don't dismiss them out of hand. If something doesn't feel right get out and go to a safe haven. Get help and get the area checked before travelling down the road.
These are some basic elements of security awareness and if followed can help you to avoid an incident. In our security driving course "Protective Driving" we go through the above and more in detail. We predict that you can avoid an incident 90% of the time if you adopt the Proactive Mindset.
What of the other 10%? We teach evasive driving techniques to help you counter a threat when the brown stuff hits the fan! And we only teach what works. No fancy hand brake turns!! Not practical for when you are suffering from an immense amount of stress and driving a 4wd to boot! In this situation you need a conditioned response. This is the hinge pin to our practical exercises.
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