Found and sent by Tim Walker in North Florida
Dangerous Trends
The act of committing a home invasion is escalating much like carjacking. The reason for the increase seems to follow a similar pattern. Much like automobiles, the traditional commercial targets for robbers like convenience stores and fast-food restaurants have hardened themselves against criminal attack and have reduced available cash. Technology has allowed commercial establishments to install affordable video surveillance systems, silent alarms, and other anti-crime deterrent devices. A residence, by comparison, is now a more attractive choice.
Home invaders know that they won't have to overcome alarm systems when the home is occupied or be worried about video cameras and silent alarms. Unlike robbing a retail store, home invaders expect privacy once inside your home and won’t have to deal with the police suddenly driving up or customers walking in. Once the offenders take control of a residence they can force the occupants to open safes, locate hidden valuables, supply keys to the family car, and PIN numbers to their ATM cards. Home invaders will try to increase their escape time by disabling the phones and sometimes will leave their victims bound or incapacitated. It is not unheard of for robbers to load up the victim’s car with valuables and drive away without anyone in the neighborhood taking notice.
Method of Operation
The most common point of attack is through the front door or garage. Sometimes the home invader will simply kick open the door and confront everyone inside. More common is when the home invaders knock on the door first or ring the bell. The home invader hopes that the occupant will simply open the door, without question, in response to their knock. Unfortunately, many people do just that.
Home invaders will sometimes use a ruse or impersonation to get you to open the door. They have been known to pretend to be delivering a package, flowers or lie about an accident like hitting your parked car. Once the door is opened for them, the home invaders will use an explosive amount of force and threats to gain control of the home and produce fear in the victims. Once the occupants are under control the robbers will begin to collect your valuables.
Some home robbers have been known to spend hours ransacking a residence while the homeowners are bound nearby watching in terror. Some robbers have been known to eat meals, watch TV, or even take a nap. A major fear is that the robbers might commit more violence like sexual assault or even murder. Some robbers have kidnapped and forced a victim to withdraw cash from their ATM machine or take them to their small business to rob it as well.
Excerpts taken from Chris E McGoey, CPP, CSP, CAM
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Getting greased up
Of interest to police and others, sent to me by e-mail.
Safety warning: Beware of slippery suspects
Is hand lotion the newest threat to officer safety?
In California, sheriff’s deputies stopped a vehicle with occupants that included an ex-con gangbanger who’d recently escaped from an unsuccessful buy/bust operation. Ordered out, he “remained calm and appeared to be very cooperative, allowing himself to be placed into a cursory search position” for a pat-down, according to a report of the incident.
But “as soon as his hands were gathered behind his head, he slipped out of the deputy’s grasp and fled on foot.” He reached to his waistband several times as he ran, but never produced a weapon or fired a shot.
Good thing! The searching deputy discovered that he was “unable to grasp his service pistol because his hands were made extremely slippery from something on the suspect.”
Others from the car explained: As soon as the deputies pulled behind them, the ex-con began “applying an extremely large ‘coating’ of hand lotion on his hands, wrists, and arms — readying himself for a physical confrontation.”
A safety alert from the LAPD warns that “it is reasonable to assume” that applying copious amounts of lotion, cream, or other lubricant is “a new tactic being taught” among prison inmates to escape from being searched or physically detained.
“It is important to remember this tactic when coming in contact with any street gang member, especially those belonging to Hispanic gangs,” the alert advises.
“There’s no end of weird stuff you can encounter on the street,” comments Bob Willis, former instructor for the Calibre Press Street Survival® Seminar. “You have to really be vigilant.
“Gangbangers and other criminals expect to get stopped. Their whole lives revolve around how to defeat the police. Unfortunately, they often engage in when/then thinking more than cops do.”
Instructor Gary Klugiewicz agrees that intensifying threat assessment before and during an approach is critical in preempting potentially deadly surprises. “Good threat assessment involves more than just being alert for standard pre-attack postures,” he says. “You need to be carefully listening to what each subject is saying, watching what he’s doing, assessing his appearance, evaluating everything about him and the surrounding environment, and asking yourself, ‘How is this person and situation different from what I normally see?’ ”
From a practical standpoint, he adds, “Always reach for contact first with your reaction hand so your gun hand stays safe.”
Another trainer, Officer Gary Monreal of the New Berlin (Wisc.) PD, suggests that “the use of certain ‘tactile’ gloves may help” deal with the slippery-hands problem, providing the glove can “withstand a substance and still have gripping ability.”
Likewise, having backup present, if available, may discourage suspect resistance.
“If, at any time during the contact, an officer perceives that a substance has been applied to the suspect, the officer needs to escalate force or disengage from the subject,” Monreal says. One option might be to have the suspect kneel during the pat-down, in an effort to better control him.
“The key is for the officer to identify the risk associated with a subject’s ‘greasing’ up,” Monreal says. “Why else would a subject do that, other than to resist an officer’s attempts at control? Having knowledge of this offender tactic may help an officer articulate why he or she took ‘extra measures’ during a pat-down.”
Safety warning: Beware of slippery suspects
Is hand lotion the newest threat to officer safety?
In California, sheriff’s deputies stopped a vehicle with occupants that included an ex-con gangbanger who’d recently escaped from an unsuccessful buy/bust operation. Ordered out, he “remained calm and appeared to be very cooperative, allowing himself to be placed into a cursory search position” for a pat-down, according to a report of the incident.
But “as soon as his hands were gathered behind his head, he slipped out of the deputy’s grasp and fled on foot.” He reached to his waistband several times as he ran, but never produced a weapon or fired a shot.
Good thing! The searching deputy discovered that he was “unable to grasp his service pistol because his hands were made extremely slippery from something on the suspect.”
Others from the car explained: As soon as the deputies pulled behind them, the ex-con began “applying an extremely large ‘coating’ of hand lotion on his hands, wrists, and arms — readying himself for a physical confrontation.”
A safety alert from the LAPD warns that “it is reasonable to assume” that applying copious amounts of lotion, cream, or other lubricant is “a new tactic being taught” among prison inmates to escape from being searched or physically detained.
“It is important to remember this tactic when coming in contact with any street gang member, especially those belonging to Hispanic gangs,” the alert advises.
“There’s no end of weird stuff you can encounter on the street,” comments Bob Willis, former instructor for the Calibre Press Street Survival® Seminar. “You have to really be vigilant.
“Gangbangers and other criminals expect to get stopped. Their whole lives revolve around how to defeat the police. Unfortunately, they often engage in when/then thinking more than cops do.”
Instructor Gary Klugiewicz agrees that intensifying threat assessment before and during an approach is critical in preempting potentially deadly surprises. “Good threat assessment involves more than just being alert for standard pre-attack postures,” he says. “You need to be carefully listening to what each subject is saying, watching what he’s doing, assessing his appearance, evaluating everything about him and the surrounding environment, and asking yourself, ‘How is this person and situation different from what I normally see?’ ”
From a practical standpoint, he adds, “Always reach for contact first with your reaction hand so your gun hand stays safe.”
Another trainer, Officer Gary Monreal of the New Berlin (Wisc.) PD, suggests that “the use of certain ‘tactile’ gloves may help” deal with the slippery-hands problem, providing the glove can “withstand a substance and still have gripping ability.”
Likewise, having backup present, if available, may discourage suspect resistance.
“If, at any time during the contact, an officer perceives that a substance has been applied to the suspect, the officer needs to escalate force or disengage from the subject,” Monreal says. One option might be to have the suspect kneel during the pat-down, in an effort to better control him.
“The key is for the officer to identify the risk associated with a subject’s ‘greasing’ up,” Monreal says. “Why else would a subject do that, other than to resist an officer’s attempts at control? Having knowledge of this offender tactic may help an officer articulate why he or she took ‘extra measures’ during a pat-down.”
Saturday, December 25, 2010
They look like terrorists to me
http://thedailypatdown.com/
Grandma Got Molested at the Airport
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qdb6wC0Iz4&feature=player_embedded
I'll Be Groped For Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KucnZVKZfKQ&feature=player_embedded#!
Grandma Got Molested at the Airport
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qdb6wC0Iz4&feature=player_embedded
I'll Be Groped For Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KucnZVKZfKQ&feature=player_embedded#!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Matt Walk makes black
Congratulations to Matt!
Friday, December 17, 2010
New post on www.leewedlake.com
I have posted an article on eye pokes and hooks in the Member section of my site. Here's an excerpt.
Consider too that the reaction to the hook is usually different than the poke. The hook tends to keep the head in place and turn it before they try to pull it back (the natural reaction to being hit in the eyes). A poke tends to move the head backward along the line it was struck on. In short, the hook turns the head and the poke moves it back. There’s a “dirty trick” the Silat people use in which you take the man down on his back and poke at his eyes. His reaction is to pull his head back and so he hits it on the ground even when you don’t get him with the poke. This could be used against a wall, too or of there were two opponents close together. Neat.
To access all the available articles and scans, you can join for $29/yr at http://www.leewedlake.com/index.asp?PageID=29
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
20th anniversary
Today, Dec. 15, is the 20th anniversary of the passing of Ed Parker. He'd have been 79 this year, turning 80 in March. It doesn't seem that long. We will never forget you.
News spot on tai chi
Here's a link for a short thing they did on my class at the local hospital. http://www.leememorial.org/healthmatters/index.asp
See the Dec 14th SHARE Club/tai chi segment.
See the Dec 14th SHARE Club/tai chi segment.
The doctor is in
Two articles sent by Doc Rowe
How Zen meditation controls pain
2010-12-09
Previous studies have shown that Zen meditation has many health benefits, including a reduced sensitivity to pain. Now researchers at the Universite de Montreal have discovered how meditators achieve this.
They found that meditators do feel pain but they simply don't dwell on it as much.
"Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we demonstrated that although the meditators were aware of the pain, this sensation wasn't processed in the part of their brains responsible for appraisal, reasoning or memory formation," said senior author Pierre Rainville.
"We think that they feel the sensations, but cut the process short, refraining from interpretation or labelling of the stimuli as painful," Rainville said.
Rainville and his colleagues compared the response of 13 Zen meditators to 13 non-meditators to a painful heat stimulus.
Pain perception was measured and compared with functional MRI data. The most experienced Zen practitioners showed lower pain responses and decreased activity in the brain areas responsible for cognition, emotion and memory.
In addition, there was a decrease in the communication between a part of the brain that senses the pain and the prefrontal cortex.
These findings may have implications for chronic pain sufferers, such as those with arthritis, back pain or cancer.
#2
A new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found meditation provides the same protection against depression and depressive relapse as traditional antidepressant medication.
"With the growing recognition that major depression is a recurrent disorder, patients need treatment options for preventing depression from returning to their lives," said Dr. Zindel Segal, Head of the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Clinic in the Clinical Research Department at CAMH.
Recent studies have shown about half of depressed people on antidepressants stop taking them, sometimes within two to four months, well before the medication has had a chance to work.
Segal said this could be due to side effects or an unwillingness to take medication for years.
"Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is a non pharmacological approach that teaches skills in emotion regulation so that patients can monitor possible relapse triggers as well as adopt lifestyle changes conducive to sustaining mood balance," said Segal.
For the study, participants who were diagnosed with major depressive disorder were all treated with an antidepressant until their symptoms remitted.
They were then randomly assigned to come off their medication and receive MBCT, come off their medication and receive a placebo, or stay on their medication.
Participants in MBCT attended 8 weekly group sessions and practiced mindfulness as part of daily homework assignments.
Clinical assessments were conducted at regular intervals, and over an 18 month period, relapse rates for patients in the MBCT group did not differ from patients receiving antidepressants (both in the 30% range), whereas patients receiving placebo relapsed at a significantly higher rate (70%).
"The real world implications of these findings bear directly on the front line treatment of depression. For that sizeable group of patients who are unwilling or unable to tolerate maintenance antidepressant treatment, MBCT offers equal protection from relapse," said Segal.
"Sequential intervention -- offering pharmacological and psychological interventions -- may keep more patients in treatment and thereby reduce the high risk of recurrence that is characteristic of this disorder."
The study was published in the current issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
How Zen meditation controls pain
2010-12-09
Previous studies have shown that Zen meditation has many health benefits, including a reduced sensitivity to pain. Now researchers at the Universite de Montreal have discovered how meditators achieve this.
They found that meditators do feel pain but they simply don't dwell on it as much.
"Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we demonstrated that although the meditators were aware of the pain, this sensation wasn't processed in the part of their brains responsible for appraisal, reasoning or memory formation," said senior author Pierre Rainville.
"We think that they feel the sensations, but cut the process short, refraining from interpretation or labelling of the stimuli as painful," Rainville said.
Rainville and his colleagues compared the response of 13 Zen meditators to 13 non-meditators to a painful heat stimulus.
Pain perception was measured and compared with functional MRI data. The most experienced Zen practitioners showed lower pain responses and decreased activity in the brain areas responsible for cognition, emotion and memory.
In addition, there was a decrease in the communication between a part of the brain that senses the pain and the prefrontal cortex.
These findings may have implications for chronic pain sufferers, such as those with arthritis, back pain or cancer.
#2
A new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found meditation provides the same protection against depression and depressive relapse as traditional antidepressant medication.
"With the growing recognition that major depression is a recurrent disorder, patients need treatment options for preventing depression from returning to their lives," said Dr. Zindel Segal, Head of the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Clinic in the Clinical Research Department at CAMH.
Recent studies have shown about half of depressed people on antidepressants stop taking them, sometimes within two to four months, well before the medication has had a chance to work.
Segal said this could be due to side effects or an unwillingness to take medication for years.
"Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is a non pharmacological approach that teaches skills in emotion regulation so that patients can monitor possible relapse triggers as well as adopt lifestyle changes conducive to sustaining mood balance," said Segal.
For the study, participants who were diagnosed with major depressive disorder were all treated with an antidepressant until their symptoms remitted.
They were then randomly assigned to come off their medication and receive MBCT, come off their medication and receive a placebo, or stay on their medication.
Participants in MBCT attended 8 weekly group sessions and practiced mindfulness as part of daily homework assignments.
Clinical assessments were conducted at regular intervals, and over an 18 month period, relapse rates for patients in the MBCT group did not differ from patients receiving antidepressants (both in the 30% range), whereas patients receiving placebo relapsed at a significantly higher rate (70%).
"The real world implications of these findings bear directly on the front line treatment of depression. For that sizeable group of patients who are unwilling or unable to tolerate maintenance antidepressant treatment, MBCT offers equal protection from relapse," said Segal.
"Sequential intervention -- offering pharmacological and psychological interventions -- may keep more patients in treatment and thereby reduce the high risk of recurrence that is characteristic of this disorder."
The study was published in the current issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
We have a winner
Marc Rowe earned a gold medal in his first powerlifting event for the deadlift. Marc is planning to train for another in February. If you don't know Marc, you need to know he's 80. He channeled his chi and lifted 242 pounds; first place in his age/weight group and likely a state or national record.
Congrats!
Congrats!
Monday, December 13, 2010
New promotions
I also conducted two seminars and a surprise class. The seminars were packed. The first was on a variety of drills and the second on using and defending the knife. The surprise class was for the Black Belts and we did some kajukenpo techniques. Fun for all.
I flew Southwest Airlines. They are still my favorite airline even with the rare delay I've experienced with them. Three out of the four legs were delayed due to weather and mechanical issues but I was delayed about 2 hours total. If it had been Delta, I'm sure I'd still be there.
Anyway, Congrats to Bill and Lee and thanks to all for their support.
Update on the last story
The shipping company has fired the aggressor involved in grabbing our student.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Score two for the ladies
Up in Chicago recently, two of our Kenpo ladies were grabbed on separate occasions and successfully used their knowledge to thwart the attacks.
One was leaving a museum when a man grabbed her wrist and attempted to steal her purse. Unfortunately for him, he found himself in the Crossing Talon position and having a broken wrist. Even better, a police officer saw the attempt and was running over to help as he saw she really didn't need it (his words). The man was arrested. Our girl is an 18 year-old, new black belt in my lineage.
The second instance was on the job. A female yellow belt was working at one of the large shipping companies loading a truck. A co-worker decided he liked what he saw and grabbed her from behind and his "international hands- rushin' hands and roamin' fingers" went to work. She rewarded him with a spur kick in the groin. That stopped him. He was reported to the higher-ups. He's allegedly done this before and they don't seem to think anything needs to be done. Apparently they can get your package to you but don't protect their employees.
Nice job, ladies. I'm glad you're safe.
One was leaving a museum when a man grabbed her wrist and attempted to steal her purse. Unfortunately for him, he found himself in the Crossing Talon position and having a broken wrist. Even better, a police officer saw the attempt and was running over to help as he saw she really didn't need it (his words). The man was arrested. Our girl is an 18 year-old, new black belt in my lineage.
The second instance was on the job. A female yellow belt was working at one of the large shipping companies loading a truck. A co-worker decided he liked what he saw and grabbed her from behind and his "international hands- rushin' hands and roamin' fingers" went to work. She rewarded him with a spur kick in the groin. That stopped him. He was reported to the higher-ups. He's allegedly done this before and they don't seem to think anything needs to be done. Apparently they can get your package to you but don't protect their employees.
Nice job, ladies. I'm glad you're safe.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Of interest to police and trainers
This is an excerpt. Look for issue #164 at http://www.forcesciencenews.com/
New Force Science study results: Prone suspects with hidden hands more dangerous than imagined
The latest study by the Force Science Institute has produced 2 surprising findings of importance to trainers, street officers, and police attorneys:
1. Some suspects lying flat with hands hidden under chest or waist can produce and fire a gun at an approaching officer faster than any human being on earth can react to defend himself;
2. The angle sometimes advocated as the safest for approaching a prone subject appears, in fact, to be potentially the most dangerous.
Discovery Channel Video: http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/daily-planet/march-2010/daily-planet---march-11-2010/#clip275641
The Force Science News is provided by The Force Science Research Center, a non-profit institution based at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Subscriptions are free and sent via e-mail. To register for your free, direct-delivery subscription, please visit www.forcesciencenews.com and click on the registration button.
New Force Science study results: Prone suspects with hidden hands more dangerous than imagined
The latest study by the Force Science Institute has produced 2 surprising findings of importance to trainers, street officers, and police attorneys:
1. Some suspects lying flat with hands hidden under chest or waist can produce and fire a gun at an approaching officer faster than any human being on earth can react to defend himself;
2. The angle sometimes advocated as the safest for approaching a prone subject appears, in fact, to be potentially the most dangerous.
Discovery Channel Video: http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/daily-planet/march-2010/daily-planet---march-11-2010/#clip275641
The Force Science News is provided by The Force Science Research Center, a non-profit institution based at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Subscriptions are free and sent via e-mail. To register for your free, direct-delivery subscription, please visit www.forcesciencenews.com and click on the registration button.
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