Sheriff Ivey: Understand How Violent Criminals Operate
By Wayne Ivey, Brevard County Sheriff // October 15, 2013
avoid violent crime situations
ABOVE VIDEO: “I-Watch Brevard County’ is a new local app that allows local citizens to contribute to the local law enforcement’s effort against crime.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — In this series of articles we are going to learn how to use our mind and awareness to avoid a violent crime situation so we hopefully don’t have to resort to “self-defense” measures to protect ourselves.
To understand how to protect ourselves against violent criminals, we must first understand how violent criminals operate and why.
LACK OF AWARENESS
Most of society travels through each day with “blinders” on, believing that if they are not involved in certain activities or at a location where those activities commonly occur, that there is no need to worry about being the target of a violent crime.
While the best law enforcement officers in the country have response times in minutes, Violent Criminals can take our lives in seconds.
Today’s society clearly demonstrate that we can no longer afford to go through life with “blinders.”
By educating ourselves and our family on the latest crime trends and methods used by violent criminals, we automatically increase our awareness and become more alert of our surroundings and those around us.
BODY LANGUAGE
What I am referring to is how we visually appear to the criminal. Do we appear to be a “Hard” or a “Soft” target.
Violent criminals are opportunists who look for targets that can be easily taken, robbed, or assaulted without resistance or an obvious ability to immediately summon help.
By “Hard” target, I am not just talking about physical abilities, but more importantly, the ability to see a potential attack before it starts to happen.
The ability to have or summon immediate help, or the ability to defend ourselves long enough for help to arrive.
Violent criminals want “Soft” targets, someone who can be easily approached, attacked or taken from an area with an easy escape route that leaves little or no trace of the incident.
WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME
This variable is the one that we have the least control over as we can find ourselves being targeted by a criminal in an environment that we have visited many times. Locations that create a sense of comfort, where we let our guard down due to familiarity.
While we can’t control where the attack may occur, we can make sure that we know how we will respond if ever faced with a violent situation.
What we need to do is not wait for the emergency to happen before we go into action, but start right now trying to identify what we would do if confronted.
BREVARD COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
While the men and women of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, and our state and local law enforcement partners, do an incredible job at protecting our citizens, you are the first line of defense against violent criminals.
While the best law enforcement officers in the country have response times in minutes, violent criminals can take our lives in seconds.
Being aware of the various crime techniques and methods used by today’s criminals is a very effective way to protect yourself and those you love.
If you know how predators operate, then you know how to defend against their actions. If an event is predictable, it is preventable.
For more information visit BrevardSheriff.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.
Prior to being elected in 2012, Sheriff Ivey served the citizens of the State of Florida as a Resident Agent in Charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sheriff Ivey developed and created the country’s first ever statewide Task Force on Identity Theft.
That same year the Task Force was named one of the top five most innovative programs in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and investigated approximately 44 million dollars in fraud cases.
Additionally, as a member of FDLE, Sheriff Ivey created the Child Abduction Response Team (C.A.R.T) that re-defined the way Child Abduction cases are conducted throughout the country today. The program was later selected as the most innovative program in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is now used as a nationwide model in the response and investigation of child abductions.
Sheriff Ivey has testified before the United States Congress on law enforcement related matters and has extensive experience in the area of Public Integrity Investigations. Sheriff Ivey was honored as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Special Agent of the Year (1996) and was also recognized by the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for his Outstanding Contributions to Criminal Justice. In August of 2011 Sheriff Ivey was honored by the National Organization of Victims Advocacy for his work at the national level as an advocate of victim’s rights and protection.
Sheriff Ivey speaks regularly on topics such as Identity Theft, Crime in America, Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Self Defense through Mental Preparedness. Sheriff Ivey firmly believes that Crime Prevention and Education are vital to reduce our crime rate and protect our community.
