About a week or so ago, two friends were walking from a house party to a local club. On their way they were attacked by four men swinging a baseball bat or bats.

While law-enforcement is considering this now a “hate crime” due to the derrogatory terms used to describe the two victims by their assailants during the attack, I look at this another way entirely. Unfortunately, to me, this is now “the norm” when it comes to these types of attacks.

I recall a husband-wife couple from my gym attacked two years ago (personal trainer and her police officer husband) by four men leaving a house party as the couple approached their car. Both husband and wife were in great physical shape, the husband (a cop) had his gun on him as well. But their attackers had something more important — the element of surprise. The wife was in a comma for three months and when she did come out her jaw was wired shut for another three months since her attacker broke it.

More and more we are hearing stories of very brutal and viscious attacks by multiple (key word next), “simultaneous” attackers. This calls for a very different type of personal defense training and strategy. But this approach is also the “norm” with what I teach as we will always assume there is more than “one.” To learn more, contact Defense By Design.

Jeff McKissack
Defense By Design

Last week a man “pretending” to be a Chase Bank employee entered one of their branches and robbed the location. He was dressed “like” an employee of Chase, had a idenfication badge similar to Chase and did not appear on anyone’s personal radar as someone of suspicion.

This is a classic example of the “Authority/Service Provider Lure” I speak of in my seminars, when someone pretends to be someone they are not. Often they can pose as an authority figure like a police officer, security officer, fireman, doctor, etc. However, they can also pose as more everyday professionals such as plumbers, electricians, pest control, carpet cleaners, couriers, etc. These are the people we either automatically trust given their positions of authority or automatically trust as someone we’re used to seeing in our homes, neighborhoods and office buildings.

It just goes to show, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” CHASE down the truth for yourself!

Jeff McKissack
Defense By Design

Coming soon to the Uptown area of Dallas will be a very “unique” opportunity for locals to get an up-close and personal presentation from Defense By Design.

One Tuesday each month Defense By Design is partnering with the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority to offer “A Streetcar Named Defense,” a two-hour tour around Uptown with a very unique twist. Riders will be treated to two hours of training involving profiling, reading body language and some basics of physical self-defense, both on and off the trolley as we tour the Uptown area. Regarding the physical training (on and off the trolley) it will obviously have an emphasis on “close quarters” scenarios, seated and standing.

While the vast majority of these offerings will be targeted to residents of various apartment communities in the area, other groups and residents will be considered as time and budgets allow. We will start each tour at a local restaurant/club and end at another restaurant/club as sponsors come onboard (no pun intended).

What a great idea for “date night” or even friends looking for something different…OK, something very different for a Tuesday night on the town.

For more information, contact Defense By Design to either participate or set up your own group event.

Jeff McKissack
Defense By Design

As I read this story today on MSN, I was reminded of Anne Li last fall murdered by a co-worker at Yale University. Now another Ivy League school faces a similar tragedy at the University of Virginia.

George Huguely, 22, of Chevy Chase, Maryland., has been charged in the death of Yeardley Love, 22, of Cockeysville, Maryland. Both were seniors and in a relationship at some point in the past.

As tragic as this is, once again it serves to remind us (especially parents) that there are no such things as safe or unsafe “places” - only safe or unsafe “people.” We must teach our children and teens how to better read the early-warning signs of danger, how to know when someone, even someone we think we know, is taking on a different persona.

Years ago when I represented the CHILD LURES Crime Prevention program, we used the weather as an analogy, noting that “Most people are like the weather…nice, warm and safe.” However, just as the weather can change…change rapidly…become suddenly violent, the same is true with people. We all have “bad weather days” - all of us. However, there is a difference between bad weather and violent weather, and sometimes only minutes or the right set of atmospheric circumstances separate the two. Again, the same is true with people.

Our heart goes out to the parents of this slain young lady, Yeardley Love. In the last week I’ve had two friends give birth to their first-borns and have seen the joy on their faces. I cannot even begin to imagine the angst on the faces of Yeardley’s parents now. This is a tragedy no parent should suffer, especially when it is so easily preventable.

Let’s learn yet again from a tragedy never, ever to take our safety for granted…even when around those we know.

Jeff McKissack
Defense By Design