By Carole Hawkins, [email protected]
Joe Rosner often asks the question when speaking to groups of schoolchildren: What does a dangerous man look like?
He hasn’t shaved. He’s in shabby clothes. He’s wearing a mask.
It goes to show there is no one way to identify a bad man by looking at him. In real life, the only way to detect danger is by how the person makes you feel.
Rosner calls it active intuition and using it is the best first-line defense in an unfamiliar situation.
A national safety and personal self-defense expert, Rosner offered tips and a little bit of training at the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors’ September meeting.
Working as a Realtor comes with risks.
“If you weren’t in the real estate business, would you ever say to a complete stranger, ‘Meet me on the other side of town in an empty house?’” said Rosner.
Active intuition mitigates that risk.
It happens when a person looks fine, but fills you with unease. The subconscious mind is picking up signals the conscious mind is not sensing.
Exercise that intuition when coming to a new place, Rosner said.
“Look at every person and ask ‘who is he?’ and ‘what is he doing?’” he said. “If you come up with some pretty good guesses — he’s a butcher, he’s a baker, he’s a mailman — you’re probably in good shape. If not, you could be in danger.”
Keep an eye on that guy. Review your plan of action before any excitement starts. It’s hard to think under stress.
One of a Realtor’s best prospecting tools is the open house. That’s because 60 percent of people attending them also have a house they want to sell.
But the open house is also where a Realtor deals with lots of strangers.
Talk to homeowner before the event, Rosner said, and make sure they understand they are responsible for securing valuables.
That doesn’t just mean money and jewelry, but also pharmaceuticals. There are people today who come to open houses to get drugs. Also, homeowners need to guard against identity theft. Secure all computers, flash drives, tablets.
Put a sign-in sheet at the entrance. Place a message on cardstock next to it that says, “please present photo ID.”
Most people with ill intentions will not sign in.
Or they’ll sign in with false information, but won’t be able to produce an identification.
“If someone says, ‘Oh, I left my ID in the car,’ and leave, did you just lose a sale?” Rosner said. “No, you just saved yourself from danger.”
A personal safety seminar typically obligates a mini-martial arts lesson, and Rosner included a few favorite moves for his. But he saved them for the end.
That’s because self-defense is not his favorite tactic. It’s easy to lose a fight and fighting back should only be used as a last resort.
Better solutions are: Run away. Get help. Talk your way out of the situation. Put a barrier between yourself and an assailant.
Indoors, a barrier might mean a door. Sit on the floor and place your feet against the bottom of it, legs straight and knees locked.
Outdoors, a good barrier is a parked car. Position yourself so a car is between yourself and an assailant. Or crawl under the car.
Never let a person take you to another place, such as a car where they can drive to a remote location. Your chances of survival will drop dramatically.
Better to run away, even if an assailant has a gun. Trained police officers statistically only hit a target they are aiming at one in five times, he said.
And they’re better shots than street punks, Rosner said.