Category Archives: Assault

How safe and sound are you?

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First and foremost Happy New Year to you all. I trust this finds you all well and enjoying a well earned break if you are lucky enough to be on holiday.

The question I have asked is How safe and sound are you? The reason I have asked this is TLC along with DiversityNZ are considering providing a range of services catering for those who require assistance and support with daily living in their own home.

Firstly let me share a story with you.

Prior to Christmas I was engaged to provide personal protection for a client in their own home. The circumstances which led to this had been going for almost a year. The client is disabled and lives alone and has support persons coming into the home to assist as required. The client also runs a very successful business from their home.

12 months ago the house next door to my client was occupied by a male who had suffered a brain injury. Over the course of the 12 months the neighbour has tormented my client with threats of fire and death, has assaulted my clients gardener, has thrown water through open windows, has interfered with mobility equipment and even defacated on my clients driveway. As you would appreciate these behaviours would cause anyone concern…given the fact that my client is disabled…physically if anything was to happen my client could find themselves in an extremely dangerous situation.

The first thing to be done was get the Police involved. The local community constable was advised of events and was very proactive in the way that he dealt with the situation. A trespass notice was also served to the neighbour which resulted in the neighbour being arrested and charged with trespass after breaching the order.

My client also made the landlord aware of the situation and had numerous meetings, emails and phone contact with them to look at the options and possibly relocating the neighbour. This resulted in a formal tribunal and it was agreed that the neighbour will be moved.

The reason I was engaged to provide protection was the landlord met with the neighbour and advised that they were to be moved. It was uncertain how this news would be received. Given the previous behaviours from the neighbour there was a high possibility that some form of revenge attack could be staged prior to the neighbour moving. To cut a long story short protection was provided for a 48 hour period until the client went to stay with friends for Christmas, the neighbour was eventually moved out and my client now feels safe again in their own home.

The impact that this situation has had on my client is huge. They have been living in fear for the best part of 12 months…not feeling safe in their own home forever worried that the neighbour will try and harm them…if not something more sinister.

It was during this job that an idea formed concerning providing a range of services to others who require assistance in their day to day lives. They could be the elderly, solo mothers with children, the disability sector and anyone for that matter who perceives they are at risk in their own home.

The idea to provide various services led to the name of Safe and Sound. Please follow the link to view the possible services that could be offered. This concept is in it’s early stages and is purely a scoping document to gauge interest.

I am speaking more from a security point of view of which various services could be provided i.e; daily welfare checks, a 24 hour response service, personal protection if required, removal from the house if required to a fully accesible safe house utilising fully accessible transport, property checks etc etc…the list is endless. All staff providing the service will be fully licensed security professionals, all will be first aid qualified and all will be familiar and comfortable in dealing with a broad range of disabilities and impairments.

I suspect there are several people living in a situation that could possibly be unsafe for them. Please feel free to offer your thoughts and please please follow the link to register you interest if you wish.

Lets see where this can go.

Regards

Tony

Its a rough world out there…….

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Two stabbings in as many days in good old New Zealand. A timely reminder that it is a tough world out there. A sad indicator of what our society has become when our youngsters are being stabbed to death on a regular basis. I cant help but wonder if the victims of these attacks saw the warning signs and chose to ignore them or they were ignorant to them.

We only need to think why the Police have been issued with stab proof vests in recent years…clearly an indicator that things have changed…what is also disturbing is that the Police recovered a number of weapons from the scene of the recent stabbing in Pakuranga…clear evidence that our youth are carrying and obviously have the intent to use.

I really encourage that if you are confronted on the street that the safest option is to escape and get out of it..do not under estimate what is out there and who is prepared to take a life to prove a point…be careful and stay safe. My sincere condolances to all families affected by this latest tragedy.

Robbery – a crime of control

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It is of concern the number of aggravated robberies that have occured of late particularly in the Rodney District. Being based in Rodney it is certainly bringing it close to home that robbery is a crime that can occur anywhere, anytime and can happen to anybody.

As I write this blog I have just been advised that a client of mine has just suffered the same and a security guard I trained last year who happened to be working onsite at the time was dumped on the ground with a pistol pointed at him. Fortunately in this instance no one was hurt…possibly due to the training they have received in terms of how to deal with a robbery should it occur.

Events such as this highlight that robberies are extremly dangerous, traumatic and unpredictable events that without the right training can lead to situations where death or serious injury can and may occur.

In order to enhance your safety during a robbery it is important to understand the objectives that the offender(s) has…the first objective for them is they want control…in order for you to remain safe let them have control, the second objective is cash or product…what they are there for…let them have it…and the third and final objective for them is they want to escape…let them escape.

If the intent of the offender is just robbery, by facilitating these objectives for the offender you are greatly increasing your chances of remaining safe during an aggravated robbery.

How you achieve this is taught on the TLC Armed Robbery Safety programme. An enjoyble and interactive training programme that will teach you actions, skills and behaviours to enhance your safety and that of others during an aggravated robbery. We also explore how your body will respond and precautions you can put in place to reduce the risk of robbery occuring from the onset.

Please feel free to make contact to discuss further if you feel you may be at risk of an aggravated robbery occuring.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards

Tony

Teenagers – our vulnerable group

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Hi all,

I trust the natural events around the country of late have not been playing too much on your mind. My heartfelt condolences to those that have been directly affected.

To give you a bit of an update: I am currently in discussions with Margarita Politas of ELAN STLYE regarding a possible educational intiative for our teens.

Margarita is a stylist who offers a two day workshop for teenagers…both male and female…in the areas of stlye and confidence building. Collectively we are anticipating including Personal Safety, Self Defence and possibly
Methamphetamine awareness training.

It will be an exciting venture working with our teens not only improving their confidence but also encouraging them to be more aware when it comes to their safety.

I will keep you advised of progress and further details once finalised.

Regards

Tony

Burglary or Robbery?

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Saddened to hear today of the dilemma the Pharmacist in West Auckland is now facing. It will be interesting to see how the Police investigation develops and what unfolds from their evidence. Clearly not a nice situation to be confronted with, but unfortunately in todays society something that I believe we have become used to and to a certain extent immune to. I cannot help but wonder and ask the question…”Could this have been avoided”? Albeit it’s early days but surely the answer has to be “yes”.

Now I am not in a position to project the outcome of this, nor do I wish too. I also don’t condone or condemn any of the parties involved…but I do know how most people respond when placed in a situation where their property or personal safety is in jeopardy. At the time of writing this there are numerous unanswered questions that I am confident the Police will find answers too…was it a burglary that escalated into a robbery?…was it a robbery that went tragically wrong?…time will provide the answers. What we do know though is there is one person dead, there is one person being questioned within the legal system, we have a business that is not trading, we have the loved ones of all involved parties affected by this tragedy and we have other business owners in the area scared to open their doors.

This is how crime impacts on our society…unfortunate as it is…this is reality in todays society.

I would like to plant the seed and offer the suggestion that we are all in a position to keep ourselves and our property safe through taking ownership, through being observant, through being aware of and selecting options that keep us safe and by being organised enough to wrap basic precautions around how we go about our daily lives.

I am not suggesting that the basic security requirements were lacking in this case…clearly having a security patrol response would indicate that there was some proactive steps in place…but again…I can’t help but still wonder “Could this have been avoided?”…and I still get the same answer….”yes I think it could have”.