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Traveling outside of North America makes you keenly aware of a different view of security essentials. You might, for example notice that in places like Panama, the Philippines and other countries people have extremely high security fencing, often with razor wire, surrounding their property. It is also common to witness armed security personel in front of many businesses.
Many people believe, that when they see this type of security, that it must be an unsafe country. Or that crime may be extremely high. There may be a certain amount of truth to this assessment, but there is much more to it than that. The difference is, crime prevention is more important because of a different view of security essentials.
Here, we have grown up being taught that is is the job of police to protect us. We automatically expect the police to take care of our security essentials for us.
And, in fact, often the laws in Canada and the US can help to expand that myth. Just look around, it is becoming almost illegal to protect yourself. You can get sued for anything, so the crooks can sue you if they hurt themselves breaking into your house.
So, we are taught to go on our way, assuming that we are safe. And we go on thinking that we are safer in North America than we are in other countries. Since we think it is the cops job to protect us, we tend to let our guard down.
There are a number of problems with this approach and this level of thinking. The first mistake, is thinking that your protection is the job of the police. Regardless of what you have heard, this is incorrect.
The fact of the matter is there is very little that the police can do to protect you before a crime occurs. The job of the police is to investigate crime and the arrest criminals after commiting the crime. Ask anyone who has ever been a victim of a stalker. Until you have already been attacked, there is nothing the police can do.
This is not meant as an insult to police officers. Their hands are tied, even though they are for the most part brave and would love to help. Its laws that state that until a crime has already occurred, nothing can be done.
Even more so however, is that if there was something the police could do, they can’t be everywhere at once. Its not all that hard for the crooks to avoid hanging out where police may be present.
Crime prevention is instinctive to people in many countries. They rely on themselves, not the police. It becomes about preventing the crimes before they happen. If a crime still happens, they let the police do their job.
It doesn’t matter where you are in the world; it is up to you to protect yourself. And there is a lot we can learn about security essentials from people in other countries. Its very easy to become complacent when living in the US or Canada because we think we are taken care of. Before you have been violated, robbed or killed, there is very little the police are able to do for you. After the crime has occurred, the police can step in and investigate. If you are lucky, they will catch whoever did it.
Yes, maybe a criminal will think twice if there is a chance he might be arrested, and that might be some protection for you. However, punishment does not appear to be much of a deterrent to crime according to studies.
Seeing high fences and other deterrents like security guards in other countries does not necessarily mean crime is higher. It just means that prevention is given a higher priority. Instead of waiting until after the fact. I have not heard of a mall shooting in Panama where you see armed guards at all the entrances, but they have happened in Seattle, and all through the US, where they don't.
You have to learn, what people in most countries of the world already know. Your protection is your responsibility. That may mean different things to different people, but you need to do whatever it takes to be safe. For some, it will be security and body guards, for others it will be high fences and alarms.
It might be something as simple as keeping your eyes open when you are out and about. You will notice in some coutries, people are more aware of what is going on, than we seem to be in North America.
It's unfortunate that in many places the laws are not in your favor. The consequences however can be dealt with later. Protect your self and your family first.
There are two approaches to fighting crime. Pray that the police arrest whoever robbed, raped or killed you. Or two, be prepared and prevent it before it happens. It is up to us to protect ourselves. It is one of the many things we can learn from other cultures. Relying on others for your protection will not work.
Learn more about Security Essentials by clicking here, and check out this resource to learn how to protect your home.
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