Situational awareness failure

When my wife and I are going into a store either together or separate we always try to see who's around us. For myself I always walk and act like I'm the toughest SOB on the planet. My wife always has her finger on the emergency car alarm when she enters and leaves a store. Listen to your intuition so that if something doesn't feel right then move to a different parking area. We know that none of us can be fully protected but with the simple things that we do, we don't feel helpless.

Milt1 said:

For myself I always walk and act like I'm the toughest SOB on the planet.

Click to expand...

I walked into a convenience store one night about 3 in the morning while I was at work. I was wearing body armor, I was carrying a gun, I was carrying OC spray and I looked like the Terminator.

As I walked through the front door a tweaker jumped off the trash can he was sitting on followed me inside and tried to take my gun.

I was able to stop him because I was paying attention. As he approached me I turned around, quartered on him and asked him if there was something I could help him with.

When he realized he wasn't going to take me by surprise he turned around and walked out of the store.

The point of this is that even though I looked like a bad ass, my appearance didn't impress the guy at all.

Readyrod said:

As the title suggests I just had a major failure in situational awareness. Sorry I can't give any details other than one moment all was normal and then shtf. I know I've asked it before but can anyone share their practical everyday tips on situational awareness.

Click to expand...

I told this story before but many many years ago I worked in a group home for troubled kids.

One night during dinner I was having a conversation with one of the kids when another kid asked me a question. I turned to answer the other kid and the first one, feeling disrespected, bounced her Melemene dinner plate off my forehead. That was the beginning of my journey of learning situational awareness.

I also worked in a mental health facility for almost a year. That was an environment where one minute a patient was fine and the next he decided that you were the Antichrist and you had to die. That only has to happen a couple of times before you really start paying attention to what's going on around you.

I honestly don't know if you can teach somebody situational awareness any other way than by putting them in a position where they have to pay attention to what's going on around them or they're going to have to suffer actual consequences.

I suspect that whatever your incident was will heighten your sense of situational awareness

There isn't a person alive that is 100% aware all the time of everything around them.

George Dickel said:

There isn't a person alive that is 100% aware all the time of everything around them.

Click to expand...

Except Chuck Norris

If you go to a convenience store , bank or any other type of business like that and there is a car backed into a slot near the entrance door with it's engine running and someone at the wheel. Chances are good its being robbed.

Trunk Monkey said:

Except Chuck Norris

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reminder, I forgot all about Chuck Norris. Hope he doesn't read this post, I wouldn't want him to show up at my door step seeking an apology for my slight of his abilities.

Trunk Monkey said:

I walked into a convenience store one night about 3 in the morning while I was at work. I was wearing body armor, I was carrying a gun, I was carrying OC spray and I looked like the Terminator.

As I walked through the front door a tweaker jumped off the trash can he was sitting on followed me inside and tried to take my gun.

I was able to stop him because I was paying attention. As he approached me I turned around, quartered on him and asked him if there was something I could help him with.

When he realized he wasn't going to take me by surprise he turned around and walked out of the store.

The point of this is that even though I looked like a bad ass, my appearance didn't impress the guy at all.

Click to expand...

Well I agree to some extent that one can look tough and mean and still get into a situation like you did. My point is that you do what you can do to head off trouble knowing full well that it might not work in every situation and as George Dickel pointed out above no one is fully aware 100 percent of the time of things going around them.

Milt1 said:

Well I agree to some extent that one can look tough and mean and still get into a situation like you did. My point is that you do what you can do to head off trouble knowing full well that it might not work in every situation and as George Dickel pointed out above no one is fully aware 100 percent of the time of things going around them.

Click to expand...

My point is it neither the fact that I was armed nor the fact that I looked like a badass had any effect on this guy. In fact it's been my experience that it usually doesn't.

That wasn't the first time I've had to deal with someone like that and I think you'd be really surprised to know how many times I heard "I'm going to knock you on your ass and take that gun."

The one thing that I have found that works real well is pepper spray. I had a lunatic tweaker tell me one morning that he was going to kill me with an axe. He then proceeded to start digging through a shopping cart looking for the aforementioned ax.

He wasn't the slightest bit intimidated by my gun but when he turned around and saw that I had a can of pepper spray in my hand and I was fixing to light his ass up he dropped that ax like it was on fire

What stopped the guy was realizing that I was aware of him and he was going to have to actually put some effort into getting my gun off me.

Trunk Monkey said:

. . . even though I looked like a bad ass, my appearance didn't impress the guy at all.

Click to expand...

He wasn't worried about losing a fight with you, just interested in the possibility of winning.

Consider, a dedicated tweaker probably looses a fight with a dealer, druggie, or the police on a fairly regular basis. Apparently it's worth it to keep trying. . .

edwardware said:

He wasn't worried about losing a fight with you, just interested in the possibility of winning.

Click to expand...

If that was strictly true he would have kept coming even after he knew I was aware of him. He didn't want to fight me at all. He wanted to sneak up behind me, snatch my gun out of my holster and either shoot me or hold me at gunpoint as he backed out of the store with the gun.

He wasn't looking for a fight he was looking for an easy score.

Readyrod said:

... but can anyone share their practical everyday tips on situational awareness.

Click to expand...

Long ago I got in the habit of constantly looking around ("keep your head on a swivel" & peripheral vision is my friend ), analyzing/gauging the people around me and also not passing close by structures behind which someone could hide. Especially when I am doing something that normally occupies someone's complete attention (making them an easier target), like loading groceries in car, I am always glancing around.

If a stranger does approach me, for instance in a car park, I turn, unobtrusively square-up and verbally stop them from getting too close. ("Hello. That's close enough. Can I help you?" ... all with a smile).

Same here. But when I smile it looks like I'm standing on a thumb tack.

This is going to ruffle a few feathers but a big part of my SA is profiling. It is not illegal for me to do as a private citizen so it gets implemented all the time. I know profiling is not the end all be all but it can help in evaluating risks based on statistics. I profile race, socioeconomic appearance, tone of voice as well as perceived education level from speech. I usually use a mental process of factoring everything I see so I never rely on any one profile characteristic. I avoid any and all who look mental health in any way. If you want to avoid vagrants then never make eye contact with anyone if you can help it. If you want someone to know you see them then by all all means look right at them.

How do I know? I don’t really but through experience of living in one area for awhile you get a pretty good idea.

My next tip is to walk fast wherever you go all the time while of course looking around. Whether it is in the parking lot as well as inside the local Lowe’s or while out walking the dog or on a hike in the wilderness. Make walking fast a habit. That way anyone pacing you will be instantly suspicious and then if you switch directions and they follow then it is that much more suspicious since they will also have to switch directions fast.

The Same thing with driving but do that at your own risk.

Trunk Monkey said:

My point is it neither the fact that I was armed nor the fact that I looked like a badass had any effect on this guy. In fact it's been my experience that it usually doesn't.

That wasn't the first time I've had to deal with someone like that and I think you'd be really surprised to know how many times I heard "I'm going to knock you on your ass and take that gun."

The one thing that I have found that works real well is pepper spray. I had a lunatic tweaker tell me one morning that he was going to kill me with an axe. He then proceeded to start digging through a shopping cart looking for the aforementioned ax.

He wasn't the slightest bit intimidated by my gun but when he turned around and saw that I had a can of pepper spray in my hand and I was fixing to light his ass up he dropped that ax like it was on fire

What stopped the guy was realizing that I was aware of him and he was going to have to actually put some effort into getting my gun off me.

Click to expand...

Obviously I'm very interested in your experiences and others for that matter. I'm glad that THR provides an avenue for this type of discussion to take place. Getting back to my interest in your experiences, I gather that you were in uniform with a handgun on your side when some of these experiences happened. You call these people tweakers so I'm guessing that they were strung out on narcotics when these event happened. What happened with these guys that approached you and threatened you, did you arrest them?

Milt1 said:

Obviously I'm very interested in your experiences and others for that matter. I'm glad that THR provides an avenue for this type of discussion to take place. Getting back to my interest in your experiences, I gather that you were in uniform with a handgun on your side when some of these experiences happened. You call these people tweakers so I'm guessing that they were strung out on narcotics when these event happened. What happened with these guys that approached you and threatened you, did you arrest them?

Click to expand...

Not a cop I'm a security guard. I called the cops but I still had to deal with the crackheads until the cops got there.

There are two points that I'm trying to make. The first is that I learned situational awareness by working in an environment where situational awareness is a critical skill. As I've said before getting caught by surprise once or twice will really teach you to pay close attention to your surroundings.

Second, looking like a bad ass is like open carry, it only deters the people who weren't really committed anyway, in fact some criminals will take it as a challenge.

Criminals don't think like you or I do. They generally have poor impulse control and (in general) are much more willing to use violence to get what they want than your average person. That's why they're criminals. If someone is willing to try taking a gun off of you the odds are that you aren't their first victim and you aren't the first person who has pointed a gun at them. They've been here before you probably haven't.

Trunk Monkey said:

looking like a bad ass is like open carry, it only deters the people who weren't really committed anyway, in fact some criminals will take it as a challenge.

Click to expand...

A large body builder friend of mine years ago said he never went into bars because there would always be some guy there who wanted to challenge him to a fight.

GBExpat said:

If a stranger does approach me, for instance in a car park, I turn, unobtrusively square-up and verbally stop them from getting too close. ("Hello. That's close enough. Can I help you?" ... all with a smile).

Click to expand...

Do you have a plan for when of them tells you to kiss their ass and keeps coming?

Trunk Monkey said:

Do you have a plan for when of them tells you to kiss their ass and keeps coming?

Click to expand...

Sure do.

Be mistaken for a cop. I've been off the job for a long time and still get taken for one a lot.

Some of my practices include:

Parking- I pick spots away from the more-crowded areas of the lot in mall and market parking lots, trying to avoid having anyone park next to me. This helps keep people from being difficult to spot between my vehicle and any around it.

Convenience stores- When entering, make eye contact briefly with anyone within 20 feet of me if possible. Let them know I know they're there. Make eye contact briefly if possible with anyone else coming in after I do, and certainly with anyone behind me (such as in line.)

Restaurants- Seat myself, if possible, with my back to a wall and with as much of the dining area visible in front of me as possible. Know where any other exits beyond the one through which I entered are. Observe newcomers, and make eye contact briefly if possible if they pass within 10 feet or so of me.

Restrooms- Note stalls in use, even if just using a urinal. Turn to acknowledge the arrival of anyone coming in after me, though not necessarily to eye contact.

ATMs- Avoid use at night but, when necessary, drive a complete, slow lap around the building (if possible) in a deliberate manner, like a cop on patrol, watching for anything unusual, such as parked vehicles that may be occupied, before returning to the machine. Carry my four-cell up to the machine if it's a "walk-up" unit, sweeping the area around it as I approach.

General- Keep my head up and moving. Acknowledge with eye contact anyone who gets within 20 feet or so of me. Keep my phone on my belt, not in front of my face. Observe, and select targets for observation carefully (the pretty mom dancing in the park with her small children might be a nice show, but the two skels leaning against the old truck parked nearby warrant further assessment.)

Be mistaken for a cop, but avoid areas in which that in itself would make me a target I otherwise would not be.

Aside from a range or other related shooting-activity location, don't go anywhere with my sidearm I would not go without it.

I delivered pizzas off and on, full and part-time, for decades, and have identified both pre-arranged and "impulse" robbery/assault setups countless times and was able to self-extract before anything went down in all but the first one. Sometimes I wonder if I learned more on that job than in police work.

Readyrod said:

As the title suggests I just had a major failure in situational awareness.

Click to expand...

You, like everybody else, has a multitude of situational awareness failures on a daily basis. Some are going to be major, some minor. The significant difference is that nothing bad or unexpected usually happened during those times. As a result, you fail to realize how often it occurs. It is amazing to me the number of self defense instructors I have had that have claimed to be very situationally aware, "From the moment I walk out my front door, I am constantly in Condition Yellow" only to see them surprised by a student that walks up behind them.

So you do the best that you can, but realize that virtually any time that you are doing anything else other than trying to maintain situational awareness, you have compromised your situational awareness to some extent. The worst part is that how often it is compromised and how much it is compromised is often undiscerned. That is reality. You don't know what you don't know.

There are some fun and interesting videos on inattention blindness that are microcosm examples for loss of situational awareness. Note that sometimes the same phenomenon is called attention blindness, perception/ual blindness, and selective attention. It happens all the time in day to day life. It is also part of tradecraft for folks like magicians and some criminals. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=attention+blindness

Most people try to maintain situational awareness via a method of limited sampling of the environment around them, assuming that the sampling is sufficient to account for the gaps in time and space that have not been sampled - in other words, hoping or believing nothing will develop in those areas or during those periods that are not sampled, or that if something does develop, that their sampling will discern the problem quick enough for an appropriate response.

My point? Lots of good suggestions above, but also realize you aren't going to be perfect. Nobody is. You can work to be less imperfect, however.

I'm less situationally aware than I used to be, mostly due to having lived in a much safer place for the last decade or so. It's been easy to relax a little more.

The only point I can make towards bettering your situational awareness, is to not distract yourself from your surroundings by focusing completely on a task or thought that does not require your total an undivided attention. And don't put off checking out warning signs in favor of a task you are in the middle of. Take the time to stop and assess.

That's all I've got.

WrongHanded said:

I'm less situationally aware than I used to be, mostly due to having lived in a much safer place for the last decade or so. It's been easy to relax a little more.

Click to expand...

But that's when they get you!!!!!!!!

I say this seriously and jokingly. I realize we will try to live in safer places so that we don't have to be constantly on guard, but at the same time, how many times have we seen where people were shocked at something that happened in their safe communities?