Situational Awareness/Assesment

[mojo3838]

While traveling on foot, bike or car, I often pass through some pretty bad neighborhoods. I am understand the core concept of situational awareness, but are there certain things of which I should make mental notes? Number of people, direction of travel, what they are doing... What should I look for? Does anybody use any kind of mental checklist?

Directing me to some good resources is just as welcome as a direct answer.

[synergy]

Be wary of any actions that mirror your own. You cross the street, someone else crosses the street. You stop moving, someone else stops moving, etc.

It's a bit more of a target discrimination thing, but I find Paul Howe's process of how he assesses targets pretty valuable as a common sense way to size someone up who has caught your attention already.

1) Whole body - demeanor, uniform, anything unusual.
2) Hands - Are they empty, can you see both?
3) Waistline - is anything printing, could something be hidden in a baggy area you can't see?
4) Wingspan - what does this person have access to if they decide to take violent action.

Paul came up with that order as his discrimination process for entering a room during CQB, but you an apply that logic to someone eyeballing you or whatever.

I would sign up for an account here, and read this thread:
http://www.totalprotectioninteractiv...read.php?t=770

Here are some of the highlights:
http://shivworks.com/?p=820

[arjohnson]

I beleive this is something that's pretty hard to teach, more of something learned through experiance. I had the luxury of growing up in Pgh in one of the worst neighborhoods and was on the streets for the first 21 years of my life, not really a luxury but beleive me I learned alot. I have just about seen it all, so I can read people very well even if I don't know them, sometimes I'm wrong but most often I'm not.

[Deleted]

I beleive this is something that's pretty hard to teach, more of something learned through experiance. I had the luxury of growing up in Pgh in one of the worst neighborhoods and was on the streets for the first 21 years of my life, not really a luxury but beleive me I learned alot. I have just about seen it all, so I can read people very well even if I don't know them, sometimes I'm wrong but most often I'm not.

Agreed... It's hard to teach "street smarts" if you have never lived them. There are so many scams, tricks, and the like that the bad guys are real good at.

Synergy made some great points... And don't underestimate the women! They work it as well. Nothing is more dangerous than a junkie and her boyfriend.

[TheWolff]

When in a building, take note of where exits and stairwells are. Constantly be creating escape plans as you walk through and evaluate the layout. Take note of things around that you could use for cover or concealment if someone came in shooting. If sitting, try to be where you can keep an eye on the main entrance.

When driving and coming to a stop, leave enough room so that you can see the wheels of the car in front of you touch the ground. That should give you enough to make a right or left and drive around if someone runs up to your window.

You've spent your whole live evaluating people and predicting their behavior. Don't discount when you feel that something isn't right because "it's probably nothing". There's a good book called "The Gift of Fear" that talks a lot about predicting behavior and paying attention to your body's cues that something is amiss. I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking to become more aware of what's going on around them.

[whoshisface]

[whoshisface]

[whoshisface]

and in the spirit of PAFOA..