A few SD points I hadn't heard before

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old lady new shooter

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Earlier this evening I participated in a virtual presentation on safety tips for women, put on by our local PD. (They also offer an 8-hour hands-on class culminating in officers putting on a protective suit and pretending to be an assailant, which I'm sure some of tonight's participants will attend.) The officer who spoke brought a few points I either hadn't previously heard or hadn't heard expressed the same way, so I thought I would share them here:
  • There is such a thing as a "google voice number" which is a phone number you can give people that rings through to your phone without revealing your actual phone number (thereby keeping private all the information that could be found for you by using your real number).
  • Homicide is the #1 cause of death for women under age 44.
  • Victims of non-fatal strangulation are 7 x more likely to die of homicide.
  • The overwhelming majority of criminals imprisoned for violent crimes have at some point put their hands around someone's neck.
[The above last two points were in connection with a list of danger signs that a relationship is abusive, he said any physical force was a danger sign but especially non-fatal strangulation.]
  • A male/female confrontation almost always exhibits disparity of strength. An experiment was done testing trained female athletes to measure how hard they could punch and then measuring how hard random males off the street could punch, the random males far outpunched the trained female athletes. Moral of the story, a woman's bare hands against a man's bare hands is not likely to turn out well for the woman.
  • On the topic of weapons, he characterized weapons as either still leaving an assailant a choice, or taking the assailant's choice away.
    • Pepper spray still leaves the assailant a choice. He related how as part of his LE training he had to be able to subdue and handcuff a "suspect" after being pepper sprayed. Conclusion: If the assailant is really determined pepper spray will not stop him.
    • A stun gun still leaves the assailant a choice, and is also difficult to correctly deploy.
    • A taser if used correctly does take the assailant's choice away, but it has limitations including having to be used at close range and not working if the assailant is wearing thick clothing.
    • Knives are also difficult to use well enough to effectively stop someone.
    • A blunt weapon is intuitive to use and can be very effective, and many everyday objects qualify.
    • A gun is the greatest force equalizer but you have to train to be proficient with it.
  • People, especially women, instinctively scream when attacked. But just a scream is unlikely to elicit help from non-involved parties who happen to hear it, it might be dismissed as kids playing or whatever. Rather you should yell something like "Stop" or "Get your hands off me" or "Go away".
 
Dont waste your time screaming. Get one of those quick release high pitch deafening alarms on your keychain. My kids wear ones I made into watches when we are out and about in case of an emergency or they get split up in a crowd or a store. My wife carries Halt (USPS dog spray) for aggressive dogs. Pretty effective on people as well. Firearms are good if you can get comfortable with them and be responsible. If not... the best defense is a man who cares about you and knows how to handle himself...... so be nice to him Ha!
 
according to the DOJ, 89.6% of attacks against women are perpetrated by someone they know, the vast majority by an intimate partner. Only 10.6% of attacks against women are committed by a stranger. Pulling the trigger on someone you know, someone that you may depend on for various things would be difficult I would think and, in my experience, women that get into these situations don't have a lot of resources, support mechanisms, or options. It would be best if their abusive partners died in some kind of accident so they could at least collect some insurance and start over but they probably won't get that lucky.
 
redcon1 said:
according to the DOJ, 89.6% of attacks against women are perpetrated by someone they know, the vast majority by an intimate partner. Only 10.6% of attacks against women are committed by a stranger. Pulling the trigger on someone you know, someone that you may depend on for various things would be difficult I would think and, in my experience, women that get into these situations don't have a lot of resources, support mechanisms, or options. It would be best if their abusive partners died in some kind of accident so they could at least collect some insurance and start over but they probably won't get that lucky.
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The officer did cite a statistic along those lines. I agree with you that pulling the trigger on a person who is a close part of one's life would be extremely difficult at best. Thankfully I don't travel in circles where that would be likely to happen. And coming from L.A. I have also known of cases where the attacker was a complete stranger, like the time another old lady in my neighborhood was raped while doing laundry in her detached garage one morning. Being that my laundry room was also in my detached garage, after I got my first gun I practiced A LOT for that scenario. In general if you live in an area that is both high crime and has a large population of mentally ill homeless I think the statistic is probably different. Thank G-d I moved to a peaceful town in Arizona a few years ago, a wonderful change. It took me several months to get used to the quiet, coming from an environment of constant sirens and police helicopters.
 
Homicide is the #1 cause of death for women under age 44.
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I don't think that's quite right. For 2017, the U.S. figures showed that for females 1-19, homicide was the 4rth ranked cause of death (~7%)--for females 20-44, it was the fifth ranked cause (~4%). For females under 44, the top ranked cause of death in 2017 was "Unintentional injuries" at approximately 30%.
Victims of non-fatal strangulation are 7 x more likely to die of homicide.
Click to expand...
That tells you who is killing them.
 
old lady new shooter said:
The officer did cite a statistic along those lines. I agree with you that pulling the trigger on a person who is a close part of one's life would be extremely difficult at best. Thankfully I don't travel in circles where that would be likely to happen. And coming from L.A. I have also known of cases where the attacker was a complete stranger, like the time another old lady in my neighborhood was raped while doing laundry in her detached garage one morning. Being that my laundry room was also in my detached garage, after I got my first gun I practiced A LOT for that scenario. In general if you live in an area that is both high crime and has a large population of mentally ill homeless I think the statistic is probably different. Thank G-d I moved to a peaceful town in Arizona a few years ago, a wonderful change. It took me several months to get used to the quiet, coming from an environment of constant sirens and police helicopters.
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Yeah, I'm in a pretty violent city myself. Around here, they shoot you dead and than they shoot the people that showed up to your funeral. So I think you're definitely right about the stats varying. It's like there's a near 100% chance that you'll never be attacked by a shark-until you jump into the ocean. We're always prepared for shark attacks around here.
 
old lady new shooter said:
A blunt weapon is intuitive to use and can be very effective, and many everyday objects qualify
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I will take issue with this one. Yes, a blunt weapon may be “intuitive” to use, and “can” be very effective, but if the defender is untrained, and the assailant is the least bit trained, or simply more-experienced, that blunt weapon is likely to be neutralized, or to change hands, VERY quickly. The intuitive act of swinging a blunt weapon, along an arc, is a slower motion that a direct thrust, and a trained or experienced attacker will know this.

Of course, thrusting is not difficult to understand, but the defender must understand how to do it effectively.
 
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I was issued three generations of Tasers, for a number of years, and from the time of the X-26, mandated to wear them on the duty belt. Tasers are at their best when the darts hit the large muscles located in the rear of the human body, and when the defender is some distance away, to allow the darts to spread to their effective distance apart, so the Taser is best used to defend a third party, such as one’s partner.

Plus, in a frontal attack, it is very easy for an attacker to see a Taser, and then make it very difficult to get those two good dart hits.

Edited to add: When I retired from LEO-ing, I seriously considered buying my own Taser, but found that to be an elusive goal, at the time. This post reminds me that I should look into this, again.

Edited again, to add: Well, one can now go to Amazon dot com, and order X26P Tasers, and probably others. Interesting.
 
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Rexster said:
The intuitive act of swinging a blunt weapon, along an arc, is a slower motion that a direct thrust
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Wow, that is a very important point. Being that I have a carry permit and now that I live in a free country do carry when I go anywhere (except the post office, grrr) I never thought much about using a blunt object.
 
JohnKSa said:
I don't think that's quite right. For 2017, the U.S. figures showed that for females 1-19, homicide was the 4rth ranked cause of death (~7%)--for females 20-44, it was the fifth ranked cause (~4%). For females under 44, the top ranked cause of death in 2017 was "Unintentional injuries" at approximately 30%.
Click to expand...
He didn't say what timeframe or geographic area the statistic was from.

That tells you who is killing them.
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Yep, consistent with the very high percentage of attacks being by someone known to the victim.
 
A technique that I have heard is to yell "FIRE!" rather than "HELP!" since they will both get a police response. The difference being some people are prone to doubt themselves while "FIRE!" reflexively results in a 9-1-1 call.
 
Rexster said:
The intuitive act of swinging a blunt weapon, along an arc, is a slower motion that a direct thrust, and a trained or experienced attacker will know this.

Of course, thrusting is not difficult to understand, but the defender must understand how to do it effectively.
Click to expand...
I have been thinking more about this. Doesn't thrusting use the same muscles (front delts) as punching? Does this reduce the usefulness of the suggestion?
 
old lady new shooter said:
I have been thinking more about this. Doesn't thrusting use the same muscles (front delts) as punching? Does this reduce the usefulness of the suggestion?
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A punch is the same motion as a thrust. A swing travels along an arc. Swinging through an arc is more distance for the hand/weapon to travel. Most untrained folks seem to use impact weapons by swinging them along an arc, which is often a disadvantageous thing to do. A swing can, of course, result in a very powerful blow being delivered, so, is valid when that moment in time is right, for it.
 
Deleted.

I had typed a narrative, to try to explain something, and had wanted to post a link to a you-tube video, to use as an example. I could not find the video, among all of the fantasy/comic-book/super-hero stuff that my search found, in the time I have available, at the moment. I may return to the subject, when I have more time.
 
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Rexster said:
A punch is the same motion as a thrust. A swing travels along an arc. Swinging through an arc is more distance for the hand/weapon to travel. Most untrained folks seem to use impact weapons by swinging them along an arc, which is often a disadvantageous thing to do. A swing can, of course, result in a very powerful blow being delivered, so, is valid when that moment in time is right, for it.
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What was behind my question was combining what you posted about thrusting vs swinging with the point the officer cited about women's punching strength being far less than men's. I.e. was the advice about using a blunt object perhaps less apt than the presentation participants probably perceived?
 
old lady new shooter said:
What was behind my question was combining what you posted about thrusting vs swinging with the point the officer cited about women's punching strength being far less than men's. I.e. was the advice about using a blunt object perhaps less apt than the presentation participants probably perceived?
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Well, all I know, about the presentation, is what I see in the bullet points. I cannot know what the participants may have perceived.

It is true that swinging a blunt object may well be enough to deter many attacks. The presentation appears to have tailored for a novice audience. Folks must learn to walk, before they can learn to run.
 
Rexster said:
Well, all I know, about the presentation, is what I see in the bullet points. I cannot know what the participants may have perceived.

It is true that swinging a blunt object may well be enough to deter many attacks. The presentation appears to have tailored for a novice audience. Folks must learn to walk, before they can learn to run.
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It was definitely tailored for a novice audience. Being that it was sponsored by a non-self-defense related group to which I belong I decided to participate to at least support the group sponsoring such a thing and also because I figured that being an entry-level presentation didn't mean I might not still learn something.
 
My dad had to walk with a cane. A good walking stick or cane needs to be strong, but light. This results in a handy tool that is not an effective club. When I was a young teen he taught me that the best use of a cane for defense is to jab with it, like a foil, not to swing it like a saber or club.
 
Rexster said:
Here is an example of a stick being swung at a deputy. The deputy would have sustained more damage/injury, in my opinion, had the assailant been thrusting with that stick. (The deputy might have escaped injury, had he used different tactics, but, I do not want to drift too far from the immediate point.)

https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/...ire-at-stick-swinging-assailant-s-chest-video
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Thanks. :)

For "blunt object" I was thinking more something like a fire extinguisher, but definitely that stick didn't do much damage.

Also interesting in the video was how BG just kept walking and required 12 shots before he went down. Good to show to "high capacity magazine" opponents.
 
Craig_VA said:
My dad had to walk with a cane. A good walking stick or cane needs to be strong, but light. This results in a handy tool that is not an effective club. When I was a young teen he taught me that the best use of a cane for defense is to jab with it, like a foil, not to swing it like a saber or club.
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Every so often here the topic of "a cane is a great defensive weapon that you can take anywhere" comes up. So one time I went looking for defensive canes on the internet, thinking something heavy or at least heavy on the end would be what to get. Then people told me no, it needs to be light. But as the conversation continued people also said it's dangerous for a non-agile person because BG can take it away from you and use it on you instead of you using it on him, so I discarded the idea.
 
My take is from being raised in NYC.

Get over your fear of bladed weapons.

Never met a perp that was not scared enough to poop their pants when confronted by a WOMAN with a blade.

And when I became a cop,I met more than a few criminals who admitted they did not want to get cut ----- especially bya woman,as they KNEW where she would cut them :)

And as much as I believe in the handgun for S/D [ no one ever raped a .38 ] .

The blade is in hand when walking where I see issues.

Note = no need for a machete as a small SHARP blade will do just fine.

The toughest part of teaching S/D to women is they need to get over their fear of harming another.
 
Something to note.

My sister graduated from a state police training academy and at the time had plenty of advanced training in defensive tactics for law enforcement.

For fun one day she asked me to “fight” her. Basically grapple. I had only ever been in scuffles in my life at the time. I never wrestled in high school and knew no martial arts. I outweighed her by nearly 100 lbs and was a regular at the weight room was all the training I had.

I was able to subdue her less than 8 seconds and probably less than 5 after first contact. She was not surprised by the outcome. She had sparred with men in training and knew of the physical power imbalance. In a life or death situation where she was disarmed, she would be going for the throat, eyes, or groin and still would likely lose. That is why police have force equalizers in the form of batons, tasers, pepper spray, and firearms.

Years later, I too graduated from an LE academy after having been in the military and been through the Army Combatives program as well as some other hand to hand combat training. She really wouldn’t stand a chance now.
 
https://www.cdc.gov/women/lcod/2017/all-races-origins/index.htm

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