Similarities In Interview Techniques Panhandlers V. Muggers

[lemaymiami]

Another minor point to consider (and one I face regularly). Down here in paradise panhandlers are pretty much allowed by local authorities (particularly in Miami....) to work folks stopped in traffic for redlights. My understanding is that court rulings locally have pretty much handcuffed the local police departments from enforcing various statutes regarding the "homeless"... As a retired cop I'm all too aware of just how vulnerable you are inside your car if approached on foot and I'm usually towing a small boat whenever I'm down in Miami (I live just north in Broward country where things are a whole lot nicer and more than a bit less threatening...).

The way I deal with the problem is to stop a bit short of the car in front of me and watch how one bum or other is working the traffic line (this is usually nearing dusk since I only come down into Miami towing my skiff when I'm booked for a night charter - and I'll be headed the other way sometime after midnight....). As the guy approaches where I am I simply get moving slowly towards the car in front of me and that pretty much discourages any attempt - then I watch like a hawk as whoever it is moves past my boat to hit the next "customer"... Panhandlers in my area aren't particularly sophisticated since most are terminal crack addicts. They simply grin, wave, and shove an empty soda cup (the largerst size, of course) into your face if you look willing...

No, I've never seen one of our local panhandlers move from begging to robbery - but on the street I dealt with more than a few fully capable of going from "harmless" to full out assault in a the blink of an eye. These are the kind of folks that kill each other on a regular basis for only a dollar or two (and the weapon of choice is usually a rock or a bottle....).

 

[Pyzon]

At a strip mall near me is typically found a single, 40-ish male begging with a sign about his hungry family.

The other day he was there begging with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Any interest I may have had of helping this guy out is over.

Sorry buddy.....

 

[Fred Fuller]

Since my wife and I have Fila dogs, we're familiar with temperament tests. The test for Filas is somewhat different from the ATTS (American Temperament Test Society) version, since strangers are not encouraged to touch Filas.

http://www.filabrasileiroassn.com/temperament-test-guidelines.html

http://atts.org/tt-test-description/

What difference does all this rigamarole make to people who don't have dogs, or people who don't have Filas? Very simply, it's this. Dog owners engaging in temperament tests expect their dogs to respond appropriately to strangers - both neutral or disinterested strangers, and interested or friendly strangers.

Shouldn't humans be able to do the same?

Strangers are by definition people we don't know. Why would people we don't know take an interest in us, specifically, as opposed to all the other people around us? Generally it's because they want something from us specifically. It might be something as simple as passing the time in a checkout line by striking up a conversation. It might be to ask for directions (how often do men unaccompanied by women ask for directions, anyway?).

It's when things shift to asking for something besides information that I tend to get standoffish and start looking for someone else 'lingering with possible intent.' Anyone who has their head on a swivel instead of buried in the screen of some electronic device or inclined as if inspecting the toes of their shoes is less likely to be approached by the nefarious sort. But this day and age, more people are bolder, less tightly wrapped or more chemically impaired, and perhaps not as likely to be as discriminating as they once might have been.

I think it's wise to ask yourself why someone you don't know would approach you of all people, in a public place. Why did they choose you? If they decided to approach you when they were free not to, or had a variety of other people available to approach ... why you?

Being familiar with the victim selection process helps. Several folks from various backgrounds have analyzed the victim selection process in different ways -

http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/preattack.html

http://www.protectivestrategies.com/victim-selection.html

http://www.popcenter.org/library/reading/PDFs/ReasoningCriminal/03_walsh.pdf

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178913001237

http://www.policeone.com/criminal-b...cceed-despite-shoddy-surveillance-tradecraft/

And so on. It's a science, often enough. And the point of the exercise is to learn what we can about how to be DE-selected for the initial approach of a genuine predator, and how to handle things if we fail in that regard.

 

[Panzerschwein]

I have heard that that are some police restrictions on the homeless.

My CCW instructor mentioned a guy in town who is a drunk and they can't do anything to him because he is a "legal alcoholic" or something along those lines!

 

[lemaymiami]

Can't speak about other states but here in Florida.... When I first became a LEO it was 1974 and there was still a "public intoxication" ordinance on the books. We could arrest for it but mostly we preferred the Myers act detention (similar to the Baker act) it allowed us to take into custody, temporarily, someone intoxicated and take him/her to a medical facility where they'd be held until they sobered up (then they'd have the difficult job of heading back our way from downtown... not easy when your destitute and on foot). Years later the laws were changed so that public drunkeness wasn't a crime at all and we were given the "disorderly intoxication" law to enforce instead. It was pretty specific about the behaviors that had to be present before you could act...

I'm pretty sure that many states went through a similar sea change as public attitudes and various legal challenges encouraged legislators to change existing laws. Even though we have our problems in Florida I think they're much less than what I've read and heard about places like San Francisco....

 

[harrygunner]

The other day he was there begging with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Any interest I may have had of helping this guy out is over.

Haha, this reminded me of the guy near the corner of Rodeo Drive and Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills.

Nice guy, not likely a threat. But he wears boots that cost hundreds of dollars, sitting in a wheel chair that probably cost four figures.. Other people continue to give him money.