H.I.T. Self Defense

First, as always, let me say that this blog is only meant to discuss proactive measures. I do not mean to imply that parents of missing children did anything wrong. These are only suggestions. My heart goes out to anyone whose child has been involved in a violent crime. Also, just as important, even when we follow all of the safety guidelines, bad things can still happen.

Talk to your kids. We’ve posted this a few times over the last year. Have a heart to heart and discuss the ‘realities’ of the world: there are bad people out there who will … Continue Reading

This is the final of a three part series on workplace violence prevention. This blog is really geared towards educators and administrators. Similar to Healthcare Providers, your job tends to put you in a high risk category for violent crimes. Here are some statistics from the BJS. The statistics are a little dated, but I’d venture to guess that they have only mushroomed over time: Over a five year period from 92-96, educators were the victims of 619,000 violent crimes. 14%of those were classified as serious violent assaults, which include rape or sexual assault, … Continue Reading

Man Enters Plea in Murder of Rancho Bernardo Neighbor

SAN DIEGO - He’s accused of brutally killing a woman he barely knew. An unemployed Rancho Bernardo man learned his bail is set at $2 million dollars on Tuesday for allegedly murdering his neighbor, Jennifer Jones. The prosecutor argued there is good reason for the high bail.

“This was a completely unprovoked ambush and a brutal attack,” says Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler.

Spieler told the judge that Richard Saldivar attacked the 28-year old engineer after she arrived home from work at Solar Turbine.

“He armed himself with a knife, waited outside and when Ms. … Continue Reading

We decided to switch this post up a bit and talk about workplace violence. This can pertain to the new college grad on your first job, or the seasoned veteran out there surviving the concrete jungle. Most people associate workplace violence with a co-worker “going postal”, but this is only a small percent of the assaults in the workplace. Workplace violence perpetrators can include customers, co-workers, domestic violence spillovers, and the predatory criminal with no affiliation to the workplace. Men often think they are immune, but they are actually twice as likely to be a victim of workplace violence. That … Continue Reading

We are at that time of year, again. Summer is over and the kids are on their way back to school. Here are a few safety tips to utilize while on or off campus. Remember, the college campus is a perfect environment for predators, so let’s go over some of the basics (for some of you out there - this is a refresher course):

A. Be aware of your environment: be especially careful in enclosed spaces (i.e. parking garages, etc.). Also, be extra careful at night. The more alert you appear the less attractive you are … Continue Reading

Recently, I was on vacation in the Smokey Mountains - I came across some pointers from the National Park Service on what to do to prevent a bear attack. I noticed these pointers were similar to what we teach our students on how to avoid an attack from the human predator. Let’s go through a couple of these points and compare between the bear and the human predator:

A. Be aware. The best way to avoid contact with bears is to keep your eyes open when you are hiking, camping etc. This is your first line … Continue Reading

Here is a really unfortunate story about the abduction and death of Lily Burk up in L.A. For any of you who did not hear the story, here it is:

Coroner: Lily Burk Died of Slash to the Neck
KTLA News
11:29 AM PDT, July 31, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Lily Burk, the 17-year-old student who was abducted and killed last week, died from a slash wound to her neck, according to the L.A. County coroner’s office.

Burk suffered the traumatic injury July 24 in the form of an “incised wound to her neck,” said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the L.A. County Coroner’s … Continue Reading

We held a class last Saturday for young women from the Toussaint Academy of the Arts and Sciences (TAAS). TAAS is a group home that serves homeless youth in San Diego County ages 14 to 17; and is a partner of Father Joe’s Village here in San Diego. TAAS is dedicated to strengthening … Continue Reading

Here is another success story about a woman who fought back during an attempted sexual assault - and the ‘perp’ was caught. This story hits home as we’ve followed this guy over his long string of attacks.

Be sure to note towards the end of the news story: this guy was caught because the intended victim fought back. From other news accounts, she yelled, kicked and scratched this guy: kudos to this woman. She did whatever she had to do to ‘REMOVE’ herself from the situation and flee. Again, I want to make this clear: it’s your … Continue Reading

Here are a few tips (and a clip from the DVD) with regards to safety for the upcoming 4th of July holiday.

A. If you plan to go out for a night on the town and fireworks, make sure you utilize the buddy system: each of your friends should watch out for one another. Even better if have one designated sober ‘party-goer’ who can watch out for any signs of trouble (she is the one who tells you that ‘this guy’ might not be the right one - or who comes in when you give her ‘that … Continue Reading