Crime: Mindset On the plains of Africa some gazelle blithely eat all day long, never lifting their heads above the grass. Some would call these gazelle happy. Some might call them content. Lions call these gazelle dinner. Mindset is the most significant and essential element for any resistance to crime. If you, dear reader, are convinced “Nothing’s gonna happen” or “It can’t happen to me” -- I wish you well. Families do not leave for vacation knowing their home will be burglarized while they are gone. A man does not go into the shoe store knowing his car will be stolen while he is buying a new pair of shoes. A woman walking toward the market does not anticipate a thief running by, grabbing her purse as he runs into the night. Criminals do not call to make appointments. The vast majority of crimes are “Crimes of Opportunity”. Keys left in the ignition. An unlocked kitchen door. Tools left lying in the back of a pick-up. Irresistible temptations to a thief looking for a quick buck. The woman who left her keys in the ignition was going to be in the convenience store “Just a minute”. A family left the kitchen door unlocked because they kept forgetting to make copies of the key for household members who lost or misplaced their keys. The man left his tools in the truck bed because he did not want to spend the money to buy a locking toolbox. Besides, “Nothing’s gonna happen”. Then one day “Something happens”. The woman’s car is gone when she comes back with her morning cup of coffee. She had been on her way to Phoenix to visit her father who was recovering from surgery. The thief is on his way to Douglas, AZ—taking the car to Mexico. The family comes home from supper to find their home has been burglarized. Computers, jewelry, cash, I-Pods and much more are gone. And the burglars have done considerable damage to the house and contents while searching for something to steal. One morning the man walks to his truck, readying himself for work. His tools are gone—as well as the well paying job he had promised to do that week. Without tools, he cannot do the work, and someone else is given the task. Notice the repercussions go beyond the items taken. The first step in resisting crime is to realize anyone can be a victim. Crime can happen to you or me. But, no one has to be a victim! One does not have to go to the extreme of barricading oneself in the bedroom. However, a little paranoia can galvanize one to action. Awareness is the biggest factor. Be aware that there are people among us who will take advantage of an opportunity to steal something they want or think they want. When asked why they stole an item many thieves will answer, “I dunno, it was just there, so I just took it”. Preventing theft is often simply not leaving things where they can be easily stolen. Sounds almost too simple to be true. Adopt the mindset that if I am not proactive, something unpleasant will happen to me. Leaving keys in the ignition saves digging them out when I return with a coffee cup and a doughnut in my hands. However, if the car is gone when I come back, I will not feel like drinking the coffee nor eating the doughnut. I’ll take the keys and lock the car. Copies of the kitchen door key will be made for each household member. The kitchen door (and all doors and windows) will be locked every time we leave the house—no exceptions! Anyone losing their key will just have to wait until someone else comes home. Sure, this is a bother, but much less a bother than coming home to a house ransacked by thieves. Installing a lockable toolbox in the pick-up is a bit expensive. Putting tools up every night is a hassle. However, stolen tools and lost work is much more expensive and a much greater hassle The gazelle who liked eating grass too much to scan the horizon for danger was fine all his life. Nothing happened. The gazelle was happy, content and critical of other gazelle who warned about dangers in the grass. Then one day a lion spotted this happy gazelle who blithely went about his business. And the lion ate well. And the gazelle no longer had to worry about lifting his head above the grass to watch for danger. Mindset is the critical element. |
