One of the things you notice when you travel to parts of the world other than North America is peoples approach to security essentials. Razor wire and high fences, for example are very popular in places like Panama and the Philippines. It is also common to witness armed security personel in front of many businesses.
Many people believe, that when they see this type of security, that it must be an unsafe country. Or that crime may be extremely high. There may be a certain amount of truth to this assessment, but there is much more to it than that. People just have a different view of security essentials and the role of crime prevention than we do.
In North America, we have been conditioned to believe that it is law enforcements job to take care of our safety and security. We automatically expect the police to take care of our security essentials for us.
That myth is expanded by many of the laws we live with in Canada and the US. Just look around, it is becoming almost illegal to protect yourself. You can get sued for anything, so the crooks can sue you if they hurt themselves breaking into your house.
So, we are taught to go on our way, assuming that we are safe. Worse, we fall for the propoganda that we are safer in North America than we are in other countries. Also, we have a bad habit of letting our guard down because we think the police will protect us.
Because of a number of factors, this this type of thinking has may problems. The first mistake, is thinking that your protection is the job of the police. This is one of the first assumptions that are totally false.
There is very little the police can do for you before a crime occurs. Police are there to investigate crimes after they happen, and then hopefully find and arrest the criminals after that. Ask anyone who has ever been a victim of a stalker. There is nothing the police can do for you until after you have been attacked.
This is not meant as an insult to police officers. They are brave individuals who do what they can, but their hands are tied. Its laws that state that until a crime has already occurred, nothing can be done.
Even more so however, is that if there was something the police could do, they can't be everywhere at once. Its not all that hard for the crooks to avoid hanging out where police may be present.
In most countries, people instinctively know that it is up to them to prevent crime. Rather than relying on the police, they depend on themselves. They do what they can to prevent crime before it happens. And then let the police do their job, after it does.
Your responsibility to yourself and to your family, is to protect them. No matter where you are in the world. Learning security essentials from other countries should be key. Its very easy to become complacent when living in the US or Canada because we think we are taken care of. Before you have been violated, robbed or killed, there is very little the police are able to do for you. After the fact, they can start to investigate, and hopefully they will arrest whoever did it.
Yes, maybe a criminal will think twice if there is a chance he might be arrested, and that might be some protection for you. However, punishment does not appear to be much of a deterrent to crime according to studies.
Just because some countries have big fences and lots of security guards doesn't automatically mean crime is higher. It just means the citizens are prepared to prevent crime before it happens as opposed to waiting for the police after it does. I have not heard of a mall shooting in Panama where you see armed guards at all the entrances, but they have happened in Seattle, and all through the US, where they don’t.
Take this truth that most people in the world already get. Your protection is your responsibility. There are different approaches to safety depending on your beliefs, lifestyle and ability. For some, it will be security and body guards, for others it will be high fences and alarms.
You can also take simple steps like keeping your eyes open when you are going about your day. In most countries of the world, its citizens are more aware of their surroundings, and there is definitely a lesson to be learned there.
It’s unfortunate that in many places the laws are not in your favor. But, it is preferable to provide protection for your family first, and then deal with other consequences later.
You can deal with crime, one of 2 ways. Wait for yourself to be the victim and hope that maybe the criminal will go to jail after they have finished whatever violation they are doing to you. Or, do everything in your power to prevent the crime from ever happening. Learn the lesson from other cultures, that is is our responsibility to protect ourselves. We cannot rely on others to do it for us.
