Questionable Safety Tips

The Mrs. handed me a sheet of paper that she had received at work. A co-worker had been passing them out to others, and felt it offered priceless advice to prevent abductions and attacks.

The title of the handout is: Safety Tips from Abduction or Attack.

Listed were 10 “…things to do in an emergency situation.”

I read the recommendations and the explanations. Some made sense, others were questionable. The list is a bit long so I won’t reprint it, but you can see the handout here.

Perhaps, you may have seen these recommendations previously or received a similar email.

As the historian in me took charge, I quickly Googled some of the handout’s contents to determine its origin—and Snopes provided the answer.

Versions of the list have been around for eight years and are believed to be derived from notes of an attendee of safety consultant Pat Malone’s workshops.

There are good common sense points included like: 1) avoid taking the stairs in large buildings, 2) be aware of your surroundings, and 3) if you are thrown into the trunk of a car, try to kick the back tail lights out as an option (looking to see if there is a trunk release lever is also wise).

As with many of these Internet lists, there is also questionable advice such as:

The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to your attacker to use it, do!

Using your elbow may be a good tactic, but chemical spray, stun guns, eye gouging, kicks to the lower lower mid section, or running and screaming may be more viable depending on the situation and the victim.

Advising folks to start swinging elbows in an incident as the best choice could certainly be counterproductive.

Some of the directive’s content is also concerning:

If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, Always run! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then it most likely will not be a vital organ…

Different situations may require different responses—telling a victim to “always run” does not recognize the diversity that exists in criminal encounters (I have never seen the 4% chance of being hit stat before).

Also, the "don’t worry, you are not likely to be shot in an appendage that you need" comment reminded me of the Old Western movie where the hero is pointing a two-shot derringer gun at a group of four bad guys. One of the bad guys says: "come on boys he can only take out a couple of us before we get him."

The hero then responds with: "Which two of you are going to take the bullets?" To which none of the four assailants advance.

Now which four of us "running victims" are going to take the bullets?

Finally, the last two recommendations relate to alleged ploys by criminals to get you to open your front door at night—one involving turning on all of the water faucets and another using recorded cries of a baby.

Being careful about opening your front door at night, regardless of the reason, is simply good advice, but the specific scare reference in the document to a serial killer using the latter tactic in Louisiana has been shown to be unfounded.

In sum, the document contains items to think about regarding personal safety, but falls short as an appropriate guide to prevent/escape from abductions and attacks.

What is the most surprising thing about the list?

That it is posted to the Carrington (ND) Police Department’s website as a form available for citizens. I hope this is an oversight, and they are not portraying this flawed document as the gospel on safety.

Now that would be a serious gaffe...

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Note: The photo is of the Stun Master 200.

A Few Words on Fort Hood

I expect a few things after the recent tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas.

Leaders and politicians will assure us that measures are being adopted to prevent this from happening again. The media will publicize the stories of relatives, acquaintances, and co-workers of the accused shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan--trying to determine how many warning signs were missed.

The families of the victims will bury their dead loved ones: parents, fathers, sons, daughters, friends, soldiers, and comrades.

Finally, a few months from now, a report will be issued that, among many concerning issues identified after studying this mass murder, discusses how the executives and employees of federal agencies don't communicate very well with each other.

One element that I do not anticipate being covered in the media or the lengthy post-incident reports relates to organizational structure and control in the military.

The armed services use a very strict disciplinary and supervisory style. The "militaristic system" is designed to tightly control the behaviors of soldiers; especially the actions of lower-level employees (e.g, privates and corporals). The lower the rank of the solider, the greater the constraints and risk for disciplinary action.

With police agencies using quasi-militaristic organizational structures, this observation is applicable to law enforcement as well. The patrol officer has many more controlling eyes and ears on his or her behaviors as compared to a precinct's captain.

Is it easier for a major in the US Army or a captain in the city's police department to display troubling behaviors that go unreported? Is the Internet use of command staff watched as closely as entry-level workers? What about vehicle use?

Would lower-ranking employees be hesitant to document suspicious actions of their supervisors' supervisor?

In the armed services and in policing, fewer controls are applied to those with higher rank as opposed to the grunt or the beat cop.

I pitched this idea to career USMC sergeant major Dad, and his quick response was:

Sure, that major could have waltzed in the front gate of the base with a howitzer, and not been challenged. At least he could in that branch of the service.

Despite dad's reply sprinkled with the usual healthy dose of rivalry that exists between the Marines, Army, Navy, and Air Force, I still think that the alleged gunman's high rank played a factor in the failure/slow pace involved in investigating his behaviors prior to the attack.

I don't expect to see this issue addressed because it is difficult to modify the militaristic system--it has always been that way. Unfortunately, this incident shows that lives are at stake and reports (without fear of punishment) from lower level employees about potentially dangerous behaviors of ranking officials should be encouraged and not suppressed.

More Honest Scrap

Thanks (I think) to Christopher for the Honest Scrap Award.

In compliance with the rules, I nominate the following seven great bloggers for the same award:

Mappchik, Expat (oops, looks like he received it in August), BobKat, Sean F., JJ (don’t think the Centre Daily Times would appreciate you deviating from your charged blog topic), Katherine MG., and the fantastic Angelcel.

Also, here are ten things about me:

1) Despite living in several places in the US as a military brat, if I had been asked in undergraduate where I planned to live, the Northeastern US (where I am now), would be dead last. Even the Mrs., who is a native of the state we reside, has to agree with my comments about how unfriendly the people are and the cold weather being an annoyance.

2) In my junior year of high school, a college baseball coach (from a tiny college in Nebraska) called the house and was trying to recruit me for his team. I thanked him for the call, but had to laugh that he was either intoxicated when he saw me play or he mistook me for another player on the team. I was a good contact hitter with speed, but my lollipop arm is best suited for throwing dirty shirts in the laundry hamper.

3) I was lucky to be hired by the first police department that I applied to. Each agency is different in what makes a good candidate, but at larger agencies, where those selecting have some leeway once applicants are assigned a rating, a good GPA can make a difference. Whatever major a student pursues, advising him/her to excel academically is a no-brainer.

4) I met the Mrs. through my dog; which is odd because she is not a dog person.

5) My parents met and were married in Somalia. My father was an active-duty Marine and in charge of security at the American embassy (which no longer exists there). My mom worked for the CIA-—which, after leaving, she was not permitted to list on a resume for decades.

6) I believe that I know a little about a lot of things, and a lot about nothing.

7) At a football practice near the end of my senior season in high school, a very quiet assistant coach that I respected a great deal, reprimanded me in front of the team during wind sprints. Among the things he shouted: “Slam, you are the biggest underachiever on this team!” To this day, I can relive that exact moment--I see the yellow of the grass, the setting of the October sun, the other coaches staring at me, and the pounding of my feet as I ran faster-—this criticism continues to motivate me today as I can still hear the coach’s shrill voice.

8) I like to think that I do well by being prepared. I tend to immerse myself in research looking at the pros and cons so that I can argue a perspective effectively.

9) Since becoming a father several years ago, I define a good pair of pants or a pullover by the number of pockets for holding stuff (diapers, juice, Kleenexes, etc.) that is included.

10) Recently, I saw a family Thanksgiving picture taken when I was eleven or twelve years old. Of the ten relatives there, four are deceased and three I have not talked with directly more than once in twenty years. This disappointing revelation certainly puts the upcoming holiday in perspective, and emphasizes the need for me to treasure every moment of time with family.

What Makes a Picture More than a Picture

I had several items to pick from for today's entry, but will go with an unplanned one after a visit over at William Twitty's photography site.

His post features this image that was the day before yesterday's winner of National Geographic's Photo of the Day competition.



Often, excellent photographs are backed by a powerful message. Gemma Collier's fantastic winning entry had this text attached:

My grandfather was born and raised on our New Zealand farm. He and my grandmother were married nearly 60 years. Preparing for a photo in the barley, my grandmother lovingly reached up to adjust his hat. This was his last harvest.

The photo, coupled with Chuck Mullis' reference to a blog post entitled "There's Always a Day Before", makes for an inspirational weekend reflection topic.

Should I Be Concerned?

After a recent visit to the Little League World Series Museum and sprinting the 60 feet from home plate to first base, should I be more concerned that I was sore two days later or that my three-year old daughter's best time was 4.70 seconds--uncomfortably close to my fastest run at 2.80 seconds?

Note: The picture is from this site.

Part II: Kathleen McBroom Missing Person

Note: This is my second post on the disappearance of Kathleen McBroom.

In sum, she did not arrive as expected at her workplace, a federal government facility in Anchorage, Alaska on October 27, 2008 , and was reported missing by her family the next day. Her truck was found abandoned on a highway south of Anchorage along with her cell phone and other personal items (recovered inside the vehicle).

After realizing that Ms. McBroom's blog contains several years worth of posts that I wanted to review, I have decided to make this a series (instead of two posts as I had indicated previously).

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In the initial post, I stated that I wanted to address three questions.

1) Is it helpful that the missing woman kept an online diary or blog of her thoughts and activities?

Absolutely. It is evident that Ms. McBroom enjoyed writing. Her blog contains 82 posts between 2004 and 2007. In 2008, she published over 240 entries. Included in her posts were discussions about family, faith, career, life-perspective as well as several short stories and an unfinished novel.

A detective interested in learning more about Ms. McBroom, especially her thoughts and concerns, would be glad to have this online diary. As an added bonus for authorities, Ms. McBroom's posts are frequent and detailed up until the day she vanished.

I'll discuss specifics about Ms. McBroom's blog in a later post, but one example of the potentially valuable information that can be gleaned from the writings is her dislike of her current employment. She describes multiple times in the blog her distaste for her boss, and how it was negatively impacting her.

In reading the reports, her boss evidently was unaware of Ms. McBroom's difficulties. Her family would have provided this information to investigators, but having her personal writings allows for a better understanding into how this was affecting her.

2) What did readers of her blog do to assist in the missing persons case?

When I first learned of the case, I tried to Google "Sheila McBroom" and was disappointed to see only a couple of related news stories. Searching for her by her preferred name of "Kathleen McBroom" provides more news stories, other bloggers who have posted about the case, and a missing person discussion forum.

Ms. McBroom's blogger friends were disappointed at the initial attention given to the case by media. Determined to do something, Blogger Tara contacted the Anchorage Police Department, along with some of the local news organizations inquiring why Ms. McBroom's story had not been published/aired. At the time, the local newspaper indicated that they had not received notice from authorities.

To help things move forward, one blogger even provided a picture of the missing woman to her employer (since she had lost weight)--agency reps then distributed missing person flyers to neighboring organizations.

Television and newspaper reports did eventually get published about the missing woman, but it is the bloggers who have organized the information on this story and are keeping it alive on the Internet.

In a missing persons case, it is essential that the public be connected to the person's information. Oddly, I did not find any mention of Ms. McBroom on the Anchorage Police Department’s website.

In fact, the only listing of missing persons in the city is found on the agency’s Crime Stopper page—-the last case highlighted was 2004.

Further, the Alaska State Troopers website on missing persons lists 72 active missing person cases with photographs—-Ms. McBroom’s information is not listed there either.

By not posting recent cases that authorities are actively soliciting the public’s help (both locally and nationally) with, investigators could certainly be missing out on valuable leads.

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I'll continue in the next post with the unusual aspects of this case, and a look at her blog. I'll also request that local and state authorities add her case to their online lists of missing person investigations.

The previous post in this series can be accessed by clicking "Kathleen McBroom" on the left margin of the home page or a list of historical posts is here.

Part I: Kathleen McBroom Missing Person

Note: Due to my usual long-windedness, I had to separate this into multiple posts. Here goes the first part...
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Knowing my interest in missing person cases, talented photographer and blogger Oz Girl told me about the investigation into the disappearance of Sheila Kathleen (Beany) McBroom. Ms. McBroom has not been heard from now for more than a year.



ABC News in Anchorage (AK) summarized the story:

Along the Seward Highway, between the towering cliffs of exposed rock and the fast-icing waters of Turnagain Arm, an abandoned pickup found last month looked to be a promising lead in the search for a woman who vanished on her way to work.

Alaska State Police have been searching for Sheila Kathleen McBroom since she disappeared last month on her way to work.

But inside the green 1996 GMC, found some six miles below McHugh Creek on Oct. 31, the belongings of Sheila Kathleen McBroom, 40, remained untouched.* There were no signs of foul play, nothing wrong with the car suggesting mechanical malfunction, no suicide note.

In the days since the discovery, not a single person has reported seeing McBroom.

A wife and mother, McBroom, who went by Kathleen, was supposedly heading for work the Monday morning she vanished...

*Note: from the other articles on this story, the vehicle was recovered earlier than 10/31/08 (likely 10/27).

Several other aspects to the story are interesting.

On the morning that the missing woman did not arrive at work, police were notified about a pickup truck driving erratically. From some of the related comments, a truck driver reportedly saw the woman's vehicle strike a guardrail, and the driver appeared disoriented.

The responding officer stopped and interviewed the truck's driver Ms. McBroom. He reportedly initiated one or more field sobriety tests (which she evidently passed), and the officer released her. It was reported that Ms. McBroom was tired and going to take a nap in her truck on a pullout on the side of the highway.

Her family reported Ms. McBroom missing the next day when she had not returned home from work and had not answered multiple calls to her cell phone.

Blogger Tara over at "If Mom Says It is Ok" has done a fantastic job in organizing the scattered information available on the case.

Several questions that I'll explore:

1) Is it helpful that the missing woman kept an online diary or blog of her thoughts and activities?

2) What did readers of her blog do to assist in the missing persons case?

3) In my novice opinion, what aspects of the case are odd and/or important?

I'll continue this discussion in Part II

Photo was used from this site.

Not So Pretty in Pink

The older boy and I took in a high school football game yesterday. Friday night lights.

Since his little brother and sister were born a few years ago, our football viewing has been limited to one or two games per season. Last night was the home team's next to last game on the schedule and well, our first game to watch in 2009.

The temperature was unusually mild for a late October night game in the Northeast. Fifty degrees with a slight breeze mixed with some moisture in the air, made it actually a great night for players and fans--who are used to scraping ice off of their bottoms during these end of the season contests.

Upon arrival, it was obvious that this was not an ordinary game. Not because the teams are having good years, but because the event was being used as a fundraiser for breast cancer research.

Pink dominates the scene. Some of the players sport pink shoes; other competitors have pink towels or belts. Coaches wear pink hats. Many spectators are garbed in the distinctly "woman/girl" color.

Pink here, pink there, and pink everywhere.

Even the two local agency uniformed police officers working security for the game are wearing bright pink Ts over their department issue shirts. SCREECHHHHHHHHH.... CRASHH!!!!!! What????

The officers are wearing pink t-shirts OVER their uniforms?

I did a double and then a triple take. Yes, two officers, wearing black boots, uniform pants, patent leather duty belts, and bright pink t-shirts.

These fundraiser shirts were all pink except for a cancer survivors slogan printed in small blue letters. There is nothing on the shirt to indicate that these officers are the police.

Look, I am happy that the officers' department is participating in a community fundraiser for cancer research. I also realize that there probably has not been a call for service at one of the football games this year, and these officers are happy to be working an event certainly labled as "easy money."

The contract with the school district pays for uniformed officers not partially uniformed officers. What if these officers were watching the football game (when that one time something does happen), and they are called to respond to a "man with a a gun" incident behind the bleachers?

Are two guys, clad in pink t-shirts, guns drawn, and barking verbal commands readily identifiable as police officers?

If the officers needed to be discrete and approach a potentially dangerous situation cautiously, would it matter that they were wearing the equivalent of neon pink signs?

If the officers plan was to remove the pink shirt if a situation occurred, do you really want two guys running and undressing while in route to the call for service?

Will the officers be able to handle any hot call as effectively as if they were in proper uniform attire?

I argue the answer to all of these questions is a resounding "No!"

I think most of the blame for this lapse in judgment falls on the police chief. By approving this extreme deviation to officer apparel, he/she reduced the effectiveness of the officers, made it less safe for them working the game, and potentially increased the liability on the department.

Again, I am all for officer showing support for such a worthy cause. By all means, donate to the worthy cause, and wear pink ribbons or something small on a uniform.

Please, buy the pink shirt, but then leave it in the patrol car for off-duty activities.