Kris Wilder - The Little Black Book of Violence

4. Silent Interviews.A silent interview is when a bad guy puts himself in a position to observe and evaluate you. If you look wary and confident, he will very likely select someone else to pick on; whereas, if you are oblivious and unprepared, he will mark you as a target. Unlike a hot, escalating, or regular interview, he may never utter a word. The whole thing takes place in his head.

For example, he might position himself near an ATM, waiting for potential victims who withdraw large amounts of cash. Or, perhaps, he might be sitting in a box van in a parking lot waiting for victims to wander by so that he can pull them into the vehicle and drive off. Once he makes his presence known, you may have only seconds to react. If you can shift from Condition Yellow to Condition Red fast enough, he may sense your preparedness and break off his attack, turning into a “just messing with you, ha, ha, ha” kind of scenario. Because you were not aware that you were being interviewed, you may very well have to fight your way out of such encounters.

The key to fending off silent interviews is good situational awareness. If you look like a tough, prepared target, or can spot the other guy fast enough, he may balk, break off his attack, and go off in search for an easier victim. Put yourself in the bad guy’s place. Any time you are near a potential ambush position, kick your awareness up another notch. Pay attention not only to the place, but also to the time as well. Using an ATM kiosk during broad daylight in a crowded mall during the holiday shopping season is safer than using an identical one in the parking lot of that same mall late on a summer night. You get the idea.

5. Prolonged Interviews.Prolonged interviews take place over long periods and may be combined with other types of interviews. Stalkers, con artists, and serial rapists often watch their victims for days if not weeks before they act. Consequently, maintaining an adequate level of awareness whenever you are in a public place is a good idea. Even within your own home, it is smart to retain a level of vigilance. Take precautions such as keeping your doors and windows locked, trimming back concealing foliage, installing motion sensor lights that turn on when intruders enter your yard, using a monitored alarm system, and paying attention to passers-by.

Regardless of how you are interviewed by a potential aggressor to evaluate their odds of success, the less you look and act like a victim during the interview process the safer you will be. Knowing what you might expect and practicing (and/or visualizing) how you might respond ahead of time places you in a position of strength when you encounter these behaviors on the street.

Violence rarely happens in a vacuum. There is always some escalation process—even a really short one—that precedes it. Hot, escalating, regular, silent, or prolonged interviews take place while the other guy sizes you up and determines whether or not you will be an easy mark. Glaring, staring, shoving, arguing, threatening, yelling, or other clear signs of escalation precede the majority of violent encounters.

Insults and other forms of verbal abuse are common precursors to a fight. Oftentimes, the other guy is trying to intimidate you. He might also be trying to goad you into throwing the first blow so that he has a legitimate excuse to stomp a mud hole in you. Swallow your pride and walk away if you can. The more dangerous you are, the less you should feel a need to prove it.

There are typically two types of aggressors who might confront you on the street, dominance attackers and predators. Dominance attackers want to feel superior to their victim. If you walk away from one of these individuals, he will generally be happy to let you go in peace. He feels that he has won by making you back down. Predatory attackers, on the other hand, want a victim who will not put up a fight. If you walk away from one of these individuals, you may trigger the very attack you were trying to avoid.

Nevertheless, trying to leave puts you on better legal ground if you ultimately have to fight back, particularly if witnesses observe what happened or the incident ends up being captured on film or video. With the prevalence of closed-circuit security monitors, cell phone cameras, traffic cams, and other forms of electronic surveillance out there, that’s not an unrealistic situation.

While the escalation process varies from encounter to encounter, there are certain common behaviors that may lead to violence. Possible trouble indicators include

• Glaring, staring, or otherwise “sizing you up.”

• Attempts by an individual or group to follow, herd (control your direction), flank, or mirror your movements.

• Making unprovoked accusations, threats, aggressive requests, demands, or using foul language for no apparent reason.

• Baiting or attempting to provoke an aggressive response from you (for example, “What’s your problem?” or “What are you looking at?”).

• Closing, moving into a range that enables the other guy to attack, particularly when the movements are covert or sudden.

• Unusual or out-of-place body movements, aggressive gestures, agitated pacing, clenched fists, forward weight shift, straightening the spine, or adopting a fighting stance.

• Clearing space to move or draw a weapon.

• Hands and/or teeth clenched, neck taut, or other stiff or shaking body movements.

• Shouting to startle or paralyze you as an attack begins.

While it is common to experience this type of obvious escalation, ambushes also occur. In such situations, the escalation has already occurred, yet the victim is unaware of it because it took place solely within the mind of the attacker. He has already looked you over, conducted a mental interview to ascertain that you are an easy target, and decided upon a course of action against you. This summing up can cause a situation where you have no choice but to fight.

Regrettably, most people are simply not mentally prepared to react to sudden violence, needlessly being hurt or killed despite the fact that they saw it coming. It does not matter why you were attacked, simply that you were attacked. Do not deny what is happening at the time, but rather respond appropriately to defend yourself. Worry about making sense of the encounter afterward.

With ubiquitous closed-circuit security monitors, cell phone cameras, traffic cams, and other forms of electronic surveillance out there it is reasonable to assume that everything you do during a violent encounter will be captured on film. Act accordingly.

The good news, however, is that there are physiological, behavioral, and verbal indicators that you can spot to warn you of imminent conflict. Some are subtle and may indicate nothing of an alarming nature. Other indicators are overtly hostile and should cause immediate action. Most fall in between and require judgment to be applied before taking action.

As a general rule, you should err on the side of caution, trying to avoid or evade problem situations before they spin out of control. It is important to trust your instincts in such situations. Whether you see it or not, there will often be some indicator that can warn you of a person’s intent just before he attacks.