Crime-Safety-Security.com
Newsletter
22 July 2008

Folklore and fables – from vampire and wolfman legends to tales of The Brothers’ Grimm – tell us of ogres, fiends, and monsters. Today we call them violent criminals. They’ve always plagued us and – as long as passions, madness, and evil exist – always will. Let’s blow away a predator's biggest advantage: the naïveté of the prey.

CRAIGSLIST LUREProsecutors say Stephen Newman is obsessed with rape and fully intended to carry out the crime last summer. But they say Newman was thwarted when a woman followed her hunch that the July 27, 2007 offer of a free iPod on Craigslist was, as she told her husband, just not legit. "I said this is too creepy, honey. This is really weird." … The woman and her husband followed the e-mail instructions to go get the i-Pod which took them to a porta-potty by a park in West Boise. The woman testified she wanted some confirmation before calling police. "Because it would sound goofy calling the police saying there's some creep on Craigslist," she testified. "I didn't know if they'd believe me or not." … They saw a mysterious SUV and called police. Officers say they found Newman wearing a black stocking cap, and they also found a knife, BB gun and ski gloves. Police seized a laptop in Newman's SUV which later was found to contain home movies that prosecutors say showed Newman having sex with a woman who was pretending that she was being raped by him.
Excerpted from TV2 News 2 (Boise ID) – 14 July 2008

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Contact Us with your comments or questions for this newsletter.

[ML - I’ve condensed and clarified a lengthy e-mail thread (and reformatted it to read oldest to newest) to the following:]

On Mon Jun 16 19:15:52 2008, the following results were submitted from the "Contact Us" on crime-safety-security.com:
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Name: Dr. Pam Grossman
E-mail Address: Developer @ PrismSafety.com - www.PrismSafety.com
Country: United States
Comments: Dear Michael,

Your website is a wonderful safety tool. Thought you might want to evaluate the following idea, and if you find it useful, please feel free to incorporate it in your materials.

Below is an article I included earlier this year in our own safety newsletter, and you are welcome to use it. The credit really goes to "Leo R. Palmer", former officer of the LAPD (my deceased father and sorely missed best friend). I'm not including it for the sake of a cross-link reference.

Bless you. Please let me know if we may ever be of service.
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Do you have a teen at home beginning to get around on his/her own, maybe babysitting or socializing with other young people? What if someday, he/she finds that they are depending on a ride home with someone they do not feel comfortable alone with, or who may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Simple example, babysitting for a couple, depending on one of them to drive home with, and finding they are not safe. It may be 2 o'clock in the morning, and it is tough for a teen to say to their "employer", "Gosh, I'm sorry, I know you were going to drive me home, but you're drunk and I don't want to get in a car with you." Not only would the "customer" be insulted, but if they ARE under the influence, this could become an unpleasant physical confrontation. (You can substitute for this a situation where a party that was scheduled as harmless and supervised, turns into something altogether different, and your teen is not comfortable staying, but doesn't have a convenient and safe way to get home.)

Solution: Have a Code Word that means: "I don't feel safe. Please come get me." One practical suggestion is for them to say the following: "Gosh, --- Mr. Ms. Jones --- Fred, Cindy [fill in name here] --- I'm really not feeling well. I started feeling ill a couple hours ago and, um, I'm not sure if I'd get carsick in your car. I'd hate to have that happen. Let me just call home for a ride." No one in the world, under the influence or not, wants to see their car soiled with sick. The youngster calls home asking for a ride because they do not feel well, and USES THE CODE WORD. The one in my house, for this exact situation was, in fact, the word "vomit." It fit neatly in the scenario, is not a common word in everyday conversation, would tend to wake up a sleepy parent (as perhaps at 2 a.m.), and reinforces the entire escape with anyone listening in. Upon use of that word over the phone, a parent knows to ask no more questions, just get the address, and go pick up the youngster.

However you work out the details of a Code Word for Escape, sit down with your youngsters and discuss this technique. It can greatly enhance their safety and your peace of mind.

Contact Us for Michael Edward Loftus Sr to speak to your group.

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Pointing out a victim's possible missteps before she fell prey is not always a bad thing, according to Linda Fairstein, renowned author and former New York City sex crimes prosecutor. "If we can learn something from it, we can give her back some dignity," she says. "If we see what the risks are and what would prevent this from happening to someone else, then there's something that benefits the memory of that victim."
Excerpted from The New York Daily News – 24 August 2006

We’d be wise to learn from the little mistakes of victims. Usually, they didn’t know that predators are always hunting for carefree prey. As Dr. Anna Salter wrote in Predators, "Normal, healthy people distort reality to create a kinder, gentler world than really exists."

You don’t need a bulletproof vest, a bodyguard, or to sleep with one eye open – just a new attitude toward being S.A.F.E.:

Skeptical of anyone trying to get near you or trying to isolate you,
Aware of danger zones and escape strategies,
Flexible: being tricky, changing strategies as needed – and if worse comes to worst:
Exploding like a mad dog to fight for your life. Stun & run. See Fighting Options.

Whenever you’re tempted to be careless, ask yourself, "What could possibly happen?" The stories throughout this newsletter and web site show what could possibly happen – and how to avoid being easy prey.

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