Every year RMRI, LLC. tries to offer the public tips on holiday safety during the holiday season. RMRI, LLC. likes to do our part in promoting holiday safety during the holiday season. The holidays are a time for celebration, and RMRI, LLC. wants to do out part to insure that we are all happily celebrating the holidays.

SAFE SOCIAL NETWORKING:

One of the best inventions on the Internet has been social networking, and holiday safety begins here. Social networking can be a dual edged sword. Social networking is a great way to share news with our friends, to promote our business, and to let our communities get to know a little about us. However, one has to remember that what is happening when we take advantage or social networking is that we are releasing information about ourselves, and sometimes that information can be exploited by less than honorable people. Be sure to secure your Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, Google +, Instagram, and other social media accounts so that not just anyone can see your information, ideally you want to know who you are sharing your information with, and you want to be able to control the flow of information that comes across on your social networks. Here are a few simple guidelines for staying safe on your social networking accounts:

(1) NEVER post specifics about your movements on your social networks. If you are going to take your children to a Halloween party,, keep that kind of information off of the social networks or limit it to private messaging. People should not be able to read through your social networks and tell when you will be home, when you won’t be home, and who else will be home with you.

(2) NEVER discuss your personal financial details on your social networks. People should not be able to find out where you bank, when you get paid, how much money you make, your banking routines, from your social media accounts.

(3) Facebook allows you to develop your own groups and moderate who has access and who can join. If you are a member of a tigbt-knit community that watches out for each other, does activities together, and enjoys strong community sharing, then set up a private group for people in your community that you personally know, where you can share information about your household and children without sharing it with the whole world (even potential nefarious people that you don’t know). Halloween is a time of memories, parents do want.to take pictures of their children and share them with family and friends, just do it safely and intelligently.

(4) Be very careful about discussing your children on your social networks. It is understandable that a parent wants to share their children’s accomplishments and achievements within their community. Make sure that you are careful with who has access to this information. Don’t post pictures of your children for the public to see, don’t post pictures of them in their Halloween costumes for the public to see, limit that to private messaging or set up a Facebook group for your community.

 

PROPERTY SAFETY:

Some of the most common types of crimes in society today are property crimes. Property crimes are hard to solve, and usually an easy gain for the perpetrator. The goal in securing your property is to make it less appealing as a target. There are a few things that we can do to protect our property by making it seem a less appealing target. Halloween also brings with it “Halloween Vandals” which are usually teenages playing pranks.

(1) When you leave your house, leave a light on inside your house. This is an old trick, but it does not lose it’s desired effect, which is to confuse a potential robber as to whether or not someone is home, thereby making your home less appealing to a potential robber.

(2) Make sure your doors and windows have locks, can be secured, and have blinds or curtains so that strangers can not see inside of your house. Of course this is pretty basic and common advice. Making sure that a potential robber can not see inside your house, plus leaving lights on in your house gives a potential robber a lot to be uncertain about and much to consider before attempting to break into your home.

(3) Get a dog! I now that some people view pets as work, but most families have pets. Dogs are a great deterrent to robbers. You don’t have to have a viscous or mean dog, usually it’s the barking fro the dog that is a deterrent to the potential robber.

(4) Keep the outside of your house well lit. Flood lights are a small investment to make in order to protect your property. For $50.00 and a little weekend work, you can make your yard a very uncomfortable place for a potential robber. Criminals like to operate in private, away from public scrutiny, a well lit yard takes that privacy away and makes your home a little less appealing to a potential robber. This is the best way to keep “Halloween Vandals” from targeting your home.

 

PERSONAL SAFETY:

Criminals have gotten bolder than ever before. Our world has become a more violent place nowadays, that it ever has been. As parents we have an primary obligation to protect our children’s welfare and well being, and that trumps anything else that we might consider as adults and parents. We have to be prepared for the hard, cold, and cruel realities of the times that we live in.  There are some things we can do to prepare ourselves for the possibility of having to defend ourselves and/or our children.

(1) When we are taking your children out in crowded areas, or at night when they can wander away from us or become easily separated from us, it might not be a bad idea to consider using a tracking device to insure that you have a constant awareness of where your child or children are. There are some remarkable devices that are small, easy to set up, and economical that will handle this task quite efficiently. RMRI, LLC. recommends the Tile Tracker.  Here is a good place to order these trackers: Tile Tracker On Amazon.

(2) If you are taking your children out trick-or-treating for Halloween, carry a flashlight with you, RMRI, LLC. recommends the tried and true MagLite. The MagLite has been trusted by police departments around the world, it is economical, durable, affordable and easy to obtain. You can buy one at Walmart. The MagLite is a great source of optical illumination when you need it, and it is made out of tough aircraft aluminum, so it can be used as a weapon if it becomes necessary to do so on a self defense situation.

(3) Investing in a canister of teargas is not a bad idea. You can buy what I like to call “Key-chain Teargas” as Walmart, and almost any sporting goods store. Try to look for at least 1% to 2% capsicum oleoresin, the active ingredient in pepper spray, which is the extract from cayenne and chili peppers that caused skin and eye irritation. This will be sufficient to fend off an attacker and get your children and yourself to a safe area. Remember, when defending yourself and/or your children, the goal is to get yourself out of a dangerous area and to safety, so you can call the appropriate authorities who are much better equipped to deal with these situations.

(4) The last tip brings me to this tip, when you are leaving your home with your children on an outing of any type, DON’T FORGET YOUR CELL PHONE! Cell phones are so common nowadays that this might not have had to be mentioned, but at the same time a cell phone is so important to have with you in case of an emergency, that it is worth mentioning.

(5) Understand your tools! I have given you a brief list of basic tools that you should consider investing in for personal safety. Don’t just buy them, understand them. Read the instructions that come along with them. Know how they work. Do some Internet research on them. Talk to a professional about their use, if you have any questions. Your local police department will be happy to answer any questions you have about these tools and proper use, and even refer you to classes if you are interested. RMRI, LLC. is always available to call if you have any questions on personal defense.

(6) Last but not least, make sure that your family has a plan! Make sure that your children know what to do if they get separated from you, where to go, who to ask for help, and to stay calm and not panic. Make sure you have a plan of action in place if you do find that one of your children has gotten separated from you. Go over this plan of action with your family periodically.

 

SUMMARY:

I can not guarantee you that you won’t become a victim of a crime. What I can do is show you how to narrow the odds. That is what this blog post is about. I don’t want to overwhelm you with precautions, instead I want to make some simple suggestions that you can easily implement, that will  work for you with minimal effort to keep you and your family safe. The object is to make you less appealing as a target to a criminal, and to prepare you for that random encounter that you might have with the criminal that would ignore the signs that you are not the easy target they were hoping for. If I can meet these aforementioned objectives with this blog post, then the chances are that this blog post may save someone’s life or save someone a lot of grief, and that makes this blog post invaluable to me!