Author: Gershon Ben Keren
When I talk about muggers and other financial predators, in our women's self-defense course, one of the locations for muggings that gets brought up is that of parking lots (along with Transit Stops these locations, seem a favored place for street robberies and the like). This article will focus on the types of crimes that makes parking lots a suitable location for a variety of predators to work in.
Predators will always go where their chosen prey are. A mugger needs a plentiful supply of potential victims who are carrying cash. Few muggers want credit cards etc. as it takes time to transfer these items into cash, and most street robberies take place in order to support a drug habit, where being able to get the next fix is the most pressing order of the day. It is a good assumption to make that somebody visiting or having just visited a shopping mall or supermarket is carrying some cash - with the advent of cash-back at most tills, even somebody who enters a store without cash is probably going to take advantage of this service, even if it is just to have some cash e.g. $20 about their person. Depending on a users particular drug of choice, $20 will get him/her their next fix - or will go a long way to.
As diurnal (daytime), social creatures we often feel at our safest during the day, in public places, where there are other people around us. This can cause us to have a false sense of security e.g. we are relying on others to spot danger for us, and potentially intervene on our behalf if we are threatened or assaulted. Both incorrect and dangerous assumptions to hold to. Rows of cars, impede vision, and allow predators to move virtually unseen. They also can act as bottlenecks, in which we can be trapped or have our movement restricted e.g. if we are moved/forced between two parked cars. To try and prevent this happening, we should park in areas that enjoy natural surveillance i.e. places near to where there is a large amount of traffic, either in vehicles, such as by the entrance to the parking lot (cars coming and going), by the store-front, or even next to one of the areas where people leave their shopping carts. In these locations, predators will find it difficult to work unseen.
Predatory individuals also know how pre-occupied we can become locating our car; even using the remote unlock to find it (opening it and giving any predator access to one of the safest places we have in that environment). The fact that we our so focused on finding where we parked, means that we fail to observe other individuals in the environment, who we would be well to take a look at. When you look for your car and find it, rather than go straight to it, develop a habit of taking a second look around to see who is around you, and taking notice of your actions. Once you get to the car, try not to load shopping in with your back fully turned - if possible use the back seat to put goods on; this allows you to open the car door and have it blocking your back, whilst you load up (if you reverse into a space where there is a wall/barrier behind you - you can create a small enclosed area when you open a door). As soon as you are in the drivers seat put on the central locking.
Don't think predators are just interested in what you are doing when you leave the mall or supermarket, they may well be observing you as you park your car, and enter the store/mall. If you have the habit of parking your car, and then putting your laptop or other valuables in the trunk/boot, understand that this may well be observed, and will send a signal to anyone watching that you have valuable items in your car. A predator may well wait till you return and force you to unlock the trunk, or do it themselves if you have remotely unlocked your car in order to find it.
There are no locations we shouldn't be aware in, and as open and visible (and therefore "safe") parking lots may seem, the number of cars and other vehicles in them give predators places to hide, and "alleyways" that they can use to restrict and prevent movement. Parking in areas which enjoy natural surveillance, and making sure that one of your habits, after locating your car, is to scan your environment before making your way to it, will go a long way in helping prevent you becoming a victim.