View Full Version : Downtown Personal Safety Seminar



metro
08-05-2008, 08:10 PM
Just wanted to inform everyone of a Downtown Personal Safety Seminar next Monday night, August 11th from 5:30-7:30pm. It will be at the downtown library in the 4th Floor AUditorium. Sponsored by Urban Neighbors, Metropolitan Library System and Downtown College Consortium. This is FREE to the PUBLIC.

For more info:

http://www.downtowncollege.com/PersonalSafety.pdf

or

Home | Urban Neighbors (http://www.urbanneighbors.org)

angel27
08-07-2008, 04:28 PM
Thanks Metro - I know some folks I want to send to that.

okcfan9805
08-08-2008, 01:04 PM
Thanks, forwarded to my daughter that lives downtown.

metro
08-08-2008, 09:13 PM
You don't have to live downtown to attend, anyone who likes to attend events downtown or works downtown should attend as well.

metro
08-20-2008, 09:38 PM
City Sentinel Online | OKC Downtown & Bricktown's Favorite Weekly Newspaper - Safety class helps downtown residents adjust to new environment (http://city-sentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=889&Itemid=36)

Safety class helps downtown residents adjust to new environment
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
By Rod Jones

As the residential nature of downtown continues to grow, the issue of personal safety is sure to come up. Even though by most standards the downtown area is considered a safe place to live, Urban Neighbors (U.N.), downtown’s neighborhood association, took a proactive approach to the issue with its free Downtown Personal Safety Seminar last week at the Downtown Library.


The neighborhood association partnered with the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Downtown College Consortium in the effort to educate new residents on how not to be pegged a victim; and if attacked, how to protect oneself. The seminar also included tips on bicycle riding, a mode of transportation that has been growing along with the downtown residential population.
Master Sgt. Michael Loruse from the police department gave an overview of what predators look for when picking out their targets.

“You want to minimize yourself as a target of crime. It’s a lot like how criminals will go to the easiest house to burglarize,” Loruse told the audience. “Very few off-duty police officers are victimized, probably because of the way they carry themselves. People pick up on how you present yourself.”

Loruse relayed a story about how he tried to play the “victim” role in the downtown area several years ago in a plain-clothes operation. He said he discovered that although he was not wearing a police uniform, predators could still tell he was probably a police officer just by the way he stood and walked about.

Although it is common instinct to ignore a strange-looking person on the street, Loruse said the technique of “trying to make yourself invisible” could actually be counter-productive. An air of confidence and good posture makes one less likely to be considered a target, he said, because predators are looking for people they can scare into doing what they tell them. Those who can look the part of a police officer and look like they know what they’re doing will have a better chance of avoiding the “target” label.

Such police-like stances include putting the left foot slightly forward while standing in place — a natural police officer pose when they’re wearing their gun on the right hip — and keeping their hands above the waist in front of their body, which makes it look as if they are ready for anything instead of having their hands in their pockets.

Loruse also mentioned some of the more well-known personal safety techniques including having keys in hand when going to the car, parking close to one’s destination in brightly lit areas and always being aware of the surrounding environment.

Full article is in the current issue of City Sentinel