Tips on Situational Awareness from Ed Lovette

A friend directed me to an interview of Ed Lovette, a well known defensive firearms instructor, which is chock full of good tips and advice. The two primary topics that come up are situational awareness and how not to come across as a potential target for criminals. I recommend that you read the whole thing, but here are some nuggets of information as to situational awareness:

     Lovette: You mentioned how people are taught the “head on a swivel” for awareness and I have to say, I think it is very bad advice. I don’t know why people are teaching it. Instead, if you’re walking down the street and you want to see what is going on behind you, the simplest thing to do is, number one, just stop and look in a shop window like you were looking at the merchandise; use that window’s reflection. You can do the same thing with the window glass when you are getting in your car. Use your car windows to see if anyone is getting too close behind you.

     The second thing is to actually go into the store and go in deep enough that you’re not going to be quickly noticed, then turn and look through the glass behind you. If there is somebody up to something, they may stop and scratch their head or mutter to themselves, or finally, they may come in the store.

     eJournal: That’s a nice tactic that also gauges how dedicated they are to reaching you.

      Lovette: That’s a fact. If you’re sitting in a shopping mall for example and there is a loud noise–if there is a reason that you can turn around, that’s fine, but otherwise, I’m not comfortable with obvious scanning.

      They even teach turning to look in all directions on ranges–you shoot and then you look behind you. If I am in that situation, I would much rather get my back up against something. Is there something I can get against really quick? A wall? A refrigerator? I don’t care what it is, if I can get my back up against it, that takes part of the approach opportunities away from other people.

      eJournal: Something that’s related is the great body of conflicting advice given about making eye contact. This ranges from looking strangers in the eye so they know you identified them to the opposite idea that eye contact will challenge them to fight. Can eye contact be too aggressive and be mistaken as a challenge?

      Lovette: I think it can, and if you’re armed and depending on all the other factors, you may want to do that because it may be what it takes to shut this person down. But there is another way if the last thing you want is a confrontation. The best way I can describe it is like a glance. You look at them just long enough to let them know that you see them and then you look at something else. A lot of the time, if you take that element of surprise away from them, it just is not going to be fun anymore because they’ve been spotted.

      That is pretty easy to practice. Some people call it a soft focus. The best way I know to describe the glance is like using a flashlight—you don’t shine it in their eyes, you just swipe the light across their face. That glance is like that. It is “on” for a couple of seconds and then it moves on to something else. It is long enough for them to know that they have been seen but not long enough challenge them.

       A couple other pointers along the same line that Lovette mentions is that as you leave your residence or get to work, you should be easily able to spot what looks out of place--pay attention to those things; and, he believes, women have a higher tuned sense of danger, so if your wife or girlfriend suddenly become uncomfortable with a situation at a store or restaurant, just pay your bill and get out.

      Like I stated, read the whole thing.