0:06 [Music]
0:11 These are the six reasons why criminals
0:14 choose to attack and rob people. Are you
0:16 going to be the next one? I'm an
0:17 ex-state criminal prosecutor, also a
0:19 criminal defense attorney. I have been
0:21 inside the mind of criminals who have
0:24 been very open with me over my decade
0:27 plus of experience and thousands of
0:29 people talking about why did they choose
0:31 this particular person, why did they not
0:32 choose that particular person. So, let's
0:35 go inside the mind of a criminal. This
0:37 video boils down the five ways that they
0:40 target you and what you need to know to
0:43 fight back.
0:45 [Music]
0:57 Number one by far, low situational
1:00 awareness. What am I talking about? I'm
1:02 talking about the fact that somebody's
1:03 walking down the street distracted.
1:05 Their head is in their phones. They've
1:06 got earbuds in whatever else, but they
1:09 are not paying attention to their
1:11 surroundings. They are in condition
1:13 white. They have no idea what's coming
1:15 around the corner, what danger is
1:17 lurking behind them or closing in from
1:19 the other side of the street. This is
1:21 where you do not want to be. But this is
1:23 exactly what criminals are hunting for.
1:26 Why do criminals want someone that's low
1:28 situational awareness? Easy. Time.
1:31 People who have no situational awareness
1:33 lack the time to adequately respond. Why
1:37 is that important? Well, it's pretty
1:38 obvious. No time means no defense. No
1:41 time means no time to draw a firearm. No
1:44 time means no time to run. No time to
1:46 respond. No time to think, process, or
1:48 go. You are on the X, and that's exactly
1:51 where they want you. And by the way,
1:53 pulling out and using a firearm in
1:55 self-defense is exactly what you want to
1:57 be doing. About 94% of the time, no
2:00 shots are fired when somebody pulls out
2:02 a firearm in self-defense. So, not every
2:05 defensive gun use involves the discharge
2:07 of a firearm. You're still using it
2:09 because you're producing it. The bad guy
2:11 sees it, but the bad guys, they're not
2:13 as dumb as you think they are. They are
2:15 getting out of there. Ladies, you are
2:18 250% more likely to be seriously injured
2:21 if you go along with your attacker
2:23 versus if you defend yourself with a
2:25 firearm. You are 400%, ladies, 400% more
2:30 likely to be injured if you physically
2:32 resist an attacker without a gun
2:34 compared to if you use a firearm in
2:36 self-defense. Gentlemen, it's the same
2:38 conclusion, but slightly different math.
2:39 You're 140% more likely to be injured if
2:42 you go along with your attacker when
2:44 we're talking about a robbery versus
2:46 using a firearm in self-defense. You are
2:49 150% more likely to be injured if you
2:53 physically resist without a firearm
2:55 versus if you resist with a gun. That's
2:58 according to the Department of Justice
2:59 National Crime Victimization Survey. And
3:01 this happens a lot more than you think
3:03 because according to the Center for
3:04 Disease Control in 2013 when then
3:07 President Barack Obama ordered a study
3:09 on the defensive use of firearms in the
3:10 United States, upwards of 3 million
3:13 defensive gun uses occur annually in the
3:16 United States every single year. About
3:20 31.1% of gun owners report having used a
3:23 firearm in a defensive gun use scenario.
3:26 And about
3:27 65.9% of those firearms used in
3:29 defensive incidents are handguns. What's
3:32 the bottom line here? Be aware of your
3:34 surroundings don't look like a victim.
3:36 Give yourself a fighting chance to draw
3:40 your firearm that you've trained on how
3:42 to use and you are legally carrying from
3:45 an easily accessible location so that
3:47 you can get it into the fight to save
3:50 your life. Number two, the second
3:52 biggest tip that I got speaking to
3:54 criminals for years and years and years,
3:57 isolation. They don't want other people
3:59 to be seeing what's going on because
4:01 that is their reactionary gap time we're
4:03 talking about. If other good Samaritans,
4:05 if cops, if someone else like that were
4:07 to get involved, they need to be able to
4:09 have enough time to respond typically by
4:12 running away. That means that choosing
4:14 someone who's isolated, who's away from
4:16 the pack, who's in that alley, whatever
4:18 the case might be, is going to be
4:20 increasing their chances of making a
4:22 successful strike. A couple quick tips
4:24 that I got from criminals to help you
4:27 stay alive. Don't do things like park
4:29 where there's no lights. Don't do things
4:31 like park on the other side of a
4:33 building. For instance, if you go and
4:35 shop at a Walmart that may be on a
4:37 little bit of an edgier side of town,
4:38 park in the main parking lot in front of
4:40 the store, not the one that's maybe
4:42 around or blocked down if if you can
4:44 help to avoid it. If you have to park in
4:46 a parking garage, try to get back to
4:48 your car and leave when there's going to
4:49 be other people there. Don't be the last
4:51 one out of the game or whatever it is
4:53 that's holding you up and suddenly
4:55 you're in an abandoned parking garage.
4:57 Try to, of course, travel in groups. Try
5:00 not to go alone. They are definitely
5:03 hunting the lone target. And remember,
5:06 when they're hunting, they're bringing
5:08 numbers. They're not looking for a fair
5:10 fight. They're not looking for a fight
5:12 at all. They're looking for a victim.
5:15 Remember, as the good guys, we never
5:17 control when and where a fight occurs.
5:20 But we can set the table, so to speak,
5:23 and do everything possible to stack the
5:25 deck with our preparedness, with our
5:27 training, with our education, and with
5:29 doing these small things that can
5:31 actually mean quite a bit when it comes
5:33 to adjusting your risk profile. I
5:35 appreciate you tuning in. If you just
5:36 found us, welcome. We love having you
5:39 here. My name is Tom Grieve. I'm an
5:40 ex-state prosecutor, criminal defense
5:42 attorney. I'd love to hear your thoughts
5:43 about all this. What did you find to be
5:45 the most interesting? And be sure to
5:47 stick around to the end because I'm
5:48 going to be sharing some real life
5:50 criminal conversation stories that I've
5:52 had from back another lifetime. I know
5:54 you will find them relevant. So, back to
5:57 the show. Number three, predictable
5:59 patterns. I know I'm not talking about
6:01 evading some sort of Jason Bourne style
6:03 assassin or all that kind of stuff like
6:05 changing your route to work. If you're a
6:07 VIP or someone who might be the target
6:08 of kidnapping or abduction, you're not
6:11 what we're talking about right now. I'm
6:13 talking about the fact that when you go
6:14 into a mall or a store, anybody who's
6:17 watching you leave that car knows that
6:19 reasonably speaking, within the next
6:21 half hour to a few hours, you're going
6:23 to come back to that car. And there's a
6:25 good chance, especially if you're going
6:26 into a place like a grocery store, that
6:28 you're going to be coming out, pushing a
6:29 cart, carrying stuff, maybe on your
6:31 phone. You're going to be distracted and
6:33 you're going to at some point have to
6:34 load that into your car, which will
6:36 divide your attention as you focus on
6:38 the activity at hand. A parking lot
6:40 provides ample hiding spots for a bad
6:43 guy or multiple different bad guys to be
6:45 able to make sure that you never see
6:47 them coming and then they'll wait until
6:49 your back is turned. But all this is
6:51 keyed off the notion of predictable
6:53 patterns. Now, here's the bad news. When
6:55 you go into a store, you likely can't
6:57 help but come back out and go back to
6:59 your car, unless you've got burner cars
7:01 or something like that that you can use.
7:03 But here's a couple key things. If you
7:04 get a bad feeling, there's nothing
7:06 stopping you from turning around and
7:08 going right back into the store and even
7:10 watching from inside to see what's going
7:12 on. A lot of stores and shopping malls
7:14 do offer some sort of security. And of
7:16 course, 911 might be minutes away, but
7:19 you've got that time from inside the
7:21 store. If whatever reason you don't get
7:23 that feeling, but you still need to go
7:25 back to your car, okay, that doesn't
7:28 mean that as you carry your groceries or
7:29 something like that, you have to use
7:31 your dominant firearm hand. In other
7:33 words, if you're concealed carrying on
7:35 your waistband on your, say, 3:00 side
7:37 as a righthander, don't carry everything
7:39 with your right hand. Keep your phone in
7:40 your pocket. Keep your gun hand free and
7:43 keep your left hand, the one that's
7:44 pushing the card or something like that
7:45 with your head on the swivel. You'd be
7:47 surprised how many people I have spoken
7:49 to who have said that they have called
7:52 off attacks because someone looked way
7:54 too ready. The most essential part to
7:56 number three is the fact that you
7:58 understand when you are doing a
8:00 predictable pattern because the bad guys
8:02 know. And if you understand how they are
8:04 hunting, then you will understand when
8:06 you are at highest risk of when you're
8:08 going to that water hole and all the
8:10 lions and all the hyenas are hunting for
8:12 you. You got to understand where your
8:13 water holes are. Leaving a store from
8:16 your car and getting back into that car,
8:18 that is a water hole. Be vigilant. Be
8:20 alert. That is when you most at risk.
8:23 Number four, high reward, low risk. You
8:25 see, bad guys want to play the lottery,
8:28 but they want to play the lottery that
8:29 they think they're going to win way more
8:31 times than you or I are going to win
8:33 when we go down to the gas station to
8:35 get our Powerball or something like
8:36 that. What am I talking about? Most
8:38 people carry something to pay, something
8:40 to call, and something to drive. Okay?
8:44 Something to pay, credit cards, cash,
8:45 something like that. Something to call
8:47 that $500 to $1,000 plus cell phone that
8:51 most people are carrying these days. and
8:52 something to drive a car, especially if
8:54 you're out and about in America outside
8:56 of a few particularly urban downtown
8:58 major metropolitan centers. Odds are
9:00 you've got those three things. Why is
9:02 that relevant? Because all three of
9:03 those things can be fenced and sold on
9:06 the secondary market. You are carrying
9:09 thousands and thousands and thousands of
9:11 dollars to a criminal who knows how to
9:14 leverage it. Obviously, you only attract
9:16 more attention and jack up that
9:18 riskreward profile for criminals if
9:20 you're doing things like wearing fancy
9:22 looking watches, things like that. I'm
9:24 not saying that your broke homeless
9:25 person never gets robbed. I'm just
9:27 saying that when they get robbed,
9:28 they're not getting robbed for the same
9:30 reasons why you are. You're getting
9:31 robbed because they think that you're
9:33 not going to fight back. You're unaware
9:35 of what's going on. you're isolated and
9:37 a few other factors, but most of all,
9:40 they think that you're worth something
9:41 and this is going to be worth the risk.
9:43 If you discreetly carry valuables in
9:46 public, and I understand that that's not
9:49 for everyone, but if you discreetly
9:50 carry valuables in public, you're going
9:52 to be doing a lot to lower that profile
9:54 as you go, so to speak, grayman out and
9:57 about in public. Greyman meaning you're
9:59 not the person with the flashy watch.
10:00 You're not the person with the flashy
10:01 this, flashy that. You're just kind of
10:02 the gray man that blends in. I once
10:04 recall
10:05 asking a guy who'd been in and out of
10:08 prison a lot of his life, starting as a
10:10 juvenile, "What made you choose a
10:12 particular liquor store to rob when I
10:14 was looking back on his
10:16 record?" And he just kind of threw his
10:18 head back and laughed and smiled and he
10:20 looked at me and he said, "Well, Tom,
10:22 that's the one I knew that had all the
10:24 cash in the register. That store could
10:26 have done a lot more to make sure that
10:27 their average till amount was a lot
10:29 lower because guess what? The lions are
10:32 paying attention to what's in those
10:33 registers and they're paying attention
10:35 to what's on your wrist and what's in
10:37 your pocket. Number five, no immediate
10:39 consequences. Consequences come from two
10:42 different buckets. One bucket, the guys
10:44 in blue, we're talking about 911
10:45 response times, all that kind of stuff.
10:47 Odds are if you're sticking a gun, a
10:49 knife, or whatever in someone's face and
10:51 demanding cash, demanding property,
10:53 you've been locked up a few times. You
10:56 understand response times. Heck, in some
10:59 of these neighborhoods, they understand
11:00 the response times better than sometimes
11:02 people in law enforcement and certainly
11:04 prosecutors do in my experience. They
11:05 know like a ticking clock in the back of
11:07 their mind how long they have to act and
11:11 get out of there. But you know what
11:12 they're more afraid of than going to
11:13 jail? In a study, 57% of felons surveyed
11:17 said that they feared armed citizens
11:19 more than the police. And there's one
11:21 thing that bad guys really don't like.
11:24 It's consequences. Another time I was
11:26 talking to another career criminal. This
11:29 was 10 plus years ago now. I noticed he
11:31 had some armed robberies on his record
11:33 and I just asked him about the events
11:35 because me being a firearm guy, I'd love
11:37 to be able to get inside a criminal's
11:39 mind to understand, hey, what made you
11:41 choose this or that? So, I'd sometimes
11:42 look at their record and ask about past
11:44 cases because at the end of the day,
11:45 this is years behind them. They don't
11:47 care about that. And of course, they're
11:48 trying to play me as well, so they're
11:50 usually happy to go along with it. So
11:52 this one guy, he had this armed robbery
11:54 and I asked him, "So what was the deal?"
11:56 So he robbed some
11:57 people. It kind of broad daylight. It
12:00 was late afternoon, early evening, and
12:03 it was on a major metropolitan downtown
12:05 street. I think it was in Milwaukee
12:06 somewhere, as I recall. So I asked him,
12:08 "Did you just wake up that morning and
12:10 decide to rob someone? You just robbed
12:12 the first person that you found?" And I
12:13 won't repeat exactly what he said. this
12:15 as a family program, but the gist to it
12:17 went something like this
12:20 of he had a pretty good idea he was
12:22 going to rob someone that afternoon, but
12:25 he had no idea who. And he was just kind
12:29 of walking around looking for people,
12:31 camped out a little bit, was watching
12:32 people pass by. And he was going through
12:35 his thought process about how he was
12:37 disqualifying people. No, not that one.
12:39 No, not those ones. And people, it's
12:41 everything I'm talking about right here.
12:43 Oh, the group of people don't want that.
12:45 Oh, there's a cop on the other side of
12:46 the street right now. I'm not going to
12:48 do anything at this particular moment.
12:49 Now, this incident really happened
12:50 before smartphones became a thing, so
12:52 there weren't any cell phones to be
12:53 talking about, but there were CD
12:55 Walkman's and all that kind of stuff.
12:57 And he was talking about the fact of
12:59 those are sorts of people that he liked
13:01 because he also thought that they
13:02 carried more cash. And then finally he
13:04 found his target of a younishlooking guy
13:06 who was all alone and was walking around
13:09 kind of distracted, looked a little bit
13:11 lost and was just kind of aimlessly
13:13 walking with his heads up looking at
13:15 buildings and this and that. Perfect
13:17 target to sneak up on from behind, which
13:19 it sounds like is exactly what he did.
13:21 These five points I brought up, they're
13:23 not something I read out of a book.
13:25 These are something that I have lived
13:27 and I have seen as an ex-state
13:29 prosecutor and a criminal defense
13:30 attorney. These five points are verified
13:34 by data points of talking to Lord knows
13:36 how many criminals over the years. I
13:38 have seen these play out. Don't be a
13:41 statistic. Understand where your
13:43 watering holes are. Understand where
13:44 your funnel points are where if you're
13:46 walking on a big sidewalk but all
13:48 funnels down to one spot and there's a
13:49 couple guys hanging out right there.
13:52 That may not be good for you. Understand
13:55 concepts like this and I'd be happy to
13:57 walk you through. Hit that like button.
13:59 Let me know if this is valuable to you
14:00 by commenting down below that you want
14:02 me to do deeper dives on stuff like this
14:04 based on my real world experience. I'd
14:06 be happy to do so if enough people are
14:08 interested in it. But I cannot emphasize
14:09 enough these are realworld tips I'm
14:12 giving you, not something that just got
14:15 out of a book. Our quote of the day to
14:17 reward those of you who made it this far
14:18 comes from Heracletus, Greek thinker
14:20 philosopher who wrote, "You cannot step
14:23 twice into the same river for it's not
14:25 the same river and you are not the same
14:27 man." is absolutely true every single
14:30 time you walk down the street. Keep that
14:32 in mind. I appreciate you tuning in.
14:33 Look forward to joining you in the
14:35 discussion below and I'll see you in the
14:36 next one. Thanks for sticking around to
14:38 the end of the video. If you enjoyed
14:39 this one, please feel free to check out
14:41 some of our other great content and
14:43 we'll see you in the next one.
14:50 [Music]
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