Looters are a serious problem that accompanies any disaster. If you don’t believe me, just look at most hurricanes; and personal property underwater, but the looters were out, seeing what they could steal. Of course, it doesn’t take a disaster to get looters going; there are plenty around on a day-to-day basis. It’s just that they seem to multiply during the aftermath of a disaster.
Unfortunately, the police can’t stop
them. People should not blame the police
for that; there are only so many police officers on the streets. There’s no way
that they can be everywhere at the same time, stopping those looters from doing
their thing.
No, if they’re going to get stopped,
it’s going to have to be because you and I do it, not because the police stop
them. There are three important things
to keep in mind about the criminal mind. These three attributes pretty much
define why they do what they do:
- They’re lazy – “Why work, when you
can steal?”
- They’re bullies – They want to
threaten and scare others so that they can steal.
- They’re chicken – No criminal
wants to get into a fight; they might get hurt.
What to Do
With that in mind, there are a number
of things that we can do to scare off looters, before they can accomplish their
goals. Always remember, your goal is to get rid of them, not necessarily to
kill them or even to arrest them. You want them to leave you alone and leave
your goods with you.
- Dogs – This one is obvious. Everyone
knows that a barking dog spells danger. When you hear a dog barking, you
never know if it’s a big mean dog or just a little one. Considering how
devastating an attack from a dog can be, most criminals will avoid any
house that has dogs, especially noisy ones.
- Signs – Putting out stakes and tape to
mark out a mine field can be almost as effective as having a mine field.
You can use that same concept by putting out signs that spell danger to
any looters. “Beware of Dog” signs and the myriad styles of signs which
say that you shoot first and ask questions later carry a lot of impact.
Most criminals will avoid any place where it looks like they’re going to
have to fight.
- Camouflage – It won’t scare the looters, but
you can do a lot with camouflage, making your home look like there’s
nothing there worth stealing. In the aftermath of most disasters there is
usually a lot of debris lying around. Collect some and pile it against
your house, making your home look like just one more wrecked home in the
neighborhood.
- Fire – Do you remember seeing flame
throwers in the old World War II movies? Flame throwers are terror
weapons, designed to scare whatever out of any enemies. Most people can
deal with the idea of getting shot much better than the idea of being
burned alive. You can make a fairly good makeshift flame thrower with a
can of hairspray and butane lighter. Light the hairspray on fire and
charge; they’ll probably run. Another way that you can use fire as a
terror weapon is to buy a flare gun. These are made of plastic and shoot
the flare out of a 12 gauge shotgun shell. Paint the gun a different color
to cover up the orange plastic and make it look like a real gun. When you
shoot it at the looters, it will look like you’re shooting fireballs at
them.
- Ambush – If it comes down to a fight,
you need to stack the deck in your favor. The easiest way to do that is
with an ambush. Determine which way is the most likely direction of attack
and plan your defenses. If you have to, put obstacles in the way, to cause
them to go along your planned route, rather than outflanking you.
- Simulators – The Army has simulators that
they use as traps, mostly to let them know that an enemy is approaching.
These make the sound of real artillery shells, explosions and machine gun
firing, causing fear in the attacker. While you can’t get those
simulators, you can probably get your hands on a few strings of
firecrackers. In the heat of the moment, they probably won’t be able to
tell if they are firecrackers or if you’re shooting at them with a machine
gun.
Remember, your goal is to scare them,
so that they will run away. In order to do that the most effectively, you want
to hit them with everything you’ve got, all at once. In other words, while your
ambush is going on, get the dogs barking and set off your simulators. Throw
some fire their way as well.
The more confusion you can add to the
mix, the more terror it’s going to create in their hearts. That will get them
to leave, much more effectively than anything else you can do.
As always, stay safe !
- bird
***
