Hello Friends

Always try to walk to and from your vehicle with another person. If you are shopping alone, consider walking near other shoppers in the parking lot.
* If shopping alone and leaving at night -- particularly if you're carrying several bundles -- ask a security officer to accompany you to your car. Most malls will provide that service.
* Inside a mall, avoid darkened hallways and other backroom areas, especially near closing time.
* Avoid using bathrooms that are tucked away in a back area of a mall concourse or department. If you can, find a bathroom near the mall's food court or other well-trafficked area. And always accompany your child to the bathroom.
* Never use a video arcade or toy store as a baby sitter; predators are on the prowl for unattended children. More then 100,000 children are abducted every year -- often in malls or department stores, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCME).
* Find out whether the malls and stores you frequent have procedures to search for a missing child. Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target are among retailers participating in a program developed by the NCME. The program, called "Code Adam," was named after Adam Walsh, a 6-year-old Florida boy who was killed after being abducted from a shopping mall in 1981. As soon as a child is reported missing, employees scour the aisles. If the child doesn't turn up after 10 minutes, the police are notified.

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Hello friends

Personal safety in malls

* If shopping alone and leaving at night -- particularly if you're carrying several bundles -- ask a security officer to accompany you to your car. Most malls will provide that service.
* Inside a mall, avoid darkened hallways and other backroom areas, especially near closing time.
* Avoid using bathrooms that are tucked away in a back area of a mall concourse or department. If you can, find a bathroom near the mall's food court or other well-trafficked area. And always accompany your child to the bathroom.
* Never use a video arcade or toy store as a baby sitter; predators are on the prowl for unattended children. More then 100,000 children are abducted every year -- often in malls or department stores, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCME).
* Find out whether the malls and stores you frequent have procedures to search for a missing child. Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target are among retailers participating in a program developed by the NCME. The program, called "Code Adam," was named after Adam Walsh, a 6-year-old Florida boy who was killed after being abducted from a shopping mall in 1981. As soon as a child is reported missing, employees scour the aisles. If the child doesn't turn up after 10 minutes, the police are notified.

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You can also plan not to park or exit your vehicle if suspicious males are in the area. Families should agree in advance to exit and enter their vehicle quickly and lock the doors. Families should be trained to look around their vehicle before approaching and retreat if anyone suspicious is loitering in the area. They should be trained to return quickly to the shopping center and alert mall security or call the police. A little awareness (educated-paranoia) is healthy and can keep your family safe.
* Be aware and alert to predators in the parking lot
* Plan when to go and where to park
* Do not get out of the car if not safe to do so
* Scan the area around your car as you approach it
* Teach your family to enter and exit the care quickly
* Return to the store if anyone looks or acts suspicious
* Call the police and notify mall security of any criminal activity

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To keep your child and yourself safe:

Check for loose or dangling items of clothing before stepping on. Loose shoelaces, mittens and drawstrings can get trapped in an escalator's moving parts, cautions the National Safety Council.

* Lift toddlers on and off the step. Shoes and boots with soft rubber soles have been known to slip into cracks between steps and the escalator wall, so try to keep those little feet planted firmly on the step.
* When you're shopping with a child in a stroller, always use the elevator. Escalator steps aren't wide enough to accommodate a stroller, so its weight may not be evenly balanced on the step; if the stroller tips over, you and your baby could take a nasty tumble. The stroller may also block your view of the bottom of the escalator, increasing your odds of tripping. And the people behind you can bump into you if you don't get off fast enough.
* Make sure your child does not lean on the handrail -- the excess weight can slow the whole stairway down and throw riders off balance.
* If your child does tumble or get caught, there are emergency stop buttons on every escalator, usually near the bottom but sometimes alongside the stairs. Take a minute to locate them before you get on.

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It’s important to be alert as you are shopping and notice if anyone seems to be following you a little too closely. If you are shopping in a highend store buying high dollar gifts, you may be a “target of opportunity” for the would-be criminal perpetrator. Crank up your intuitive antenna a little this holiday season. Times are tough for many people and turning to crimes like personal robberies in easy locations - like the shopping malls or mall parking lots - are on the rise!!

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1) Be Aware of where you are parking. Is the parking lot dark? Are you parking in an area that has no visibility to the store's entrance? Are there a lot of bushes where criminals can hide? Does the area seem secure, or does it make you uneasy? Pick a well lit area with good visibility. Don't park next to commercial vans with no windows or be wary if one is parked next to you when you return. Thieves could be hiding out in wait.

2) You may be parking when it's daylight, but will you be coming out when it is dark? If so, park in an area that is most likely to be populated, even if you have to walk a little farther. If your mall has a movie theater, the nearby parking area is often busy and well-patrolled.

3) Remember there is safety in crowds, so you could also wait for several other people to walk out in your general direction and head out with them.

4) Have your keys and stun gun or pepper spray in your hand before you walk out the door. Don't walk out with your head down while rummaging around in your purse for your keys or self defense tool. Be alert and aware as you walk out.

5) Don't put your purse on top of the car or on top of the trunk while you put your bags in your vehicle. It's way too tempting to thieves.

6) Putting a small child in a car seat? If possible, get in with the child and lock the doors before you start wrestling with the car seat safety restraints.

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Always take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone.)

A. Do not get on an elevator if there is a weirdo all ready on there(of course, bad men don't always look bad).

B. Do not stand back in the corners of the elevator, be near the front, by the doors, ready to get off or on.

C. If you get on the elevator on the 25th floor, and the Boogie Man gets on at the 22nd, get off when he gets on.
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Hello Friends,
The threat of physical assault does not necessarily increase along with the crowds that herald the holiday season. It's when you're far from the crowd, in distant reaches of parking lots or other isolated areas of the mall that you are most vulnerable. To protect yourself:
Always try to walk to and from your vehicle with another person. If you are shopping alone, consider walking near other shoppers in the parking lot.
If shopping alone and leaving at night -- particularly if you're carrying several bundles -- ask a security officer to accompany you to your car. Most malls will provide that service.
Inside a mall, avoid darkened hallways and other backroom areas, especially near closing time.Avoid using bathrooms that are tucked away in a back area of a mall concourse or department. If you can, find a bathroom near the mall's food court or other well-trafficked area. And always accompany your child to the bathroom.
Never use a video arcade or toy store as a baby sitter; predators are on the prowl for unattended children. More then 100,000 children are abducted every year -- often in malls or department stores, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCME).
Thanks.

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Some 1.9 million women are physically assaulted annually in the United States, and 15 percent to 25 percent of all American women will report a sexual attack or rape at some time in their lives, according to studies conducted by the Justice Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And experts say that because the majority of sexual assaults go unreported, the numbers from these studies may represent only a fraction of the violent of crimes against women.

But while these numbers may seem frighteningly high, safety authorities are quick to point out that women need not view themselves as helpless victims. ABCNEWS' Healthy Woman asked crime and safety specialists the most effective precautions a woman can take when walking alone to keep herself from becoming a statistic:

Dress to Kill. Clogs, high heels, and tight skirts are hard to run and fight in, while scarves and long necklaces are easy to grab. If possible, modify your fashion style or wear comfortable clothing when walking alone. You can always change into dress-up clothes later. Or, think through how you would fight in your dress-up clothes. Would you kick off your high heels or hike your skirt up around your hips to run or kick?

Make Eye Contact. It may be your first instinct to lower your gaze as you walk to your destination. But looking straight into the face of potential enemies is the better option. "Eye contact may scare off attackers because they fear you will be able to identify them," says Mary Ellen Burns, a spokesperson for the Boston Police Department.

Hello Friends,

Shopping mall safety is especially important this holiday season when malls are more vulnerable to violent crime. While it’s never possible to completely eliminate the risk of violence, being aware of your surroundings and choosing to shop at malls that take security seriously are two important things you can do to help protect yourself and your family against violence while shopping this year.
A very important security tip in my opinion when shopping in the Mall's .
Choose to do your holiday shopping at malls that take security seriously. Shopping destinations with regular mall security patrols and visible surveillance cameras provide an added layer of security and a deterrent to criminals.

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