Personal Safety
(Excerpts from QPS Personal Safety Strategies)
Remember we all have the right to feel safe all of the time. The only limit to your activities should be your feelings of safety, enjoy your right to choose what you do and when you do it. Common sense, of course, should play an important part in these decisions.
Always appear confident. Offenders target vulnerability. Body language is a powerful tool that can be used to your advantage. By appearing confident and comfortable in your surroundings you decrease your attractiveness to potential offenders.
Strong confident body language includes standing tall with your head up, shoulders back and walking with a purpose. Making brief eye contact with passers by is also an effective method of demonstrating that you are confident.
Automatic teller machines (ATMs)
When withdrawing money from an ATM, try to stand where you have the best view of what's going on around you while you are waiting for your transaction to process. This way you avoid looking like an easy target. Also, if you need to use an ATM at night, try to find one at a location that is well lit and not isolated.
Maintain an awareness of your surroundings by casually turning around to face passers-by once you have dialled. This prevents the possibility of someone approaching you unnoticed, and gives you a 'streetwise' appearance.
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