Shopping Safely During the Holidays and Throughout the Year

With the convenience and accessibility of online shopping, chaotic scenes of Black Friday events do not occupy our holiday consciousness as they did in the past. That being said, shopping, and specifically shopping for the holidays, can still present logistical issues that impact our personal safety. As with many things in life, there are ways to mitigate risks, and proper planning is essential to not only help us complete all of our shopping with our sanity intact, but also complete it in a way that considers our personal safety.

Allocating a sufficient amount of time for shopping may seem like a minor detail, but feeling like we do not have enough time can cause us to be complacent with our personal safety, from not driving as carefully as we should to being completely oblivious to what is going on around us because we are so focused on tasks. Having enough time allows us to be mentally present in our driving, selecting a parking spot that will be secure for our vehicle and belongings, and ensuring that our actions do not make us a target for criminal activity.

The shopping demands of the holidays can make parking scarce, but doing our best to balance various factors is important. With shorter days, there is a likelihood that we may begin shopping during the day and not return to our vehicle until night; evaluate parking for the availability of adequate lighting. Part of being safe is being able to observe and identify potential threats, and this becomes more difficult with less light. Another factor relates to the distance from the parking location to the shopping location. This is more than a matter of convenience. When we emerge from shopping, bags in hand, we are less able to respond to a threat than if we had nothing in our hands, and the sooner we are able to secure those bags in our vehicle, the better. Still another factor relates to who is in the proximity of our parking space and what they are doing. It is difficult to assess whether individuals inside or around vehicles for extended periods of time are just “hanging out” and waiting for friends and family that may be shopping, or they are looking for potential targets. Choose your parking space accordingly.

While shopping, there is an unwritten, appropriate social distance that individuals maintain from others, and we need to be cognizant of when someone is infringing on our personal space. Are we standing near an item of interest in another individual’s shopping quest, or are more sinister motives at play? Bring your patience but also bring your personal awareness; if your instinct is telling you that something is not right, trust it, and create distance from the potential threat, including moving from a more secluded area to an area with more foot traffic, store cameras, and store security. Continue to monitor whether that individual was merely unaware of social norms or you hindered that individual’s ability to get close enough to commit wrongdoing. This situational awareness continues when it is time to stand in line and pay at the cashier, taking appropriate measures to safeguard your method of payment and payment information. Even with the prevalence of electronic methods of payment, there are still customers who prefer to pay with cash, but know that the gesture of indiscreetly counting out cash from a stack of bills you have on your person can potentially make you a target.

As we conclude the shopping experience, keep in mind that items we are carrying to our vehicle may make us a target because of their perceived value and potential for resale, and shopping at various name-brand stores and having multiple name-brand bags may also suggest financial ability and the ready availability of additional liquid assets. Before moving from the shopping location to the parking location, take a quick 360-degree evaluation of where you are, who is around you, what they are doing, and where you are going. If there are any concerns, re-evaluate the route to your vehicle or return to a more public area and re-assess, as needed.

On approach to your vehicle, do another quick scan of who is around it and what they are doing before you promptly secure your bags inside the vehicle. Placing items in your vehicle should be done quickly and in a way that does not cause you to give your back to potential threats. Once inside your vehicle, secure the doors and carefully proceed to your next destination. If you sense that someone may be following you, avoid driving home but make random turns in public thoroughfares to determine whether there is a legitimate reason for this other vehicle to be following you. It can be difficult to find the nearest police station if you are not familiar with the area, but if you are able to use navigation while monitoring the potential threat behind you, this may be an appropriate option.

Shopping can be an enjoyable experience for many of us, especially those who appreciate “retail therapy.” Whether it be during the holidays, or any other time of year, there are ways to minimize risk and maximize personal safety. Let Insight Personal Safety LLC show you how.