Safety procedures to prevent kidnapping - For Schools & Parents

Kidnap - nap (to seize) kid ( a child)
The child kidnapping crime has been around for time immemorial, for varied motives – Anger & frustration, Money, Political or Sex.
After the recent spate of kidnappings in TamilNadu, the police have announced certain guidelines - for Parents, School authorities and the Kids themselves. Very sane advice, no doubt.
To understand the issue at hand, we analyze it a bit more.
Kidnapping has some unique characteristics -
  • Mostly the victim is the softest target of all - Children
  • Kidnapping is generally NOT a crime committed in sudden burst of anger or impulse, because it needs elaborate planning of logistics.
  • That pre-supposes that the criminal should be reasonably familiar with the victim's universe.
  • In the case of kidnap for sexual assault, it’s different. The victim may be chosen on parameters like vulnerability and circumstances.
  • In kidnap crimes, the police are at a disadvantage, since the victim's family is generally reluctant to co-operate.
Taking up the preventive aspects first;
We can see it from 3 perspectives - The School, the Home & the Potential Victim 

Kidnap preventive measures by The School-
  • Dropping & Pickup of students to be monitored in person and if possible, as the Addl.CoP, Chennai suggested with CCTV cameras.
  • Identification tags can be provided to Drivers or whoever comes to pickup, which will be verified by school security
  • To devise a System to detect unannounced absence of a student to be red-flagged asap.
  • Conduct safety awareness programs to educate students & parents on preventive methods.
  • The school should have an escalation procedure in place, to prevent chaos and confusion during a crisis. This saves precious time.
  • Impart self-defence classes to the students, like KRAV-MAGA which does NOT depend on Strength or Fitness - useful for a small defendant against a bigger aggressor
Kidnap preventive measures by The Parent -
  • The rich should have secure procedures for recruitment and monitoring of staff - Drivers, domestic help etc.
  • This will include identification and address proofs, referrals and retaining photographs of staff.
  • In extreme cases, even a background check by a private detective agency can be done.
  • Security should be upped if there are reasonable grounds for caution, like a disgruntled sacked staff.
  • The child should be taught at the earliest to use the phone and tell the parents' names & address.
  • Any change in the behaviour or attitude of the child should be probed. This can be due to fear or risky habits.
  • Interaction with the school and be part of its safety programs.
  • The Child should be taught the safety protocols of dealing with strangers or recognizing deviant behaviour of known persons.
  • Keep an eye on the online activity of the child
  • Impart self-defence training for the child - preferably a system which is natural and intuitive like KRAV-MAGA
Meanwhile readers are asked to contribute more points. You can leave it as Comments below or write me an email. And please do SHARE this article for common good.

S.SREERAM
Co-ordinator / Instructor
Chennai Chapter, Krav Maga (IKMF) India
Mobile: 93400 06600
www.kravmagachennai.com
...........................................................................

"So that one may walk in peace" ... Imi Lichtenfeld, Founder of KravMaga
TWEET - @kravMagaSreeRam

Comments

  1. UnknownJune 18, 2011 at 9:26 PM

    This is really nice tips for girls who can escape from the dangerous times.
    Datastage

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TCS staff's murder - Why it is too simplistic to blame IT/ITES companies!?

Image
Uma Maheswari  Uma Maheswari’s murder in Siruseri IT Park, Chennai has provoked lots of opinions in the media. The public take a vicarious pleasure in gleefully pointing a finger at the IT/BPO sector, “These IT companies don’t bother about their employees’ safety. They just want to make money.” My question to these people is simple. Atleast 5 to 6 lakh people are working in IT/ITES sector in Chennai and suburbs. Chennai population is 46 million with another 15 million working and residing in Chennai.. So we can say around 10% of Chennai population is working in IT related companies. The murder statistics point out that around 200 homicides happen in Chennai annually.  So how can one expect that such a big chunk of population, of which 30% are women, be insulated from crime?! Even by a simple back-of-the-envelope-calculation 2 lakh women are employed in IT/ITES sector. How can one expect that there cannot be an aberration?  If murders of IT women ...
Read more

The Dynamics of Police encounters - Part 2 The background of encountered criminals

Image
The Dynamics of Police encounters - Part 2 The background of encountered criminals - Venkatesh Pannaiyar This was an encounter which resulted in the transfer of the charismatic Vijayakumar IPS, the then Commissioner of Police, Chennai. Read on to understand how the police fight crime with one arm tied behind their back. Also how the media, which cant shed its caste and community prejudices, packed off an efficient officer from the state itself, in spite of delivering whatever assignment given to him. VENKATESH PANNAIYAR - THE BACKGROUND  The diminutive and nattily dressed Venkatesh Pannaiyar won’t physically fit the prevalent image of a don. But he is a product of generations of caste feud plaguing Southern TamilNadu. His family is from Moolakarai near Tuiticorin; an area with the dubious reputation for making country bombs and gun running. Venkatesh's uncle, grandfather - important elders of their community have been murdered by Dalits, when he was a boy. Venkate...
Read more

YES to Enthusiasm! NO to Burnout !

"Today I did 76 push-ups in one go." "I want to become a Black-cat Commando." "Sir, I want to be a cage fighter." I hear these kinds of statements often from newbies. My reaction is a smile with raised eyebrows, which I hope is seen as a subtle gesture of wisdom from a grand old master in a 70s kungfu movie!   ðŸ˜€ Actually, I am calculating "Will he drop off on the day 3 or day 7!" Point 1  Intense training is for professional athletes preparing for a specific event, at the cost of other aspects of life like job, relationships, travel and beer sessions with buddies. That is a zone which can become very lonely and inward. Are you aware and prepared for that?! Point 2  Is your body genetically suitable, your diet sufficient, you have financial resources to sustain that long dark tunnel which you have to walk alone, for 2 or 3 years?! Have you even thought through this? To have a productive life, avoiding physical and emotional ...
Read more