Public Officials Afraid For Your Safety? Master This 1 Thing To Be Safer Now.

In the evening darkness of October 19, 2023, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew F. Wilkinson got home from a long day of work. He pulled into his driveway and got out of his car.

His wife and son were already home and inside the house.

Earlier that day, he had heard, and made a partial ruling, in an on going divorce and child custody case. And now, he was home and ready to be with his own family.

But before he could see them, Judge Wilkinson was gunned down in his own driveway. Not at the courthouse where he did his work, but on his own property.

His killer, it turned out, was directly connected to Judge Wilkinson’s work. He was later identified as the father who Judge Wilkinson ruled against earlier that day by awarding custody of his children to their mother.

Sadly, when it comes to public officials, Judge Wilkinson’s death is not an isolated incident. America is awash in grievance, and people feel entitled to address their grievances in any way they wish. Even violently.

In this video, we’ll discuss the single most important safety tip for public officials to master to keep yourselves safe while you serve your community. And I’ll break down how to start implementing this safety tip today.

Threats of harm to public officials and their families have been normalized. And it’s not just judges, but those who work in elections, education, healthcare, and even utility workers face unprecedented threats to their safety.

How bad is it?

In one recent survey, 75% of all San Diego County elected officials reported receiving threats or being harassed as the result of their public service.

Hi I’m Mike Corwin, and for over 10 years I’ve helped businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies reduce the risk to their staff and organization from work related violence.

And I’ve got a special gift for you to help your organization and staff be safe from work related violence while on the job, or out in the community.  My FREE work related violence prevention checklist. You’ll find a link in the description below. The checklist provides you with clearly defined steps you can take to reduce the risk of work related violence from different sources.  Download it Now.

Several years ago, I provided training to the staff of a United States Senator. Sure we discussed safety approaches for them to take while at work, but guess what they really wanted to know. It was how to keep themselves safe when at the supermarket, and other similar places that we all go to.

Safety threats for public officials don’t just come in the workplace, where physical security systems can be implemented to enhance safety. Sadly, as happened to Judge Wilkinson, they can occur anywhere in public that they can encounter an angry aggrieved person.

The single most important skill to develop in order to keep safe is your ability to recognize threats to your safety EARLY ENOUGH to be able to avoid them.

Simply put: Distance = early warning= options = safety.

The farther you are away from a threat when you first recognize it, the more time you have to develop ways to avoid that threat, and thus can be proactive to keep safe.

Sounds easy right? Many people think they already do this. But few people do so effectively.

Situational awareness is the awareness of your surroundings and the people within it, and to use that awareness to be able to avoid threats to your safety. But, for situational awareness to work you must make it automatic. To spot threats and react without thinking. 

And here’s how to do that.

Begin by describing to yourself what you see around you. That includes people, moving vehicles and parked cars, buildings, sources of lighting, obstructions where people can hide, and obstacles to your path that can also limit your ability to move and to see.

Practice it. Everywhere you go. At the store. At work. At your kid’s sporting or school event. Everywhere.

Here’s a simple test to know if you are doing so effectively. 

Grab your phone and video the area around you while you describe in detail what you see. Then watch the video and see how your description compares to what can be seen in the video.

Did you miss anything? Are there areas, or people, that you glossed over? Using this information, adjust how you look around you, so that you don’t miss any potential threat. 

Then test yourself again until what you describe out loud matches what you see in the video. 

Developing an exit strategy is also a key part to situational awareness. So that if a threat develops you know where to go to avoid it. So, condition yourself to always look for an out. And to have look for other options in case that route disappears.

Wherever you go, I want you to start looking for exit points, and describe to yourself the possible routes you can take to get to those exit points.

Include the direction you would go, how many steps it will take you to get there, and what obstacles exist that can prevent you from getting there. Then identify a fallback route, if the first path to safety gets blocked, and describe the fallback route in detail too.

Developing this skill will improve your ability to keep safe more than anything else.

If you like what you’ve learned here, download my FREE work related violence prevention checklist. Here you find different steps you can implement to stay safe from work related violence, regardless of the source of the violence, or the location it may occur.

Just click on the link and get started today.