Keeping Safe with Strangers

We’d like to think ‘dicey’ situations are rare in New Zealand, but they are a lot more common than we’d imagine.  When dealing with prospective tenants, it pays to keep safety in mind.  Here are some tips for keeping safe when meeting with strangers:

1. Let someone know where you are, who you are meeting, and when you are expected back.
2. Keep your exits in mind.  It is better to leave a stranger in your house, than not leave at all.
3. Keep your cell phone on you, charged, and ready to dial emergency numbers at speed.
4. Have a ‘safety phrase’ that everyone knows, and you can use to alert someone when you are in trouble. "Help Help, call the police" is probably not subtle enough if you are trying to avert disaster.  Try ‘Darling, I’m running late, can you pick up the kids from preschool?’ if you don’t have preschoolers.  The recipient of the message should understand they are to send the police immediately to your location.
5. Be ready to run.  Keep your shoes sensible, and your belongings on your person.
6. Park your car where you won’t be blocked in, and don’t have to reverse to exit quickly. Don't park in the driveway, garage, or pointing the wrong way in a cul-de-sac.
7. Don’t be confrontational.  If a situation is escalating, keep calm and be non-threatening, but stay in control.
8. Use social niceties to your advantage – ‘thank you so much for coming’ while moving towards the door can be more powerful than ‘please leave’ if you use it at the right time.
9. Don’t comply if someone wants to take you in their vehicle, get in your vehicle, or tries to restrain you.  Avoid being an easy victim.  If this happens, fight, loudly attract attention, and escape.
10. Walk behind strangers, not in front, when showing a property so you’re not surprised from behind.
11. Trust your instinct.  Wouldn’t you rather feel foolish than feel pain?
12. Call the police.  The police strongly encourage people to call when threatened, and you will be taken seriously.  Chances are you are not alone in your experience with this person.  Report it to the police, you may save someone else a whole heap of grief.

Remember, bad situations are rare, and you can do something to keep them that way.  Stay safe out there.

If you have any other safety tips, feel free to post a comment!