Do you Flee Freeze or Fight?

While I was away in the Netherlands last week (and it always seems to happen when I’m away) a near neighbour of mine was woken up during the night by the sound of someone rummaging in her back garden. Her husband was working nights and so she was naturally frightened by the noise, so what did she do?

She woke up her young son and together they ran outside and simply stood outside the front of the house. Yes, that was it!

This lady is a most sensible person and I am convinced that there was indeed someone or something real in the garden. We should also bear in mind that she’d been burgled just two months previously and this experience had clearly affected her response to the threat she perceived. 

As a retired cop with years on the beat I can tell you now that it is almost impossible to predict a person’s reaction to a crime incident. I’ve met large mean looking men who have frozen solid, young fit men and women who have run off like the wind and elderly ladies who have pounded the hell out of a perpetrator; you just can’t tell!

So what’s the best reaction?

Frankly there is no answer to that one, because under stress people will do what their natural instincts tell them.  So whatever the victim’s reaction might be it should never be negatively criticised, because you simply don’t know what your own reaction might be in similar circumstances.

Fortunately, after 30 minutes outside, my neighbour returned to the house and everything was fine.

This incident does demonstrate how badly a burglary can affect a victim and I can only hope that our judges really do take this into consideration when they sentence the offenders. Burglary is actually about people even though it’s categorised as a property crime.

Home Security Survey application: http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/home-security-assessment/468/home-security-survey--diy/