Appraising Threats

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 30th Mar 2020

Violence can be broken down into two subgroups: premeditated acts, where a motivated individual uses aggression, and potentially violence, to achieve a goal, and spontaneous acts where an unmotivated individual becomes motivated to use aggression and violence due to some event that occurs in their environment. Premeditated acts, include instrumental acts of aggression, such as offenders who engage in street robberies using the threat of violence to force a target to acquiesce to their demands, along with assertive and reassurance violence that is used by sexual predators, in their crimes. Spontaneous acts of violence can involve mis-readings of intent e.g....Click To Read More

Domestic Violence & Sheltering In Place

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 23rd Mar 2020

About a week ago we took the decision to suspend our free women’s self-defense program for a few weeks, to try to help slow down the spread of COVID-19. I apologize for writing another article in relation to the pandemic, however I’d urge you to stay with me and read a bit further, as this is about specific populations, where locking down and staying in place – especially for an extended period of time - increases the risk of violence. Suspending classes was a very hard decision for us to make (even though from a public health perspective it made...Click To Read More

Pandemics & Crime

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 16th Mar 2020

The question of, “How could COVID-19 affect crime rates?” probably isn’t one that many people are thinking about at this time, which is understandable, however it is worth understanding how disease, pandemics and our responses at all levels have the potential to increase criminal activity both in the short and long-term. This brief article looks at some of the relationships between disease and crime. Some law-enforcement agencies around the U.S. are attempting to minimize their members’ exposure to the virus, which makes absolute sense. If an officer is infected by a member of the public on a routine traffic stop, and...Click To Read More

Understanding & Setting Goals

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 9th Mar 2020

With every endeavor It’s good to have an idea of what you’re trying to accomplish, and whether you possess the means to accomplish it. Dealing with violence is no different. However, in the moment it can be difficult to identifying exactly what that goal is. When I competed in Judo it was very clear, either throw, pin or submit your opponent; other combat sports have similar, defined outcomes that you are trying to achieve. Real life violence is often more complex, due to the number of different moving parts and unknowns that are inherent in any situation e.g. do you...Click To Read More

Why We Don't Back Down

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 2nd Mar 2020

During my time working bar and club security, I have seen countless fights that involved two individuals who clearly didn’t want to fight. You could see the reluctance of both parties as they unconvincingly postured to each other, hoping that the other would back down – I rack my brains to think of one incident when somebody did. In this article, I want to look at some of the reasons why we don’t back down in verbal altercations that are clearly going to result in a physical confrontation; and it’s not simply a matter of ego (and in a bar/pub...Click To Read More