The Ecology of Crime and Violence

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 25th Jan 2021

From a personal safety perspective, it is usually most beneficial to look at incidents of crime and violence at the micro-level i.e., what components come together to make an offense, such as the particular location where the incident occurred, the consideration in the moment that affected the perpetrator’s decision-making etc. However, there are times when it is worth taking a higher-level view and considering how the incident relates to its ecology. When we think about ecology, we normally think about it from a biological perspective, looking at how individual organisms relate and interact with each other in the environment(s) where...Click To Read More

Extremism And Violence

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 18th Jan 2021

In this article I want to take a look at how/why extreme beliefs (extremism) can lead to violence. Before examining the phenomenon of extremism, which can be political, religious etc. it is worth setting out and differentiating some of the things that often get confused with, or become synonymous with extremism, that end up distracting us from truly defining what extremism is; and if we can’t define it, we can’t properly identify and recognize it, which means that we’ll be unable to deal with it. Berger’s statement that “Terrorism is a tactic, whereas extremism is a belief system”, is a...Click To Read More

Avoiding A Prolonged Fight

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 11th Jan 2021

I’m a big believer in ending any violent incident quickly – that can be disengaging at the earliest opportunity; situations don’t always have to end with an unconscious aggressor, or one so injured/beat up that they can’t physically continue, etc. This also doesn’t mean, that I believe in “finishing” people when there is an opportunity to safely disengage; there is an extremely limited number of occasions when it is legally justifiable to stomp on somebody’s head, after they’ve been thrown/fallen to the ground, etc. If they’re not an imminent threat, and you have an opportunity to go, you should take...Click To Read More

The Loneliest Place

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 4th Jan 2021

I remember the first time I felt truly alone working the door; when I realized I was figuratively and literally, at the end of the line. When I first started working bar and club security, I was normally working relatively large venues, which required a good number of doormen; and fortunately for my education a lot of those individuals had many years of experience, which they were happy to share with us junior/newer members of the team. This always reassured me because I knew if I got too far out of my depth, I could rely on someone bailing me...Click To Read More