Hope For The Future - Thanks To One Student from Wisconsin

We received a letter a few days ago from a college student in Wisconsin regarding a non-profit project she created that provides victims of domestic violence the tools and instructions for documenting stalking and other threatening behaviors, along with items to assist with personal safety.

The next generation will eclipse the current one. There are so many bright stars of hope that foreshadow a more compassionate future represented in initiatives like the one this young gal organized from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her parents should be very proud of her.

Merry Christmas, kid. You are making the world a better place.

Protect Your Kids - A Child Abduction Warning from Minnesota

This is a real incident that happened this weekend (August 2013) at the Mall of America in Minnesota... but it could happen to anyone, any where at any time.  Life can change in an instant.

A friend of mine was at the Mall of America today with her 16 month old daughter.  A few steps from a busy store's exit, she paused and turned to the side to check out some merchandise, momentarily taking her hand off of the stroller she had been pushing.

That's it.  A split second.

When she turned back, a stranger had his hand on the handle of her stroller.  The entire incident, from beginning to end, happened in a flash.  A quick, innate reaction had the mom grab the handle of the stroller as the man, cognizant of being detected, slipped out the exit and away in the crowd.

And that's how it happens.  Darkness waiting for an opportunity.  Watching.  Planning.  Scouting, then stalking.  Striking.

Around 7% of child abductions happen in stores or malls.

Adam John Walsh (November 14, 1974 – July 27, 1981) was an American boy who was abducted from a Sears department store at the Hollywood Mall in Hollywood, Florida, on July 27, 1981, and later found murdered and decapitated. Walsh's death earned national publicity. His story was made into the 1983 television film Adam, seen by 38 million people in its original airing. Walsh's father, John Walsh, became an advocate for victims of violent crimes and the host of the television program America's Most Wanted.  (source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Adam_Walsh)

Not much has changed since that fateful day when Adam Walsh was abducted from a Florida mall.  Things could have ended tragically today at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.  Life gives you no second chance.  Safeguard your kids, as predators are waiting for you to take your eyes off of them.  Life can be forever altered in a split second.  Be vigilant.

Thanks For The Positive Feedback on eBay (VigilantPPS)

We reached a milestone on eBay today with our 800th feedback.  We have a 99.6% lifetime positive feedback rating with all 5***** seller ratings.

We work hard to maintain that rating across all of the channels that we sell to, but appreciate every single order, and every single positive feedback comment that comes our way.

You can visit us on eBay here :  VigilantPPS on eBay

Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Personal Alarms

I had a very interesting conversation this afternoon with a director from OSHA from one of our largest States.  There's a growing awareness of the benefits of "arming" mental health staff with personal alarms.  As he and I talked about the strategy behind the use of carrying a personal alarm, I thought it might be valuable information to share with you and preserve here on the blog.

• Carrying this alarm should make you more vigilant.  Get in the habit of practicing increased situational awareness
• Pull the plastic tab and discard it.  Test the alarm for 1 second by pulling the pin and quickly replacing it so that you understand what it sounds like.

·      Carrying this Vigilant alarm has two intended benefits in the event of an emergency:

1. Obviously, it gets the attention of anyone in the immediate vicinity
2. More importantly, it disrupts the thought process of the potential assailant.  They don’t know what it is, and they don’t know how to stop it.  All they know is something unexpected just happened, introducing the element of surprise to your side and buying you a critical 10-15 seconds for you to act

Never feel apologetic if you are ever in a situation that causes you to pull the pin.  You may never know what the results might have been had you not taken action.  

Thanks To You - Vigilant PPS8G is #1 Best Seller on Amazon

Thank you all for helping to make the Vigilant PPS8G Alarm the #1 best selling product in the entire category of Security Sensors and Alarms at Amazon.com!

(Well, not all of you.  Just those of you who bought one!  :-) )

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/electronics/14241131/ref=sr_bs_1

Introducing the Lorex brand to VigilantPPS

We are now an authorized retailer for Lorex branded security and surveillance systems. Here's a link to the first new product from VigilantPPS featuring Lorex :

http://www.vigilantpps.com/lorex-lnc116/

A Tough Calling - Being a Correctional Officer

Being a corrections officer would be a tough calling.

• Correctional Officers (CO’s) have the second highest mortality rate of any occupation.
• 33.5% of all assaults in prisons and jails are committed by inmates against staff.
• A CO’s 58th birthday, on average, is their last.
• A CO will be seriously assaulted at least twice in a 20 year career.
• On average a CO will live only 18 months after retirement.
• CO’s have a 39% higher suicide rate than any other occupation,
• And have a higher divorce and substance abuse rates then the general population.

Sources: “Stress Management for the Professional Correctional Officer”, Donald Steele, Ph.D., Steele Publishing 2001 “Corrections Yearbook 2000, 2002”, Criminal Justice Institute, Middletown, CT “Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2003”, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 31st edition, NCJ 208756 “Suicide Risk Among Correctional Officers”, Archives of Suicide Research, Stack, S.J., & Tsoudis, O. 1997 Metropolitan Life Actuarial Statistics, 1998 Society of Actuaries, 1994 

We at VigilantPPS.com are thankful for our second order of alarm products from the State of Colorado Department of Corrections.  Our thoughts travel with each alarm to your corrections officers.  We are honored that our alarms will be part of your comprehensive plan of safeguarding the people who safeguard us.  Thank you Colorado Department of Corrections!