Happy Friday, friends: My guest today is one of my favorite people. She’s generous, a good listener, and a terrific brainstormer. Our phone calls are typically long and ridiculously funny. All right, I’m ridiculous; she’s funny. Her article today isn’t funny. In fact, it’s serious and addresses a difficult topic. We all hope and pray we’re never a victim of a violent crime. But it never hurts to be prepared and/or engage in a dress rehearsal of what ifs. Please welcome retired LAPD Police Officer and Author Kathy Bennett. ~ Donnell
Dress Rehearsal
By: Kathy Bennett
Author Kathy Bennett
It’s a Tuesday, and the last sliver of sun just sank behind the distance hills. It’s dusk. You had a horrendous day at work, attending several meetings, responding to dozens of emails, and taking phone calls from hordes of people. You’re finally free to go home, but you remember you’ve got nothing for dinner. So, you point your car toward your favorite supermarket. Pulling into the parking lot, you’re dismayed to discover that, apparently, a lot of people had nothing to fix for dinner. Just like you, those folks are searching for a parking space near the door of the market. Finally, you give up and grab the first empty spot you see at the far end of the parking lot.
As you exit your vehicle, you lock your doors and whip out your cell phone to call your spouse. You want to tell him he needs to pick up your daughter from daycare because you’re at the market. Suddenly, a man steps in front of you. He points an intimidating gun at your chest and tells you to give him your phone and wallet.
You’re frozen with fear and don’t move. The man jerks the terrifying gun closer to your face, and he growls at you. “I said, give me your stuff!” You’re still welded in place, so he rips the phone from your hand and yanks your purse from your shoulder. He turns, sprints through the parking lot, launches into a waiting car, and the tires burn rubber while fleeing the scene. You look around the parking lot to see if anyone else noticed what just happened to you. Unaware of the recent drama in their vicinity, your fellow citizens go on with their business of loading their groceries into their vehicles or walking toward the store.
Bewildered, you make your way into the market and grab the arm of the first employee you see and tell them to call the police — you’ve been robbed.
Have you ever rehearsed what you would do if confronted by a gunman in a parking lot? What if you walked in on a burglar in your home? Have you considered what action you would take if you were at a concert in your section of the arena collapsed? What if you were at the mall, and a 7.0 earthquake occurred? Do you get the idea I’m leading to the title of this article… dress rehearsal?
Early in the police academy, recruit officers are taught to be aware of their surroundings and think in terms of the worst-case scenario, and what if… On more than one occasion while training a probationary officer, I’d suddenly pull our patrol car to the curb and yell out, “I’ve just been shot. Where are we?” It’s vital for police officers to always know their location in case of an ambush, traffic accident, or other disaster. With crime running rampant throughout the country, I recommend you start thinking in those terms as well. (By the way, I do recommend giving up your property. Property can be replaced
— you cannot.)
As you go about your daily activities, be in the moment — pay attention to what’s going on around you. In these days of technology and multitasking, it’s easy to be distracted from what you’re doing. And that distraction could cost you dearly. Another thing about planning ahead… it can take away some of the anxiety you might feel when unexpectedly confronted with adverse conditions. In the scenario, a parking lot robbery I presented, if you’ve already thought about it and decided to give up your property, that’s one aspect of the crime where you know what will be happening.
With some nut pointing a gun at you, it’s a given that you’ll be scared. So, instead of focusing on: Gosh, I’m scared. Should I give up my wallet? What about my jewelry? By planning ahead, you can look at the suspect trying to sear his/her image into your brain, looking for something distinctive—tattoos, piercings, missing, broken, or gold teeth. Maybe the thief has a mole on his nose or under an eye. In your dress rehearsal, you’ve already done a run through where the robber can run to a waiting car — in fact you’ve considered the best escape routes a suspect might take so you aren’t surprised when your robber runs exactly that direction to a get-away car.
Because you’re not surprised, you have extra seconds to look at that escape vehicle and see what color it is, whether it has tinted windows, custom wheels, or maybe traffic collision damage. Anything that will make the car stand out for officers searching for the suspects. There is one thing I know about dress rehearsals: they work. You can bet the crooks are out there practicing their lines, their moves, and their plans. You should rehearse your thoughts
and actions as well, because in this type of performance, you don’t want to be doing improvisation.
If you want to see someone struggle with forced improvisation… in Collateral Damage, book one in my Buckner Trilogy, kidnapped nurse Amber Buckner 
convinces her captor he is the father of the child she’s carrying. While the maniac seesaws between love and hate for her, she prays her husband, an LAPD cop, will discover she’s been kidnapped and rescue her. What Amber doesn’t know is that her husband isn’t looking for her—no one is—the madman has seen to that.
About the Author: Kathy Bennett is no stranger to murder and mayhem. She served twenty-nine years with the Los Angeles Police Department—eight as a civilian employee and twenty-one years as a sworn police officer. She spent most of her career working patrol, but Kathy was also a firearms instructor, a crime analyst in the “War Room”, a field-training officer, a senior lead officer, and a plainclothes officer for various assignments. She was named Officer of the Year in 1997.
Kathy writes the popular Deadly Thriller Series, featuring LAPD Detective Maddie Divine. Barnes and Noble chose A Deadly Blessing as a Best Book of 2012. She’s working on a new trilogy featuring Roy and Amber Buckner. The first book in the series, Collateral Damage, has received enthusiastic endorsement. Police officers who have read her work praise Kathy for her authentic stories and “getting police work right.”
Her husband is also a retired Los Angeles Police Officer. They have one daughter and two grandchildren. Kathy likes to go hiking with her husband and their two Labrador retrievers—incorporating photography into many of their adventures.
Kathy, I’ve participated in self-defense situational awareness preparedness twice. The one in Arizona I’ll never forget. The officer told us do anything you can not to get into a car with an adversary. “Do not end up in the desert,” he said. I thought I was holding my own until he put that gun in my ribs and said, “Now, what are you going to do?” Great article and yes, better safe than sorry. Thank you, my friend.
You are quite welcome, Donnell! Sounds like great training!
Great advice!
Thank you, Helen!
Great article! I realized I wouldn’t know what to do in many of these situations. Thank you for making me think about this.
I totally get it, Kathleen, and thank you! That’s why I wrote the article 🙂
Great post. I’d be so scared, I’d toss everything his or her way and hope I’d remember what they looked like.
When I worked as a cashier, we were told to just turn over the cash, but to memorize a description of the thief, the getaway vehicle, and which way they went. Thankfully I was never robbed because I’m not sure I could remember all that.
Great article. Both me and my protagonists are going to work on becoming more aware of our surroundings!
Once you get into the habit, it becomes second nature.
Thank you for shining a light on this important topic! It’s so easy to slip into our own world and forget about the one around us. (BTW: Collateral Damage sounds great!)
Thank you, Marie! It’s terrifying to me to see people (especially young ones) walking down the street with their heads buried in their phones. So easy to quickly be snatched into a passing vehicle.
I love the bit about training! I’m always stunned how many of my friends have no situational awareness, even when traveling. It can save your life or the lives of others–I once saw a car go off the interstate and roll several times. When I called 911 I was able to tell them exactly what exit I had just passed and which direction I was traveling.
Great post, Kathy! Thanks for pushing us to look around us and make a plan.
Excellent article! Thanks, Donnell and Kathy!
This is such a great post, Kathy. It has really made me think and I appreciate the advice! Thank you.