| Personal Safety For Business Travelers |
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| Written by Sifu Trey Crake | |
| Saturday, 24 March 2007 | |
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Personal Safety For Business Travelers
Top 7 Airport Locations for Crime
According to Corporate Travel Safety, the most common locations for theft in airports are:
1) When checking in at the curbside.
2) At the ticket counter.
3) In the airport restroom.
4) Moving through security checkpoints.
5) On the plane in overhead carry-on compartments.
6) Baggage claim areas.
7) On the shuttle bus.
18 Safety Tips for Business Airline Travelers
To reduce your exposure to criminal threat while traveling through airports, the Federal Consumer Information Center provides the following safety tips for business travelers:
1) Do not publicize your travel plans, but limit that knowledge to those who need to know.
2) Take only the credit cards you need.
3) Carry only the documents you will need in a wallet or purse.
4) Hand-carry sensitive information.
5) The locks on your luggage are not secure. For added security, run a strip of nylon filament tape around the suitcase.
6) On luggage, use your business address and phone number.
7) Do not transport items for other people. Any gifts received from a foreign business contact should be thoroughly inspected before being placed in your luggage. If you are asked by airline personnel if you are carrying gifts or other items, respond affirmatively and allow the item to undergo security inspection.
8) Never place your valuables (money or traveler's checks) in your checked luggage.
9) Never leave your luggage or briefcase unattended at any time. Be especially alert to luggage thieves who target airline terminals, as well as car rental agency counters. Keep your luggage in clear view at all times, beside or in front of you, never behind you.
10) If traveling abroad, obtain a modest amount of foreign currency before you leave your home country. Criminals may watch for and target international travelers purchasing large amounts of foreign currency at airport banks and currency exchange windows.
11) Go to the opposite direction of any disturbance in an airport or other transportation center. Do not get involved.
12) Always be aware of where you are in relation to exits. If an incident occurs, you need to know how to avoid it and get out of the area.
13) Go directly to the gate or secure area after checking your luggage.
14) Avoid washing rooms or shopping areas outside the secure areas.
15) When on the airplane, store your carry-on items either under your seat or directly above your seat. Never store items or briefcases in overhead compartments away from your seat.
16) Arrange to be met upon your arrival whenever possible.
17) Alternately, consider transportation to and from the airport by a hotel vehicle.
18) Dress casually when traveling to avoid attention.
And above all, be aware of your surroundings. Many executives are attending specialized training courses on how to spot and diffuse potentially dangerous situations before they happen. Such schools as Front Sight Resorts (www.frontsight.com), the most popular and fastest growing personal safety and self defense training school in the U.S., has trained tens-of-thousands of students to spot, and effectively deal with a confrontation if and when it does occur.
Located on a 550-acre facility outside of Las Vegas, Front Sight has courses ranging from awareness training on how to spot criminal attempts in the making, to determent and evasive methods, through self defense procedures with both empty hands and use of weapons.
You have better things to do on a business trip than deal with criminal advances and attacks. Don't fall prey to their schemes, get informed, and by all means learn the skills to keep yourself safe.
When we go through an airport, many of us consider that we are in a somewhat safe environment. After all, we are in a populated area with a lot of "official" airline personnel around, airport security is plentiful, and the police are usually nearby. So, why should we worry about personal security, outside of a terrorist event taking place? True, the incidence of rape, murder and aggravated assault at the airport itself is lessened, but airports are notorious for theft, both covert and overt. And they are a staging ground for criminals to pick up the "trail" of unsuspecting business travelers who can make their attack once the traveler is in a more vulnerable location.
"Most airport crime is planned." Says Captain Mark Mancuso, of the Houston Police Department, Intercontinental Airport Division. "Opportunity thieves look for travelers who enter a crowded area and put their valued possessions beside them or leave them unattended."
Mancuso says. "Distraction thieves follow someone into a crowded checkpoint. Crooks work in teams at screening stations. For example, one will position himself just outside the security check. You place your hand luggage on the conveyor belt and begin to walk through the detection device, and get detained for a couple moments because the metal alarm sounded. While your attention is on that, the other half of the crook team, who just happens to be carrying an empty garment bag with one compartment conveniently unzipped, slides your laptop, or purse, or wallet in, and then he's gone before you even know what has happened."
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 26 September 2009 ) |
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