RCIPS Holiday Safety Initiative: Tips To Enhance Personal Safety During the Holidays

Aside from road safety, the RCIPS is emphasizing other aspects of safety during its Holiday Safety Initiative, including personal safety.

Violent crime and street crime in the Cayman Islands is rare, but there are things you can do to make yourself even less likely to be a target of such crimes. Below are some safety tips we’d like to remind the public about during the holidays, especially as people may be carrying more cash or valuables around than usual as they do their holiday shopping:

You’re safest in well-lit, busy areas.

Try to look and act confident – look like you know where you are going and walk tall.

Spread valuables around your body for example, keep your phone in your bag, your house keys in your trouser pocket and your money in your jacket.

If you use a wheelchair, keep your things beside you rather than at the back.

Try not to be conspicuous about valuables you are carrying. Talking loudly on your phone, carrying a lap top or showing your friend your new gold ring can give thieves the impression you are worth robbing.

Keep your cards separate from your cheque book and cash.

Never keep your personal identification number (PIN) and credit or debit card together.

Record your serial number and your phone number. Keep these in a safe place separate from your phone. You can get your serial number by looking behind the phone battery.

If your phone is stolen, report the phone and serial numbers to your network and the police as soon as possible.

Keep doors locked when driving and keep bags, phones and other valuables out of sight.

If someone tries to take something from you, it may be better to let it go rather than risk a confrontation and injury.

You can use reasonable force in self-defense. You are allowed to protect yourself with something you are carrying for example keys or a can of deodorant, but you may not carry a weapon.

If you decide to defend yourself, be aware that you attacker may be stronger than you, or may take what you are using in self defence and use it against you. It is often better just to shout loudly and run away.

When out walking or jogging, you should not listen to a personal stereo through headphones, so you can stay more alert to your surroundings.

“Often, because of the relatively low crime rate in Cayman, people can grow complacent about taking precautions to enhance their personal security,” says Angelique Howell, Superintendent of District Operations, “but the important thing to remember is that thieves and robbers are opportunists, more than anything else, and we have to develop habits that deprive them of opportunities as much as possible.”

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