Not paranoid, but preparing: SPD crime prevention expert’s crucial tips on parking lot safety

With shoppers continuing to be targeted by criminals, KIRO 7 is looking at ways you can better protect yourself during the holiday shopping season.

If you’re in a parking lot while out shopping, SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator Sarah Lawson says the key to staying safe is “not being paranoid, but preparing.”

“Mindset could be just as important, if not more than what skills you have,” Lawson added.

We have tips from Lawson that she also teaches in her crime prevention classes. Those include:

• Stuffing Your Trunk: “You always want to make sure everything’s out of sight before you go somewhere else. So, if somebody maybe follows you there or somebody comes across you at this new location, they don’t know that things are there.”
• Staying Alert: “I’m going to be able to give the police a good description, I’m going to be able to know where I am, I’m going to be able to know what direction you go.” Lawson also says that looking distracted (instead of alert) could attract crime. This also means keeping your headphones/earbuds out, especially when you are shopping in public.
• Planning and Preparing: “By being able to prepare before something happens, it’s a lot easier for you to work through a situation or prevent a situation from happening altogether. Going through those mental situations, like, ‘So, if this happens, what am I going to do now?”

When planning and preparing, Lawson said to consider what self-defense skills you can use.

“(People tell me in our classes) I’m going to whack them with a cane. They carry safety devices. I’m going to shove my walker into them,” Lawson said.

Lastly, if you feel like someone may be following you while you’re driving, the best thing you can do is call 911.

“Gone are the days when you could only call when you’re dead or dying,” Lawson said. “If you feel unsafe, you are always welcome to call 911. ‘Hey, I’m driving home. There’s a car. It’s been following me since North Seattle. I don’t feel safe. They keep following me. What should I do?’… Even if it turns out to be nothing, we would much rather you report and be wrong.”

Parking lots have been a longtime concern for crime prevention analysts.

In 1996, the Department of Justice and the National Institute of Justice stated released a report that found “violent crime is more likely to occur in a parking facility than in other commercial facilities… because parking facilities compromise a large volume of space with relatively low levels of activity.”

Since then, parking lots have increased safety measures, including improving layouts to minimize blind spots and adding security-alert devices/systems.

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