Tactical Parking

Parking Considerations:

     The good news about parking for both security and emergency preparedness is that many of the techniques and considerations of how and where you park just so happen to be the same.  Whether you are parked at home, a busy mall, office lot, or in an apartment complex, many considerations are universal; whereas others are opportunistic and artistic.

     First, lets consider how car burglars and car thieves prefer to operate.  Though there is nothing set in stone, we know that car burglars and thieves generally prefer to “hit” vehicles wherein the vehicle is facing a direction that they can comfortably see a threat while doing their work.  That generally means that the front windshield is facing the home or building wherein the victim or watchful citizens may be inside.  For example, vehicle stereo thieves face the front windshield because they face the front dashboard while ripping the stereo from the console, as do vehicle thieves who just plain steal the vehicle itself.  The vehicle thieves face the dashboard while doing their work as they break the steering column.  If the they can comfortably see out the front windshield if anyone is spotting them, or a threat is approaching them, that is a plus for them…  They like it.  They do not like to keep having to turn their head around and look behind them, for that also breaks their casual appearance.

Choosing a Tactical Parking Space

     How else do they prefer to operate?  A common tactic for vehicle burglars is to casually pull their own vehicle along side the intended “hit” target.  This gives them many advantages.  They can sit in their own vehicle for a few minutes and make sure “the coast is clear” before jumping into your vehicle.  And since vehicle burglars commonly work in teams of two, one person can be ready in the get-away car while the other does break-in and theft.  They like to be close by the get-away car just in case they get spotted, they can jump in the get-away car and scram.  Another advantage of pulling along side the intended hit target is that that they can pretend or have a pretext for being there.  For example, they will often pretend to be talking on their cell phone standing between the get-away car and the intended hit, casually looking inside the intended hit for valuables or to examine the possible security obstacles of the hit target.

     Thus, from the above we can already formulate a strategy for parking with security in mind.  We know that we want our front windshield facing away from our home, building, or store that we are inside while away from our vehicle.  So if that means backing in, so be it.  That will make it easier for you to pull out of the space when you leave anyways…  You can do the work now or later;  why not now so you can kill two birds?  The backing in or otherwise facing the vehicle away from your home or building or store that you are inside also compliments emergency preparedness.  You can pull out faster and smoother in a chaotic situation to get your vehicle away from danger.  It is the mark of a security and/or emergency expert to have their vehicle ready to escape in the fastest and most efficient manner.

     Further formulating a strategy from the above, we know that if possible, we would want to park in corner parking slots.  That is to say we don’t want to be between two vehicles, or have a vehicle parked on either side of our own vehicle.  Best is generally to have a slot all to ourselves wherein another vehicle can’t park along side of our own.  But since we don’t live in a perfect world, this is seldom possible at a mall, store, or other rather large parking lot.  But it is common to be able to find a slot to at least have one side of our vehicle parked so that another vehicle can’t park beside it. These are slots next to islands, shopping basket return holders, or other corner slots.  And both vehicle burglars and vehicle thieves generally prefer (if they have a choice), to break in on the driver side.  So, this is where the art comes in and it could get tricky… For example, how would you park if you found a corner slot, but yet if you parked with the driver side on the side that another car can’t park beside, that would leave your vehicle with the windshield facing the building that you are going inside…?  True, this can’t always be an exact science.  We only know what is generally the most idealistic of circumstances for the best parking for security.  Again, parking in corner slots is also good for emergency preparedness.  It will help you to remember where you parked in a frantic situation wherein your adrenalin is pumping… the flight-or-flight syndrome will take blood and oxygen away from your brain;  thus forgetting things that you normally would not is easy.  By parking in a corner slot, you also have one less side to worry about too much hitting a pedestrian quickly running to their own car in an emergency situation.