I don't know about everywhere else, but here in Michigan, Summer has arrived. Time to think about losing weight to look good on the street and at the beach, vacation time upcoming, family events, summer camp, days at the movies, multiple car shows, and all the other fun things of the season.

But as I was thinking about all the good things to look forward to, I had to give some thought to a report released by the FBI today that crime, especially violent crime, is down. This continuing decline, no matter how small the percentages are, is a good thing. The question is, what is the public's perception? How does this effect their outlook on their overall personal safety? Will they perceive this as a reason to be less concerned and/or more lax in their awareness of what is going on around them? Now, as an educator in Personal Safety, most people would say this is going to hurt my business, so I have to find a way to make people scared. WRONG!

Nothing could be farther from the truth, and I have said this before. There are others out there, much more well known than I am, like PEYTON QUINN, TOM PATIRE, MELISSA SOALT, GAVIN DeBECKER, MEREDITH GOLD, CHRIS McGOOEY(The Crime Doctor), J.J. BITTENBINDER, and many more, who are still very successful, and are people whom I admire and try to emulate in their efforts to keep the public safe. But I don't think any of us are depending on public fear or paranoia to keep us going. Indeed, I believe we are focused on making people MORE aware and PROACTIVE, so as to reduce crime, and make opportunities for crime less available to those who would take advantage of the citizenry.

But, back to the concern I have. After SEPT.11TH, there was a great concern about the so called "destruction of our country's "invincibility", causing fear that we were in trouble because we were so dependant on not having terror raise its ugly head here, but now, it was here. In many ways, for me, that day was a reflection of what I see when it comes to crime in this country. The "It doesn't happen here/to ME/this neighborhood" syndrome. It is so woven into the fabric of our lives, that nothing except a major disaster can cut it out. It takes the abduction of a child that becomes a national story on an obsessive level(even though it happens in various ways almost every day)to get people focused on the problem. It takes a "Runaway Bride" to get people to think about kidnapping.

It takes a "SCOTT PETERSON/ROBERT BLAKE/MICHAEL JACKSON" trial to get people's attention about those varying concerns. Then, it all goes away! When the "sensationalism aspects" of the concerns diminish, we just go back to the "heads in the sand" comfort zone. CRIME, like disease(and it is one), has not gone away, and we don't seem to want to get involved in the process of prevention, until it hits us personally. By that time, it is TOO LATE! I think it is time we take PROACTIVE interest in all points of our lives, whether it be crime prevention, terrorism, and even our health and longevity.

That is what my own PPT is all about. Educating the public and making them, as HOCH HOCHHEIM calls them, "the Concerned Citizenry". Take a look at MSNBC's story on the crime reduction report by clicking the link below:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8122882/

and if that doesn't work, go to the MSNBC web site,

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4327893/

for the "Crime and Punishment" link.

There are many of you out there as Martial Artist's who teach self defense, and I applaud you, because you are providing an important part of the prevention matrix. But I implore you to not just focus on the physical aspects. So much of the time, that is all the public will see about what you do. As TOM CALLOS has said, we are MUCH MORE than just that.

Martial Arts instructors are unique in that we are giving an equivalent college level education to the public. We are counselors, coaches, personal trainers, motivators, anti-violence preachers(which the public has difficulty accepting), and more, and it's about time you all embrace that. For those of you who are not martial artists, you are still a part of the process as community volunteers in substance abuse coalitions, volunteers at Domestic Violence shelters, Attorneys, Judges, Law Enforcement officers, Firemen, First Responders, Rape Center volunteers and call-in assistants, and more as a part of the "Concerned Citizenry". If we all work together on INVOLVED Prevention and Awareness, we can be a "FORCE" for reducing crime even further. Keep in mind, as we do this, that even though certain crimes are falling in certain areas, it is INCREASING in some others, like ID THEFT, and in other ways, has just changed, because of new technologies that both help and HURT us.

Criminals don't have to go out and take a chance on getting caught robbing a bank or home, when they can sit at a computer console(as are most of you reading this), and access your home, personal records, bank accounts and more. If you are trying to hide from someone stalking or threatening you with Domestic Violence, the Internet has a variety of ways they can find you, even going so far as to get Satellite photo directions to your place of residence or business(yeah, I just did that for several of you that I know, thanks to my friend LAURIE, that sent me a link for a business that does that, so I KNOW its out there). We have not yet established laws concerning much of this new technological invasion of our privacy and safety, and the public needs to "get on the stick" and get their local and national representatives to address this ASAP!

The NATIONAL CENTER for VICTIMS of CRIME is having its first national conference, JUNE 20-22nd, in WASHINGTON DC, and if you can, I urge you to attend and learn about the concerns of victims rights and support. Look at:

http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/Main.aspx

to get more information, and also support your local state organizations like the one we have here:

http://www.preventcrime.net

and I'm sure you will include in your prayers the young Alabama high school student, who is missing in ARUBA. Here again, we don't think about educating our children to be careful when visiting other countries, especially when there is so much anti-american sentiment elsewhere. I urge you to pass this along, as I always do, to friends, family, and business associates, and would love to hear your feedback on this commentary and the issue I'm addressing in it. .

"Personal Safety IS, your PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY! Don't take it LIGHTLY!"(TM)