The reality is that once you begin thinking with a criminal mind, you’ll be better prepared to stop a bad guy.

The lesson of thinking like a criminal took hold with me during my time providing diplomatic security in places such as Iraq, Pakistan, and elsewhere. When I say diplomats, I am speaking about protecting everyone from members of the US Senate, Congress, and the White House Cabinet, to lesser diplomats and representatives of the US government.

Learning to think like a bad guy was one of the first lessons we received when going through the high threat protection course. I’ve probably mentioned it before, but instructors expected us to look at our missions from the bad guy's point of view during training. They taught us to think like the attackers to determine their most likely courses of action when attacking us. Then, armed with that knowledge, we'd work our plans to address our vulnerabilities.

I do have to say that it worked spectacularly because we never lost a diplomat to the bad guys.

Thinking with a Criminal Mind

Thinking with a criminal mind, especially when contemplating how a criminal may target us, can be unnerving. After all, when we honestly think like a burglar or a person bent on violence, we are forcing ourselves to confront our weaknesses and vulnerabilities. However, once we move past any uneasiness of delving inside a criminal mind, we'll find ourselves in a much more safe and secure position. We can discover the chinks in our armor and work to repair them.

Some things to understand when thinking like a criminal are:

Knowing the trends in crime.

Studying your neighborhood.

Studying your home.

A Few Crime Stats to Consider

To begin with, according to the FBI, US Department of Justice, and others,

One property crime, which the FBI defines as the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson, happens every 4 seconds, with an average of over 1,000,000 home invasions happening each year between 1994 and 2010.

One burglary occurs every 20 seconds, with over 2,000,000 homes experiencing a burglary or break-in this year.

One violent crime occurs every 25 seconds.

One aggravated assault occurs every 45 seconds, with 38% of all assaults happening during home invasions.

One robbery occurs every 90 seconds.

One rape or attempted rape occurs every 5 minutes, with 38% of all rapes occurring during home invasions.

Know the Trends

Sir Francis Bacon is credited with the Latin phrase “scientia potentia est,” which translates in English to “knowledge is power.” In thinking of getting inside a criminal mind, the phrase knowledge is power is 100% accurate. The same goes for just about anything else we do in life. Heck, it’s one of the reasons we all listen to podcasts, right?

When it comes to maintaining knowledge of potential threats, a good method is to work inwards from the macro to the micro. In other words, study what is happening on a global scale and work inward from there. The global scale provides a good representation of the overarching trends in terrorism, cybercrime, and other significant criminal tendencies. It’s also good to remember when studying international crime trends that other potential future problems may become apparent. These problems include financial upheaval, infectious diseases, and other issues that warrant our awareness.

International Crime Trends

Studying global crime trends does not always provide information that requires action at the local level. However, understanding trends on the macro scale does help to establish an overall mindset for detecting developing crime trends. Additionally, when international methods make their way to the local level, having knowledge ahead of time will reduce a person’s chance of becoming a victim.