One thing that has always amused me is the way big police departments report crime statistics. For years and years we have been told that crime is down, down, down. Why don't I believe them?

If you have ever watched HBO's "The Wire" you get an up close and personal view of how a big city police department is run. This isn't picking on Baltimore, where they have an obvious crime problem. It generally represents the standard big city police department, where "stats" are more important than actually fighting crime. And achieving "good stats" is kind of like what we used to call "creative writing."

Accountants have been engaged in this game for years, which is why Enron continued to look good to outsiders even though it was taking on water from gaping holes in its hull.

What has happened is that crime has been reclassified, and you need to be an insider to know which categories need to be severely scrutinized. Even minor scrutiny would leave leave you with a lot of questions as to how all these decreases have been achieved as crime has been going down for so long.

The fact is that there is just as much crime going on as there used to be, but it now has different names, and is located in graphs and bar charts, usually in an addendum that is hard to locate.

What it means for you is that you have to be vigilant, and act as if none of these "stats" are believable at all. You need to start acquiring the tools you need to protect yourself, and familiarize yourself with them, so if and when a violent attack occurs, you'll be ready, and act without hesitation. And keep in mind, the tools won't do you any good in a drawer  somewhere.

If you're prepared you'll never be surprised,

Michael Gravette