Responding to a Verbal Challenge
By Kevin Michalowski // 01/16/2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71aOJjgNQJE
A viewer asked what he should do if someone was catcalling or being rude to his wife. The right answer is: Keep on walking.
Rudeness is not a reason to pull your gun. Not ever. If you are faced with catcalling or other rude behavior, it is your job to avoid the conflict and escape safely if you can.
Now, if things escalate and the verbal assault becomes a physical assault or even a legitimate threat of physical assault, then you can use force to defend yourself. But, as always, you are required to use the lowest level of force that will stop the threat.
If someone is just being rude, making lewd or suggestive comments or simply acting like a fool, your best option is to leave the area. Even if you have right to be there, do you really want to be the spark that causes the situation to escalate? If that happens, you will have a much bigger legal headache to deal with as you try to prove that you didn’t provoke your assailant.
By the same token, if your assailant moves from rudeness to making threats of violence, then you will have the right to respond. If you feel you cannot escape the situation safely, you must choose the lowest level of force required to stop the threat. Remember, investigating officers will be looking at the totality of the circumstances to determine if you will be charged with a crime following the incident. Because of this, you need to be able to clearly articulate why you chose to use the level of force you did.
It is also important that you win the race to call 911. The first caller to 911 becomes the complainant and responding officers will arrive on the scene looking for the caller. Criminals know this very well and will often call police in an effort to get their false statement about the incident on record. When calling police, don’t make any admissions of guilt, but do provide a good description of the person who attacked you and as much information as possible to help responding officers find that person. This includes direction of travel, a vehicle license number and other information relevant to the investigation.
Never let anyone who has made aggressive or suggestive comments get close enough to touch or grab you. Create space. Use cover. Give loud and clear verbal commands ordering — not requesting — that the person leave you alone. This will help with your legal defense by turning bystanders into witnesses. Investigators will look at the totality of the circumstances, and making it clear that you wanted your attacker to leave you alone is one of the best ways to ensure anyone nearby knows what is going on.
Be Aware of Your Surroundings
Situational awareness will help keep you alive. Conflict avoidance is the other side of that coin. If you see something out of the ordinary, immediately formulate a plan and begin to act on that plan.