Pre incident indicators (PII’s) are exactly what they say they are, things that happen before the incident that let you know something is going to happen. We see PII’s in the medical field, in sales, in fashion, even car accidents and especially confrontations. PII’s can predict good things as well as bad
In sales and Real estate we can see a need or a growing interest in a product or area. These PII’s allow us to get the jump on the market and sell big when the time comes. In medicine, we see our cholesterol is up and our stress levels are high, we are able to prevent a stroke or heart attack by cutting back on certain foods and activities. Confrontations are no different, there are almost always PII’s.
People have argued that those dealing in sales are experts at knowing how stocks, bonds, and real estate works. And doctors and medical technicians study for years to learn how to read PII’s for their profession. This is true, but unless you have been a hermit or lived under a rock your whole life, you have studied people and confrontations as long as you have been alive, and you are aware of more than you realize.
Before I go too much further I am going to tell of a personal experience I had. See if you can pick up some of the PII’s that were there.
Recently a job took me to New Orleans during Mardi Gras. More specifically, it took me to Bourbon St. While there I saw a pickpocket at work. I had seen this man before my near encounter with him and he never seemed to fit in with the partying crowd he always seemed to be around. He was sober and unassuming, but he had a peculiar habit of standing or walking next to people for a few minutes before abruptly turning and walking off. I began to take special notice him after the 3rd time of seeing him do the same thing among different groups of people. I caught up with him at about 230 a.m. on a nearly empty backstreet. My client had had enough of the crowds, afraid that the crush of people would harm his camera equipment, so we took a side road to get back to the rest of our group. The stranger had just passed us and hurried down the street ahead of us. Suddenly he stopped, seemingly fascinated by something in a store window, yet his chin was tilted our direction and he was staring at a single spot on the glass. I got the feeling he was watching us in his peripherals so I guided my client to the other side of the street and continued on while keeping an eye on the man. We passed his position and I saw him tilt his chin the other way (following our current direction) and I knew that he had marked us and was likely to follow us. Sure enough after we had about a 20 foot lead he turned, crossed the street to our side and began to catch up to us.
Ok so what were some of the PII’s?
First: location. Sometimes your PII is just knowing that you are on the wrong side of town at a bad hour. In this case, Bourbon St. during Mardi Gras.
Second: behaviour. A PII can be shown in body language and odd behaviour. Here a man I had noted for suspicious behaviour rushes past me to suddenly stop in front of a store window. Acceptable if not for the following behaviour of watching my client and I (chin tilt in our direction), and then crossing the street to follow us after we walked past.
In the end it was the picture he painted with his actions that warned me, as I think it would have warned anyone watching for the signs. I think it is important to note that being aware of PII’s is not to be confused with paranoia, thinking that everyone is shady and out to get you, but you should not automatically assume you are paranoid if you get a bad feeling about someone or something. It seems that a lot of people brush aside the bad feeling they get, assuming they are being paranoid or rude. I would strongly encourage you not to do this, a lot of times the “gut-feeling” you get before something bad happens is your mind subconsciously noting PII’s. By training yourself to consciously note PII’s you can promote your own safety and prevent many incidents from ever happening to you.
Now that you are more aware of PII’s the question remains, what will you do with this knowledge? As the saying goes, “knowledge without action is useless.”
People have argued that those dealing in sales are experts at knowing how stocks, bonds, and real estate works. And doctors and medical technicians study for years to learn how to read PII’s for their profession. This is true, but unless you have been a hermit or lived under a rock your whole life, you have studied people and confrontations as long as you have been alive, and you are aware of more than you realize.
Before I go too much further I am going to tell of a personal experience I had. See if you can pick up some of the PII’s that were there.
Recently a job took me to New Orleans during Mardi Gras. More specifically, it took me to Bourbon St. While there I saw a pickpocket at work. I had seen this man before my near encounter with him and he never seemed to fit in with the partying crowd he always seemed to be around. He was sober and unassuming, but he had a peculiar habit of standing or walking next to people for a few minutes before abruptly turning and walking off. I began to take special notice him after the 3rd time of seeing him do the same thing among different groups of people. I caught up with him at about 230 a.m. on a nearly empty backstreet. My client had had enough of the crowds, afraid that the crush of people would harm his camera equipment, so we took a side road to get back to the rest of our group. The stranger had just passed us and hurried down the street ahead of us. Suddenly he stopped, seemingly fascinated by something in a store window, yet his chin was tilted our direction and he was staring at a single spot on the glass. I got the feeling he was watching us in his peripherals so I guided my client to the other side of the street and continued on while keeping an eye on the man. We passed his position and I saw him tilt his chin the other way (following our current direction) and I knew that he had marked us and was likely to follow us. Sure enough after we had about a 20 foot lead he turned, crossed the street to our side and began to catch up to us.
Ok so what were some of the PII’s?
First: location. Sometimes your PII is just knowing that you are on the wrong side of town at a bad hour. In this case, Bourbon St. during Mardi Gras.
Second: behaviour. A PII can be shown in body language and odd behaviour. Here a man I had noted for suspicious behaviour rushes past me to suddenly stop in front of a store window. Acceptable if not for the following behaviour of watching my client and I (chin tilt in our direction), and then crossing the street to follow us after we walked past.
In the end it was the picture he painted with his actions that warned me, as I think it would have warned anyone watching for the signs. I think it is important to note that being aware of PII’s is not to be confused with paranoia, thinking that everyone is shady and out to get you, but you should not automatically assume you are paranoid if you get a bad feeling about someone or something. It seems that a lot of people brush aside the bad feeling they get, assuming they are being paranoid or rude. I would strongly encourage you not to do this, a lot of times the “gut-feeling” you get before something bad happens is your mind subconsciously noting PII’s. By training yourself to consciously note PII’s you can promote your own safety and prevent many incidents from ever happening to you.
Now that you are more aware of PII’s the question remains, what will you do with this knowledge? As the saying goes, “knowledge without action is useless.”
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