Do we attract assault? Why does a predator target one person over another? Studies have shown a fascinating link between movement and vulnerability. Eerily, our unique physical cues play a surprising role in attracting unwanted attention.

Serial killer Ted Bundy admitted in a personal interview in 1985 that “he could tell a victim by the way she walked down the street, the tilt of her head, the manner in which she carried herself, etc . . .”

The way we appear gives the world its first impression of us. We embody our emotions and mindset with our facial expressions, posture, and movements.

Are crime victims chosen -

At random?

Or because of non-verbal cues that bad guys perceive as opportunity?

The answer to both questions is YES.

If you are a victim of crime or need information and resources related to this topic, be sure to see our Resource page. We included a convenient way to download the resources so they are always accessible to you.

There will always be random crime. Random crime occurs when the victim was in the “wrong place at the wrong time” so to speak. They live in the apartment that was robbed or happen to be on the subway when the bad guy decided to commit a crime.

For non-random crimes, if we as potential crime victims unconsciously and completely unknowingly attract assault or other crime, can we reduce our vulnerability by appearing more confident than we really feel? Or by intentionally altering the way we walk?

Some answers to these questions can be found in the findings published in The Journal of Communication by Betty Grayson and Morris Stein in their 1981 study named Attracting Assault: Victims’ Nonverbal Cues.

Grayson and Stein’s study focused first on whether there are specific movements or behaviors that cause a person to be more attractive and susceptible to a criminal. Beyond that, they wanted to identify those specific movements or behaviors.

Here’s how this compelling study worked:

A video camera was set up on a street in New York City and recorded random people over a three-day period as they walked along the sidewalk between 10 am and 2 pm.

The random people (study subjects) were narrowed down to 4 groups of study subjects. First, the people were broken into a group of men and a group of women. Each gender was then broken into two groups: people that appeared to be over 40 years old and those that appeared to be under 40 years old.

Next, 12 inmates from a large prison in the Northeast were chosen to participate in the study. All of them were incarcerated for assault crimes ranging from murder to simple assault. None of the inmates knew or had ever met any of the study subjects.

Each inmate was asked to review the videos and select those recorded individuals they would target/victimize (on a scale from 1 to 10), in order to discover if there were any identifiable non-verbal cues that were commonly identified. Basically, they were asked to rate each recorded study subject in terms of their assault potential.

20 of the recorded individuals were identified by the prisoners as being “potentially easy victims.” The remainder of the study subjects were considered “non-victims.”

Then, a second set of inmates (53 individuals) was chosen to review the recordings of the study subjects and confirm or refute the ratings given by the first group of inmates.

The second set of inmates labelled the same twenty recorded study subjects as being “potentially easy victims,” with the remainder being labelled as “non-victims.”

AND the inmates’ choices for “potentially easy victims” were not based on gender, race, or age. When the inmates were asked why they identified certain people as “potentially easy victims”, none of them in either group could articulate their reasons.

So, the two groups of study subjects were compared to distinguish what, if any, types of movement were different. Did the “potentially easy victims” move differently from the “non-victim” group?

In order to compare the two groups – “potentially easy victims” and “non-victims” – Grayson and Morris conducted Labananalysis (a study of movement by 21 different components, ranging from gaze and right arm hold to stride length and amount of energy), which originated in the 1970s by Rudolf Laban who created a system of movement analysis.

Incredibly, it was discovered that there were three distinct movements, among several other similarities, that differentiated the “potentially easy victims” from the “non-victims.”

Stride length. The first movement was stride length. We each have a seemingly natural stride length relative to our height. In the “victim” group a large percentage, 42%, had a longer stride length than in the “non-victim” group.
Lack of fluidity. The second movement involves whether the person walked unilaterally or contralaterally. Picture how you walk in terms of how your arms swing as your legs step forward. So, if you naturally step forward with your right foot and your left (opposite) arm swings forward simultaneously, you are walking contralaterally. If you step forward with your right foot and your right arm swings forward at the same time, you are walking unilaterally. The study termed the act of walking unilaterally as lack of fluidity.
Postural versus gestural. The third major factor also has to do with fluidity. A majority of the “potentially easy victims” walked in what is considered a gestural manner. The study defined this term, gestural walk, as a manner of walking during which the arms and legs rather than the core seem to be the primary impetus of movement. In postural walking, the core is the main impetus with the arms and legs assisting. Slumping and lowered eye direction occurred in the gestural walking. On the contrary, in postural walking, heads tended to remain upright above the shoulders and hips.

So, certain stride length and fluidity seem to send hidden cues to draw the attention of predators, possibly because it is different to the way the vast majority of people move, or because it may demonstrate a lack of coordination and athleticism, which indicates a greater level of vulnerability.

Some people have said that having to be prepared or always being aware of their surroundings makes them feel paranoid about the world. Instead, consider a feeling of confidence and taking the view that you are in charge of yourself and your environment. You are your own most valuable asset. You are your own protector (Remember the Wonder Woman Stance!) And you are worth it.

Here are some expert insights from  Jin Kim*,retired FBI Special Agent, now a trainer specializing in mass shooting and workplace violence risk mitigation:

·       Carrying a tactical illuminator flashlight with a strike bezel is a great safety item to carry or attach to a key-chain.  The high lumen output is a very effective means to illuminate your area, to signal (strobe function), and can visually impair someone up close even during daylight. I carry the Surefire Defender everyday!
·       Try to keep your hands free of holding things and available, i.e. out of pockets and cross-carry bags.
·       Do not hesitate to verbalize and communicate strong and loud language, if necessary, of your stance and directives.
·       Be mindful of keeping your availability of free movement and ability to create distance.
·       Trust your feelings. Don't dismiss yourself.
·       Some tenets of safety are (1) being proactive and mindful (2) controlling what you can.
Most people willingly avoid dangerous situations and unsafe environments.  Life, however, sometimes presents circumstances that requires us to react outside our normal conduct and comfort levels.  To help mitigate these risks we may encounter in our lives, building a personal resiliency mindset can help avoid these circumstances altogether. 
A personal resiliency mindset is proactively understanding the dynamic synergy of:
            (1)  your environment;
            (2)  who is in or can enter the environment;
            (3)  how and at what rate the circumstances can change in the environment;
            (4)  having and maintaining the ability to react accordingly.
While there are many things we can’t control navigating through life, we can certainly take control of building and maintaining a proactive and resilient mindset for everyday safety.

By being prepared and stepping into our power posture, we're not just faking it until we make it — we're sending a powerful message to both ourselves and the world around us. We CAN adopt confident body language – even if we don’t feel confident. And as an added bonus, when we make ourselves appear confident, we might begin to feel more confident!

Stay Safe!

* Jin Kim biography. Mr. Jin Kim is a widely regarded Subject Matter Expert in active shooter and workplace violence risk management. Mr. Kim retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2018 and is a twenty-three year veteran of the New York Field Office. He served as the Active Shooter Coordinator on the Crisis Management Unit and was the leading authority directing active shooter risk mitigation & workplace violence prevention training for the FBI's corporate and private sector partnerships.

Mr. Kim is the Founder and Principal Practitioner of the PerSec Academy and Advisory Group LLC - a specialized consultancy delivering unparalleled expertise in training & educating workforces; assessing security and safety operational risk; modernizing institutional policies and procedures; and crisis management preparedness. He also regularly provides substantive presentations as a keynote and featured speaker at industry conferences, contributes expert commentary to media networks, and provides expert witness support.

Mr. Kim is also a Founding Principal of The Bureau Consortium - a national collaborative and team of former FBI experts and partner practitioners uniquely specializing in mass shooting and workplace violence risk mitigation.

In addition, he serves on numerous premier security technology company advisory boards and for Safe and Sounds Schools - a Sandy Hook non-profit initiative specializing in school safety.

Mr. Kim also served as the FBI’s New York Tactical Training Program Manager, in conjunction with his assignment as a primary Firearms and Tactical Instructor, and was responsible for programming tactical readiness training for both domestic duties and international deployments. In addition, he is a certified CRASE and ALERRT/FBI Active Shooter Tactical Instructor and has trained a countless number of law enforcement officers in active shooter and tactical response training.

As part of the FBI’s Police Training and Liaison Program, Mr. Kim was the Director and Principal Instructor of three specialized programs: The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) School; The Executive Protection/PSD Counter Assault Team (CAT) School; and The Observer/Sniper School, respectively.

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This blog post is for informational and educational purposes only. This post should not be taken as legal advice or used as a substitute for such. You should always speak to your own lawyer or professional advisor before implementing this information on your own. Thank you!

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