The literal meaning of the word "predator" is an organism that primarily obtains food by killing and consuming other organisms.
The common definition of the word "predator" from Oxford Languages gives two definitions:
- A predator is an animal that naturally preys on other. Example: Wolves are major predators to rodents.
- A person who ruthlessly exploits others. Example: A sexual predator.
As a person looking to understand more about self preservation, let’s focus on the human predators that are looking to commit crimes against another. An attack cycle consists of the predator looking, choosing, stalking, closing and completing the attack on another person.
There are several outstanding resources out there to help us better understand a predator. One of them is Rory Miller, author of "Mediations on Violence." Experienced martial artist and veteran correction officer Sgt. Rory Miller distills what he has learned from jailhouse brawls, tactical operations and ambushes to explore the complexity of violence. He puts these predators in two main categories, Process Predator and Resource Predator.
Rory explains that a Process Predator loves violence. They could care less about money, they want you and they want to watch the world burn. These bad people are usually serial rapists, killers and are all about torture. They want as much time and privacy as possible, so this can easily mean they come to your home. If that is not available, they will take you and move you to a place that they feel is a secure and private place to do bad things. This is often called the secondary crime scene. Heads up, if a person invades your home or is attempting to move you, you are most likely dealing with a Process Predator. You MUST fight back with everything you have. You MUST not allow him to move you because it will most likely escalate to torture and murder. This is 100-percent "Go time" and you MUST get out of there.
Per Rory, a Resource Predator is looking for something to steal. Look at it this way: They think of you as a resource to get what they want. You are their “store” and they want what you have like your money, car, high dollar items, etc. The Resource Predator does NOT want to work hard for the “score”, they want to get the biggest return for the least amount of work. That being said, some will use violence but will usually only threaten violence if they believe you will not comply. Once you give them what they want, they will most likely move on.
Per huskerlaw.com, the top 20 most common crimes in the United States are:
- Drug Abuse/Trafficking
- Assault
- DUI/DWI
- Burglary
- Theft
- Fraud
- Robbery
- Embezzlement
- Vandalism
- Sexual Assault
- Cybercrime
- Domestic Violence
- Stalking
- Kidnapping
- Homicide
- Arson
- Human Trafficking
- Trespassing
- Disorderly Conduct
- White-Collar Crime
Without knowing specific details, it is safe to say that easily half of the most common crimes fall into one of these two predator categories. I see that statista.com states that in 2022 property crime, theft, burglary, and robbery made up 144,805,360 of the crimes committed in the United States where aggravated assault, rape and homicide made up 104,843 of the crimes committed. I don’t know about you, but I if I have to choose between a process predator and a resource predator, I would much rather give up my money then be put in a position where I am fighting for my life.
I consider these stats absolutely outrageous and we must do everything possible to see the threat before or during the predators “look” section of the attack cycle and to deselect ourselves so we are never even “chosen”. Let’s stop the attack cycle before it even starts by keeping our heads up, walk with confidence, and train (and practice) non-lethal, less than lethal and lethal decisions.
