Fiesta Puerto Rico Booth

Well we were hoping to take many pictures yesterday of the festival, but the weather did not cooperate. I managed to take a photo of our booth with Susan chowing down… and that was about it. The music and food was great, but not very many people showed up since they predicted a 70% chance of rain. And rained it did, more like pouring buckets throughout the day. We would have to cover the self defense products with plastic and luckily our canopy had extra sides to zip up if we needed it. Susan, the other owner of WomenOnGuard.com, and I had to hold our canopy down, several times, so the wind would not blow it away. We did have 4 small buckets with cement in them to hold it down, but it was not enough! Many booths just closed down shop, but not us, we stayed until 7 PM! Anyhow it was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to participating in more festivals.

Sexual Offenders or Predators in Your Neighborhood?

When was the last time you checked to see if any sexual offenders or predators live in your area? Or, have you ever checked?

You hear about this on the news yet, many people never bother to look up this information. Sexual offenders and predators are living amongst us everyday, yet most of us don’t bother looking them up.

Whether you are a man or a woman and want to be safe against these violators, you should look them up. If you are a parent, it is crucial that you know where these criminals live to make sure that your children don’t get near them.

It is very easy, just get on the internet and check the website of your state’s Law Enforcement Office. You can also log onto your County Sheriff Office’s website. There are many other websites available on the internet to look up these individuals. Most of these sites require you to fill in your address info. After that a map will come up on the screen showing all the streets near your address. The sexual offenders and or predators will be highlighted with bright colors in your neighborhood. These maps are usually interactive, so you can zoom in or out to see other violators that live further away from you. Some maps even have the feature of showing you pictures, information and even addresses of these criminals by simply placing your mouse over the highlighted spot.

Always be aware of your surroundings and neighborhood, even the areas that you can’t see directly around you. Know your neighbors and inform them about these sexual criminals that live near you.

Visit Our Booth at Fiesta Puerto Rico

OUTDOOR CULTURAL FESTIVAL & CONCERT
Join the festivities and come say hi at our booth this coming Sunday, the 28th at the CORAL SPRINGS CENTER FOR THE ARTS, in Coral Springs Florida. The festival starts at 11 AM and runs through 7 PM. Check out our self defense products in person and ask any questions you might have about them. The festival will have food, art, and music outdoors and also indoor concerts. See you there!

Detroit Man Kills People for Money

Vincent Smothers, 28, will be going to trial soon for being a hit man in Detroit. He confessed to police: “I don’t have a profession”, “I kill people for money.” Detroit Police caught him in a suburban alley and heard his confession of several killings in Detroit. According to the authorities, it is very rare for someone to be charged with so many death crimes.

Smothers, the killer, informed police that the killings for him were easy and that he would shoot people while talking on his cell phone. He claimed that all but one of his victims were drug dealers. He provided police with very detailed accounts on the various shootings. The one crime victim he actually felt remorse about was Rose Cobb, a police officer’s wife, who he felt was innocent. According to Smothers, her husband, David Cobb, who was having an affair at the time, hired him in December 2007 to murder his wife. That Detroit officer hung himself the following September. Smothers claimed he stopped his killings after that. He mentioned: “My stomach was in knots…” and that he couldn’t kill people anymore after that.

“I knew at the time these crimes were committed they were wrong and that there would be a price to pay,” he wrote. “After Cobb’s wife, I could no longer have anything to do with murdering people.”

“I can’t bring them back,” Smothers wrote, “but I hope this allows their families to know that someone is going to pay who was behind what happened to their loved ones.”

His very lengthy confessions gave judges probable cause to put Vincent Smothers on trial. Trial date has not yet been announced.

Craigslist is Helping Catch Rapists

Seems like Craigslist is contributing to society in a positive way, lately.
With their help, police have made a 2nd arrest of another rapist. This particular rape occurred in Kannapolis, NC, on May 31st.

Craigslist, an online classified service, helped arrest Rodney Liverman Sr., who is 39 years old. It so happens that Liverman was actually hired by the husband of the victim to rape his wife! The rape actually happened in the home of the victim. The rapist went into her bedroom with a knife and asked for money, proceeded to rape her, then asked her to go into the bathroom. What is really sick, is that the husband was present when all this was occurring and did nothing to prevent it! At some point police mentioned that the woman was able to grab the knife and threw it directly at her husband, who was just standing by, watching. After the rapist left, the victim’s husband told her to get in the shower and to NOT call 911.

Rodney Liverman Sr., is in jail on a $250,000 bond. Liverman is charged in this case with 1st degree rape and three other previous sexual offenses. The victim’s husband who remains anonymous, due to his connection with the sexual assault victim, was charged with 1st degree rape, also remains in jail on a $200,000 bond. He has a previous record as well, of indecent exposure that occurred last year in front of a pizza delivery woman.

We praise the Kannapolis, NC Police in association with Craigslist, in capturing these two criminals!

Senate Passes Bill – Prevents Domestic Violence Victims from Being Evicted

The California Senate just passed Bill SB 782, which prevents landlords from evicting domestic violence victims. This new bill will encourage victims to defend themselves and not face eviction from their home. Eviction has discouraged victims, female and male, to file complaints of domestic violence or sexual assault. SB 782 will encourage women to step forward.

Many landlords have a nuisance clause in their rental agreement that allows them to evict tenants if there is a lot of noise, disturbance, police activity or complaints. When landlords evict domestic violence victims, it’s like being victimized again by being pressured to move. Many of these domestic violence victims which are mostly women, end up homeless. Under SB 782, landlords would not be allowed to use their lease clause to evict women under these circumstances. Landlords however can evict the perpetrator of the abuse. It should also be stated that the law presently allows a victim to break their lease and go to a victim’s shelter if they choose to do so.

SB 782 will protect victims, women or men, from being evicted only if they show a written statement by a qualified third party, such as a police officer, licensed clinical social worker or therapist. The tenant however, will still be responsible for the lease payments and other clauses.

If you are a victim of domestic violence or if you want to report an incident of domestic violence, call the 24-hour-a-day toll-free National Hotline at 1-(800) 799-SAFE or 1-(800) 787-3224 (TDD).

Buy a Taser or a Stun Gun?

This article is to inform you, as a future self defense product purchaser, the differences between 2 products, both of which use electricity as a means of protection.

Main Differences
Many people would love to have a Taser, but some cannot afford one. What they don’t realize is that a stun gun is a good alternative, and at a much lower price. They both utilize a means of electricity to temporarily impair an attacker. The main difference between a Taser and a stun gun is that the Taser will let you take down an attacker from 15 feet away while a stun gun requires close contact. The stun gun requires you to be at least within an arms length so that you can make contact between the stun gun and the person. On the other hand, the Taser shoots out 2 probes that are wired to the product which will travel up to 15 feet. One good feature that the stun gun has over the Taser is that you can always activate the stun gun and scare the attacker with merely the noise the stun gun makes. This makes a dramatic lightning effect and is very loud which can deter an attacker from getting near you. It’s handy to scare away dogs too.

Stun Gun Pros
Stun guns are not only cheaper than Tasers, they are less expensive to use. Every time you deploy a Taser cartridge, which shoots the 2 probes, it is costing you $25. Each cartridge is a one shot deal. The cheapest citizen Taser will run you around $300, while the average cost of a stun gun is $45. Another expense which should be considered is the battery cost. Now grant it, the Taser’s battery life or power magazine’s life is 50 plus firings for the Taser C2 or a shelf life of 10 years compared to the batteries you buy for a stun gun which can be purchased at a department store for much less. Most stun guns use a 9-volt battery. If you use your Taser C2 more than 50 times, your cost to replace the power magazine is approximately $32.

Some stun guns come with a light just like Tasers do. Stun guns also come in different sizes. You can get a stun gun that is as small as a cigarette box and packs 1,000,000 volts of power! Furthermore, stun guns don’t just come in different sizes, they also come in different shapes. Some stun guns can also trick the attacker by looking like a flashlight, a cell phone, or a pen. There are also stun batons that come in handy for home protection instead of the old baseball bat under the bed…

Taser Pros
Pros on Tasers you ask? Tasers are the weapon of choice now a days for police officers around the world. This is a big plus on behalf of Tasers. Tasers are very reliable or the police would not use them. Perhaps the biggest advantage, besides the 15 feet reach capability, is the Taser’s laser beam. The laser is a sharp red beam that points at the target you are shooting at. This facilitates aiming and avoids missing a target, which in most cases is someone that is trying to attack you! Tasers also come in different citizen models.

The Taser C2, which was launched in August of 2007 and available in different colors and the Taser X26c which also comes with a choice of colors. Both models have outstanding features. The C2 has a unique trigger that can keep stunning for 30 seconds after you let go of the trigger. This gives a potential victim, a window of opportunity to lay the unit down and to run out of harms way. If the Taser was taken or damaged while the unit was being used in self defense and you get a police report, Taser International will replace the unit free of charge.

The Taser X26c features go beyond the regular Taser capabilities but it’s also the priciest of the two. For example, you can attach a Taser X26 Cam Audio/Video to it and be able to record 1.5 hours of audio and MPEG video. This attachment also has the capability to record subjects in complete darkness by using an infrared illuminator. The Taser X26c also has a central information display to track battery life, etc. Also, just as stun guns, both the Taser X26c and the Taser C2 can be used as a stunning device by touching a person with the front end of the unit. This is possible only when a cartridge is not loaded into the Taser.

Both the Taser and the stun gun are excellent non-lethal, self defense weapons. These products can be purchased in most states. However, a few states have restrictions on stunning devises and Tasers. Please make sure you review your state’s restrictions before you decide to purchase.

Milwaukee Serial Killer Update

The Milwaukee serial killer has now been linked to 7 cases! Another prostitute’s body that was found behind a vacant house is the 7th victim of the serial killer. DNA results came in yesterday linking Florence McCormick, 28 to the killer. She was killed in 1995. As mentioned in the previous post, authorities are investigating DNA of 20 more unsolved homicide prostitute victims. The serial killer apparently targeted prostitutes for his victims and afterwards would dispose of their bodies behind vacant houses.

Read full story here.

A Serial killer is loose in Milwaukee

This killer is unknown and has no police record but his DNA has been found on the bodies of 5 prostitutes in Milwaukee. Over the last 21 years, this serial killer has taken advantage of these consensual prostitute victims. The first victim was on October 10th, 1986. The serial killer’s last prostitute victim was in April 2007.

There are 20 other DNA samples of murdered prostitutes which are unsolved homicide cases that will be sent to the state crime laboratory. These will be compared to the serial killer’s DNA, to find out if there are more victims linked to him.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney, John Chisholm mentioned that his office is determined “to find the killer that’s in our community”. He went on to say, “We are committed to bringing justice to the victims and their families.” Since the serial killer has no criminal record, authorities will have to depend on DNA and profiles with close matches to his, in order to get any future leads.

Pepper Spray Pen for Self Defense in the Workplace

A pen is something we all carry at one time or another. But a pepper spray pen can also be your unnoticed weapon of self defense. Whether you take it to your workplace or college campus, this uniquely disguised weapon can actually be used to prevent crime because of it’s element of surprise.

No one would expect you to be armed with pepper spray by looking at the pen.  A pepper spray pen can be carried like any other pen. It looks like a normal pen with a convenient clip. It can be placed in your pocket, in your backpack, in a purse or in a desk organizer. Even if someone is looking to see if you have pepper spray hidden somewhere in your workplace, they won’t suspect a pen to be your weapon!

Self defense pepper spray pens come in different colors and the spray can reach an attacker 5 to 7 feet away. These pens usually have enough pepper spray to be sprayed 5 or 6 times and are available in a 17% pepper concentration. Most pepper pens contain a UV dye that facilitates police identification of an attacker by leaving an invisible dye on the attacker’s face.

Pepper spray pens are great for self defense in the workplace. There’s only one thing you have to remember though, they don’t write!