Stages of criminal behaviour during a disaster
I believe that during a disaster, criminal behaviour will become evident in three stages, as law and order is impaired by the disaster and the effects of the disaster unfold over time.
In the first stage, opportunistic criminals with a demonstrated criminal past, or those who have committed crimes but have not been caught, will be the first to react to a disaster occupied law enforcement and society.
These persons will encompass a range of everything from thieves to violent or sadistic criminals, including persons who require regular psychiatric medication to control their violent or lethal tendencies.
The first stage criminals have no respect for law or boundaries and have proven so by their respective behaviours well before the disaster occurred.
The second stage criminals are the persons who do not have an existing criminal record or have not engaged in criminal behaviour prior to the crisis.
They are the persons with criminal minds and tendencies toward criminal behaviour who have not acted upon their thinking for fear of imprisonment or other punitive measures.
In a disaster, they become the “new criminals” who will act upon the crimes of their fantasies or thoughts for the first time. These persons can devolve quickly and are very unpredictable, especially the range of violence for which they can become capable.
The third stage criminals are law abiding citizens who under the duress of survival can become thieves and potentially violent. They are also very dangerous because they are driven by fear.
They can kill unintentionally because of a twitchy trigger finger mixed with adrenaline. A desperate parent who wants food for their family is no less dangerous than the criminals of the first and second stage.
The third stage criminals, like the first stage criminals, don’t care about the consequences of breaking the law. The only difference between them is motivation. Third stage criminals are people desperate to survive.
How would you prepare mentally and physically for handling these stages of criminal behaviour?
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