Book excerpt: Each of us is blessed with a “sixth sense” about danger. This book aims to underscore the importance of listening to that internal warning system and developing and improving it. Awareness is a practiced skill and can prevent good people from falling prey to those who look for easy targets. You are responsible for your personal safety. It is not the purview of law enforcement to protect us. Their job is to arrest those who commit crimes against us. We are our own first responders, and it is the purpose of this book to arm us with heightened awareness and skilled planning to avoid confrontations.