PERSONAL SECURITY WHILE WALKING

Before Venturing on Foot

• Learn how to use the local telephone system, and keep the necessary change, token, or telephone card on hand. Carry the emergency telephone numbers you might need, such as police, firefighters, your hotel, a local contact, and the nearest diplomatic mission.
• Learn a few key expressions in the local language so that you can signal your need for help and be clearly understood. Alternatively, carry such phrases with you, written by a trusted resident or contact.
• Every morning before departing your hotel, check the local situation with televised international and local networks, the hotel's concierge, and local newspapers.
• Do not discuss travel plans or other personal matters with strangers or casual acquaintances. If planning a tour, hire a reputable guide recommended to you by the hotel or a trusted contact.
• Try not to venture out alone. Let someone at your home base know where you are going and when you plan to return.
• Dress conservatively and comfortably: Leave expensive jewelry at home or in a hotel safe; avoid wearing ostentatious jewelry, even if fake (a thief may assume it is authentic). Do not wear logo apparel that calls attention to your nationality, such as college or sports T-shirts or ball caps. Avoid using identifiable luggage, such as a backpack with an embroidered national flag.
• Carry all necessary loose items, such as a purse, camera, map, and snacks in a sturdy and non-descript bag.
• Bring along a personal alarm or whistle, but never active protective devices such as weapons, mace, or pepper spray. These devices, if not used properly, may further antagonize a criminal and increase your risk of harm.
• Leave the fanny pack or tummy pack behind; they only advertise that you have something of value to protect. Disperse your cash and documents among various pockets.
• Know where you are going before you leave the hotel.
• While Out Walking
• Be constantly aware of your surroundings and of those around you throughout the day.
• Look up and down the street before exiting a building. At intersections and when preparing to cross a street, use the opportunity to scan your surroundings.
• Avoid bringing unwanted official attention to yourself. Follow all local rules and regulations. Keep as low a profile as possible, and avoid loud conversations or arguments.
• Avoid reviewing your map in public places; it marks you as a disoriented tourist.
• When walking, try to remain on wide, well-lighted streets, and try to walk against the normal flow of vehicular traffic so that you can observe cars, motorcycles, scooters, and bicycles approaching you.
• Be especially cautious in or limit time spent in areas where you are more likely to be victimized. These areas include crowded subways, train and bus stations, elevators, tourist sites, market places, packed bars, sports stadiums, festivals, and marginal areas of cities.
• Do not take shortcuts or walk in narrow alleys or on poorly-lit streets. Avoid passing close to shrubbery, dark doorways, or through construction sites. Do not walk alone at night, and never walk in isolated or deserted areas such as beaches or parks.
• Avoid public demonstrations and other civil disturbances; leave the area immediately.
• Even if you are lost, act as if you know where you are going. Enter a hotel, public building, bank, or police station to be redirected. Walk confidently and with your eyes off the ground. Know where you are going before you begin the next segment of your walk.
• Stay alert for signs denoting restricted areas, and change direction to avoid them.
• Avoid scam artists. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Beware of strangers who approach you offering bargains, to be your guide, or to bring you to special places that most tourists do not have access to.
• Beware of pickpockets. They frequently have an accomplice who will jostle you, ask you for directions or the time, point to something spilled on your clothing, accuse you of inappropriate or illegal behavior, or distract you by creating a disturbance.
• Beware of groups of vagrant children who create a distraction or surround you in order to immobilize you and pick your pockets. Try to keep walking or walk through them. If you stop, you will probably be victimized.
• If you are confronted and feel threatened, do not resist. Surrender your valuables one small portion at a time until the thief is satisfied. Often, a little for you is a lot to the thief. Your money, jewelry, valuables, and passport can be replaced, but you cannot.
• Use your personal alarm or whistle only if the assailant does not exhibit a weapon and you are not in a deserted spot, but within earshot of others.
• Wear the shoulder strap of any bag or purse over a shoulder, but never around your neck. Walk with the bag away from the curb to avoid drive-by purse-snatchers.
• When you stop for a meal or drink, keep your purse or bag on your lap, or near you with the strap around your chair leg. Do not place it unsecured on the floor, on another seat, or on the back of a chair.

Avoid using ATMs except for those in banks, hotels, or exchange facilities. Never count your money at an ATM or leave with your wallet or cash exposed.