How to Identify Suspicious Behavior and Threats
Master situational awareness drills to identify body language red flags, pre-attack indicators, and anomalous behavior in public spaces.
- Read the tools, materials, safety notes, and steps below for free.
- Tap Start Camera Coach when you want hands-free voice help.
- Allow camera and microphone. Point your phone at the work; the coach watches your progress and tells you the next step.
🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Smartphone (for recording posture drills)
- ✓ Full-length mirror
- ✓ Notebook
- ✓ Pen
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ Situational awareness checklist
- ✓ Observation log sheet
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Never directly confront or stare aggressively at individuals displaying suspicious behavior.
- • Maintain a minimum reactionary gap of 6 to 10 feet from strangers in public settings.
- • Always identify two accessible exits before scanning any new room or environment.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Establish the Environmental Baseline
Stand in a neutral, relaxed stance and observe the general flow of movement around you. Note the average pace, direction, and typical focus of people in the immediate area to identify what constitutes normal behavior. Do not fixate on one point; use soft peripheral vision to take in the wider scene.
- • User stands upright with chin parallel to the ground and shoulders relaxed.
- • Head turns slowly 45 degrees side-to-side without jerky darting motions.
- • Staring intensely at individuals instead of scanning broadly.
- • Looking down at feet or a phone screen while walking.
Scan Hands and Concealment Zones
Direct your primary visual scan toward individuals' hands, waistbands, and bulky jackets. Check whether hands are visible, clenched into tight fists, or repeatedly reaching toward pockets or the waistband. Hands carry potential weapons, making them the most critical visual data point.
- • User practices lowering gaze to hip and hand level without bending neck downward.
- • User maintains upright posture while tracking hand positions.
- • Looking only at people's faces and missing hidden hands.
- • Physically pointing or gesturing toward someone's waistband.
Detect Target Glancing and Surveillance Behavior
Look for individuals who frequently scan the area instead of their immediate path, looking over shoulders or checking for security cameras and witnesses. Watch for 'target glancing'—rapid, repeated eye contact aimed at a specific person, wallet, or bag. Genuine pedestrians focus on their destination or companions, not on scanning the crowd.
- • User simulates tracking rapid eye movements in a training video or mirror exercise.
- • User records observed gaze patterns in the log sheet.
- • Confusing someone searching for a lost friend with deliberate target tracking.
- • Locking eyes with the person being observed.
Identify Pacing and Proxemics Mismatches
Evaluate movement patterns for pacing anomalies such as matching your stride, tailgating, or lingering near exits without a clear purpose. Identify 'loitering with intent', where an individual changes direction abruptly to stay near another person. Practice recognizing when personal space boundaries (less than 4 feet) are crossed without social justification.
- • User demonstrates maintaining a 6-foot reactionary buffer during movement drills.
- • User executes a deliberate 90-degree directional pivot to test trailing behavior.
- • Continuing along a straight path when someone matches your pace from behind.
- • Backing into a corner or dead end when creating space.
Recognize Pre-Attack Posture and Kinesics
Spot physical cues of imminent aggression including a bladed stance (turning one side of the body away to prepare a strike), weight shifting onto the balls of the feet, and aggressive head bobbing. Watch for autonomic stress responses like heavy breathing, rapid swallowing, or nervous self-touching on the face and neck. These kinesic changes indicate the fight-or-flight response has engaged.
- • User correctly models a defensive fence posture (open hands up at chest level, relaxed bladed stance).
- • User identifies bladed vs. neutral stances on recorded drill footage.
- • Crossing arms or placing hands in pockets when an aggressive posture is spotted.
- • Freezing in place when an approaching subject assumes a bladed stance.
Execute Tactical Disengagement and Reporting
Practice smoothly breaking visual engagement, angling your body away, and moving briskly toward a crowded, well-lit environment. Rehearse noting clear descriptors in sequence: gender, approximate height, build, outermost layer of clothing, shoe color, and distinct physical markings. Memorize these details without pulling out your phone in an exposed location.
- • User walks briskly toward a designated safe zone without turning head backward fully.
- • Observation log accurately captures subject details (clothing, height, shoes) within 60 seconds.
- • Running frantically when walking quickly with purpose is safer and less conspicuous.
- • Focusing solely on easily removable clothing (like hats or sunglasses) instead of shoes or build.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Law By Mike — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Observation log sheet? Standard blank index card or notes app on smartphone
- No Full-length mirror? Front-facing smartphone camera set on a stand