Nobody is Coming to Save You: Literally

A long-held mantra of the self-defense community is that “you are on your own.” Also common is the notorious quip, “When seconds count, police are only minutes away.” The sentiment of such sayings is that reality dictates the police can only be in so many places at one time and that response times are likely too long to matter when you face a violent attack. However, even such harsh reality is now far out of date. The current, absolute reality is that no matter what the threat may be, police are likely never to come at all. Not even long after it matters.

Make no mistake; a single incident that transpired in the summer of 2020 at the hands of a single, perhaps several, bad-acting police officers has been used as a tool to destabilize society under the ridiculous excuse of justice reform. The foremost push of this movement has been to defund and neutralize the role of law enforcement in doing what they are actually supposed to do, which is to protect and serve. The syndrome was around well before 2020 and has been referred to as the “Ferguson Effect” following the completely justified shooting of a criminal who tried to kill a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. The crippling of the police is pushed by the same social and political factions that fight tooth-and-nail to disarm the law-abiding citizen as well, so the unmitigated freedom of the criminal element to terrorize the public is, at best, the foolish byproduct of such social justice, and at worst, the intention of it.

For anyone naive enough to argue that the Ferguson Effect is a conspiracy theory, just look at the statistics on police recruitment and retirement. All large metropolitan areas are in a policing crisis as retirements are at an all-time high and recruitment is at an all-time low. Officers who would stay on the force for several more years are seeking early retirement, and young people who would seek out the job now look elsewhere as they don’t want to be the focus of scorn from a faction of the public that wants to throw them under the bus as soon as force must be used in the line of duty.

Beyond record-low police on the job, many police are also doing the bare minimum to avoid risking malicious prosecution from woke prosecutors, police chiefs, mayors, and certain factions among the public. Rather than proactively policing, officers choose to react only hesitantly, and who can blame them? It is, indeed, a golden age to be a criminal and a poor time to be a law-abiding citizen who wants to live in a safe environment.

911, No Matter your Emergency, We Have Nobody to Send

If you think this is hyperbole, then do some research. In certain vicinities, emergency calls, even for violent home invasions, receive a response of “We have nobody to send right now.” Well-known self-defense attorney Andrew Branca recently reviewed two such incidents on his podcast, in which women call 911 because men are actively breaking into their home, only to be told by the dispatcher that nobody is available to respond at the time. This is the new reality.

With many jurisdictions facing such police shortages, it should be self-evident that lesser crime will certainly go unheeded. If you expect that police will respond when you call because your car is being stolen from your driveway, don’t expect to see a response. If you call regarding a rowdy, loud, and potentially dangerous gathering outside of your house or in the park near the playground, good luck. You are on your own, and nobody is coming.

Act Accordingly

In contemporary America, where policy is made by elitists who live in gated communities and have personal security details despite destroying the police force that serves the public, you can expect nobody to respond to your emergency, and you should act accordingly. If you face violence, you are on your own. If you face a medical emergency that is caused or hampered by violence, you are on your own. Medical responders will not enter a scene that has not been cleared and made safe by police officers who will likely never show up. You must be capable of securing a scene and treating life-threatening trauma yourself.

As America is held hostage by those who are committed to the social suicide pact of fewer police and failure to prosecute criminality, we must build capability at the individual and community levels. To begin, carry your gun all the time. How we have so much crime that goes unopposed in a nation with 25 million issued carry permits is remarkable. Of course, violent criminals consistently target vicinities that restrict the carry of guns among citizens, so the correlation should be obvious to anyone. But the same people who turn violent, repeat felons loose want you disarmed and helpless.

Also, carry medical gear and seek out training in its use. The armed citizen should be capable of inflicting trauma as well as treating it in order to save lives. Keep live-saving trauma gear in your vehicle and preferably on your person when in public locations.

Nobody is coming, literally. You are on your own, so be prepared to deal with what comes your way.