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The Safety Trap

A Security Expert's Secrets for Staying Safe in a Dangerous World

Spencer Coursen

St. Martin's Press

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opens in a new window The Safety Trap Download image

ISBN10: 1250258146
ISBN13: 9781250258144

Hardcover

368 Pages

$28.99

CA$38.99

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Despite what the news and social media would have you believe, we have never lived in a safer time than we are now. Unfortunately, we live under a false sense of security enforced by authorities that only alleviates fears without reducing risk. We have placed our personal safety, and our responsibilities of guarding it, into the hands of people trained only to respond to crises, not actively prevent them. Our blind faith in institutions to protect us has only dulled our natural survival instincts.

The truth is that when we feel safest is actually when we are in the most danger.
This is the paradox of The Safety Trap.


When you don’t expect danger, you simply fail to see the signs that something bad is about to happen. But the signs are always there, and staying safe is about training yourself to see them. In easy-to-implement methods of maintaining vigilance, assessing risk, and taking preventative measures, you’ll discover how to be alert without anxiety and know how to best protect and defend yourself on the job, in school, in public places, at home, and online.

With Coursen’s simple formula of Awareness + Preparation = Safety as your guide—as well as real world examples of managing threats—you will learn how to develop the skills and confidence to reclaim your own security and avoid The Safety Trap.

Reviews

Praise for The Safety Trap

"For the people who want to have security in their lives but can't necessarily afford it, your book, The Safety Trap, really bridges that gap."—Andy Murphy, The Secure Dad Podcast

"I’ve known Spencer Coursen for over a decade. He’s actually, personally, kept me safe in very unsafe situations. He finally wrote a book that gives you and me some incredible tips on how to stay safe in an unsafe world. It’s not to make you paranoid, just prepared, with real world tips I use all the time."—S.E. Cupp, journalist

"The Safety Trap is a benchmark safety and security reference for everyone! Like all great U.S. Army Rangers, he is leading the way with deliberate passion and experience."—Clint Emerson, retired Navy SEAL, #1 New York Times bestselling author of 100 Deadly Skills and founder of Escape the Wolf, LLC, which focuses on crisis management for global companies

"Spencer Coursen, decorated combat veteran and widely respected safety consultant, draws on his extraordinary range of experiences. The Safety Trap teaches readers how to evaluate and how to respond to danger. Coursen provides real world lessons on how to avoid danger, how to manage it, if necessary, and how to triumph over it, when all else fails. The Safety Trap is the best book on personal safety that I’ve read in the last decade."—Vincent O'Neill, Chief, Headquarters Security for the International Monetary Fund, retired Secret Service agent and founding member of the elite Counter Assault Team

"The Safety Trap is a must-read book for anyone concerned with not only their personal safety and security but of those around them as well. Spencer Coursen has taken his vast expertise and experience and distilled it into a guide that seeks to inform readers how to better protect themselves. Spencer Coursen is one of those select few in the safety and security profession who fully understands how to manage actual risk."—Jonathan Wackrow, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst, retired Secret Service agent, Managing Director & Head of Global Security, Teneo

Reviews from Goodreads

BOOK EXCERPTS

Read an Excerpt

[1]

AVOIDANCE


What Happened

So many of us want to believe that if we just ignore the uncomfortable thing long enough, it will somehow solve itself. The TV star was hoping this same approach would work for her.

When...

About the author

Spencer Coursen

SPENCER COURSEN is a nationally recognized threat management expert and author of The Safety Trap (St. Martin’s Press, 2021.) He has an exceptional record of success in the assessment, management, and resolution of threats, conflict resolution, employee terminations, physical security assessments, expert witness testimony, policy authorship, protective intelligence, and vulnerability reduction. Mr. Coursen is the founder of Coursen Security Group (CSG), a premier threat management firm based in Austin, Texas. CSG provides expert security assessment, consultation, and protective strategy to help organizations, public figures, and private families succeed in staying safe.

Christina Feddersen, Matchless Exposure