Look Beyond the Clichés

” Be vigilant.” “If you see something , say something.” We hear this from all the experts , police and homeland security experts, on all the media outlets. But what are we really telling people to do? Are we giving them the right information to do what we ask. We need to expound on these cliches. We need to tell the public and everyone for that matter, to look for things that are out of the norm for your work place, your neighborhood and places you frequent. Chances are those “anomalies” are nothing. Nonetheless, in this day and age, we can’t afford to dismiss anything. The public needs to take notice of anomalous/ suspicious activity. Note vehicle types, plate numbers, clothing, the actual behavior that caught you eye , number of people involved, what they were doing, how they interacted and anything else you noticed that was out of the norm. Adding this to our “see something , say something, be vigilant” announcements can yield valuable information to law enforcement personnel and hopefully interrupt  any terrorist or criminal  planning or operation. It  will give a little more meaning to the cliches that are currently missing….