Police chief speaks on ‘National Situational Awareness Day’

JOHNSON CITY (WBNG) -- Johnson City Police Chief Brent Dodge shared that National Situational Awareness Day will be honored on Sept. 26 every year.

The day is celebrated to help create more awareness about the importance of personal safety. Situational awareness has helped many stay alive in very dangerous situations and also teaches how to avoid potentially dangerous situations, Dodge said.

Examples of situational awareness are when walking alone in a dark alley or when in a car accident.

“In Johnson City sometimes we have an issue with people riding their bicycles on the sidewalk in the downtown district,” said Dodge. “An unsuspecting shopper would come out of a store and get blindsided by the bicycle and severely injured situational awareness in that situation would maybe dictate before you enter or exit a public space you just take a couple of seconds to do a quick scan.”

Dodge also mentioned that thieves will employ tactics by distracting someone in order to steal a purse or wallet out of a shopping cart.

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