Fortis: Defence Solutions from South Africa

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions – General Safety Tips 1/30 - Always be aware of potential suspicious movement in your area: vehicles and persons. Awareness is the first line of defence. If you are not aware, you will be caught by surprise. Then your fate is determined by you attackers. By being aware, you will be able to recognize potential problem situations and take early action to prevent it, or simply avoiding it altogether the BEST defence of all!

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIPS 2/30 - When you leave your home every morning, DON’T just walk out as if all is well. Look around, take in your environment are the dogs behaving normally, do you see, hear, smell or “feel” anything that makes you feel uncomfortable? ACT on that feeling, do not simply ignore it! Rather be safe than sorry. Go back inside if you have to, ask your security company or the Police to come and have a look if you think anything is not as it should be.

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIP 3/30 - When it gets dark, close your curtains or blinds before switching on lights in your home. Criminals, especially house robbers, will observe you for days or longer if they target your home. Why make it easier for them? You do window shopping in the mall. Criminals do window shopping through YOUR windows!

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIPS 4/30 – A large dog, unless highly trained, is of hardly any deterrent value. It is far easier than you think to intimidate your large, vicious dog. House robbers themselves say that small, noisy dogs inside a house is a far better deterrent as they have a much better chance of waking you up before they can get inside.

Fortis pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIPS 5/30 – Always, always keep your security doors locked. Yes, it is a drag. Yes, you do not always feel like it. But it does make it more difficult to get inside, and it may just give you those vital extra seconds of reaction time!

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIPS 6/30 – Have an alarm? And an electric fence alarm? Do you know how many people have these items but simply do not switch them on, for various reasons? Too much hassle, must trim the hedge first otherwise the fence keeps on making ticking sounds. If it can make the difference between you becoming aware of people trying to enter your property, or being caught asleep in your bed or on the couch, do you think the “hassle” is worth it?

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIPS 7/30 – When you hear a noise outside your home, probably the worst thing you can do is to go out to investigate! The easiest way to enter any property, is via the front door – using YOU as a shield or an entrance ticket. Outside you are in the dark, unprepared. If they are already in your garden, it is like walking into the lion’s den! The surprise will almost always be theirs. Also be VERY careful to not just open curtains and windows to ook outside. It can be hazardous to your health.

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIPS 8/30 – Garage doors:  keep them shut. Always. Sweet and short. An open garage is a wonderful spot for criminals to play hide & seek in – with you!

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIP 9/30 – Sliding doors can be made more difficult to get open by laying a length of wood for instance, along the bottom track, preventing the sliding part of the door from being pushed open.

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions – General Safety Tips 10/30 - Always try to vary your movements to- and from your home. Routine makes it extremely easy for criminals to target you, as they need only watch you for a short period to determine a good time to strike. Vary your routes, vary your times as much as possible.

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIPS 11/30 – Do not leave expensive jewelry or cash lying around in open view. Rather store them somewhere safe , a safe deposit box at a bank is a good option. Sounds sooooo obvious, I know – but if you only knew how many people keep on forgetting about the most obvious, straightforward things when it comes to safety, you’d be amazed.

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIPS 12/30 – It is a good idea to have a peephole in your outside doors to allow you to be able to do a quick scan before exiting, or see who is at the door. A panoramic one is best. Better to be safe than sorry.

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIPS 13/30 – Ensure all doors have good, strong, updated locks. If not,  think about replacing them rather. It can make a difference.

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIPS 14/30 – If you hear something in your garden (outside the home),  be extremely careful of just poking your face through the curtains and looking outside to investigate. If criminals are hiding outside it is the easiest thing in the world to simply shoot you through the very window you are looking through. Peek-a-boo may very well become peek-a-BANG.

Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions GENERAL SAFETY TIPS 15/30 – Today’s tip has nothing to do with crime but equally as vital, FIRE: Make sure you and your family has a fire escape plan. Practice the plan and make sure everyone in your home knows exactly what to do in case of a fire.

Fortis was started in 1997 to actively fight farm attacks and crime in the Eastern Free State. We had an in depth look at the problem and what was being done to fight crime on farms.

Fortis realised that what was done as safety measures at that time, was not nearly sufficient. Security companies could not stop crime on farms, because their members were not trained to tackle this specialist task.

To take on farm murderers, require specialist training, specialist equipment and specialist methods. Thus Fortis started training their own group of specialist operators. These operators had to pass a strict selection process to qualify to be trained as operators. Candidates had to pass a one month selection phase before training even started. The successful candidates were trained over a 6 month period before they were used in their capacity as Fortis operators.

Since inception a couple of our A sqdn members have joined British and French special forces and have completed successful military careers – in some instances 10 year careers, with various tours of Iraq, Afghanistan and many other hot spots. Those operators are still involved with Fortis – either directly or indirectly as consultants. Some of our operators are still actively involved in the international war against terrorism and piracy.

Since 2009 Fortis changed its approach. It simply was not cost effective for farmers to “hire” our operators anymore. We then decided to empower farmers, their families and farming communities as a whole, with the knowledge, experience and tactics we have built up over the years.

Fortis underwent a metamorphosis and started a countrywide initiative against crime – not limited to farms anymore. We also started training various farmer and other interested groups with huge success.

South African law and especially the firearm law is busy crippling the citizens of South Africa to such an extent that they feel totally powerless in defending themselves. Although this statement is true to a certain extent, we have various methods and various tools that we use to teach people how to defend themselves and their loved ones by staying within the law.

Our whole drive is aimed at pro-active awareness and action, together with the use of gasguns that shoot pepper ammo, and this is the model we use to fight crime effectively.

One of the biggest mistakes made by people is to think that “it will not happen to me,” or that they don’t need training, because they fought in the border (Angolan) war and got all the training they needed.

Nothing could be further from the truth. We see how ineffective people’s safety systems are, on a daily basis. We also know that training of 20 years plus ago, holds no value if you don’t train those techniques daily. If it were, then farm attacks would not have happened.

The question therefore is how serious are you about you and your family’s safety? Serious enough to attend a free training session? Or are you counting on training that is only a vague trace in your memory?