Believe it or not there was a B.Y.O.B. party in Dallas, Texas at Lee Park but not the kind you may be thinking of. B.Y.O.B. stands for Be Your Own Bodyguard to sharpen a person’s reaction skills to danger. Hosting an unusual party like this is professional crime preventionist and criminal profiler Jeff McKissack and his Defense By Design group.
“What we do is we host parties where people come in as opposed to a hundred other things they could do,” said McKissack. “They’re actually learning self defense either in home, at church, a country club or at a park like we’re at today. The idea is we come to them.”
At Lee Park the party guests were a single’s group from Events & Adventures.
“We are a singles group so we do things as singles,” said Event Coordinator for Events & Adventures Theresa Nichols. “I think it’s important that we learn to defend our self because you never know this day and time what’s going to happen.”
Being prepared for the unknown is exactly why Elissa Hoffman is at the party.
“I went to a gas station at one in the morning and I was petrified especially after hearing in 2007 about the girl in Carrollton,” said Events & Adventures member Elissa Hoffman. “That bothered me and I don’t want that to be me. I want to be able to fight.”
Back in 2007 University of North Texas student Melanie Goodwin was abducted from a convenience store and killed. Police later found her torched body in Carrollton, Texas.
“I live in Dallas and I’m used to hearing sirens,” said Hoffman. “I don’t want that to be me.”
Unfortunately violence is prominent in our society and happening more and more these days.
“It’s happening not because they’re more criminals but because we as a society and nation are under a great deal of stress and pressure,” said McKissack. “You have people in this society and especially in this economy who have lost their jobs, homes or cars. You’re only crime may be you came across this person at the wrong place and wrong time. The greatest tool you have is not your hands, feet or your brain. It’s your instinct. It’s listening to that small voice that many times will tell you that something just is not right.”
It’s that small voice that will help prevent any criminal from crashing your party.
Take a look at the video produced by DFWreporting.com!
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