Prepping is not just about preparing for natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, or even man-made tragedies such as terrorist attacks, mass shootings, and even pandemics. Sometimes, the ones we depend on to protect us can be the ones to put our lives in jeopardy. We’re not generalizing here but with what’s happening in the United States and even in other places around the globe, one should know what to do to prepare for a police state.
When the coronavirus pandemic forced the country to shut down, some disgruntled Americans took to the streets to denounce what they felt was the suppression of their freedom. They rallied to go back to work and do other stuff they normally do. Of course, the country was placed on lockdown to protect the people from COVID-19. Now that majority of the states have reopened, the country is facing a far worse case of civil unrest. This was after a Caucasian cop kneeled on an African-American’s neck causing his death.
This horrific incident resulted in mobs of angry people denouncing police brutality and racism that’s been going on for years. What happened to George Lloyd and others before him are indeed appalling but there is no excuse for the rioting and looting that came after. And now, we have to prepare for the possibility of a police state.
Simply put, a police state is a government wherein the police force is used to exercise its powers. Traditionally, a police state is regulated when there is a need to maintain order or when national security is threatened. The militarization of the police force eventually became synonymous to a repressive government. Think North Korea and China.
How to Prepare for A Police State
Serious preppers have long been preparing for a police state aside from the normal stuff like natural disasters. If the current situation does not improve, they’ll be pretty glad they’re ready. It’s not too late for others, though. Start preparing now while you still have the chance. With both the police and rioters, particularly the looters, escalating conflict, it seems things will get worse before they get better. It doesn’t matter whose side you are on, what’s important right now is that you and your family prepare for a police state in case it gets to that.
Stock Up On Supplies
If things don’t get better anytime soon, there will come a point where it’s unsafe to go out. Movement will be restricted as police will set up checkpoint after checkpoint. Before that happens, make sure you have everything you need stored in your home so you don’t have to go out that much.
Food and Water
Food and water are two of the most basic necessities. Simply put, without them, you won’t survive. Stockpiling food and water may be difficult for some considering the on-going pandemic has already usurped most of their resources. Tons of people also lost their jobs or had to close their businesses because of the coronavirus.
Despite of all these factors, you should still find a way to have ample food and water at home. If you have the means, buy as much supplies as you can. There should still be continuous water supply even under a police state or martial law. But you don’t want to depend solely on the government for this vital supply.
Stockpile clean water for drinking, cooking, washing produce, and cleaning yourself. Invest on Stackable WaterBrick Containers. Each 18 x 9 x 6-inch container can carry up to 3.5 gallons of water. It is made of BPA-free High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and features two interior conical reinforcement columns. The mouth opening measures 3 1/4 inches making it easier to fill. You can purchase in bundles of two, six and ten WaterBricks. The spigot is sold separately.
You should have ways to sterilize water in case your clean supply runs out and for some reason the water grid is a no-show. The LifeStraw Personal Water Filter allows you to drink dirty water without worrying about your health. Use it to drink collected rainwater or directly from streams and rivers. This lightweight survival tool is essential in case the riots get too near and you have to bug out. If you run out of drinking water on your way to your shelter or while looking for a safe place to stay, the LifeStraw will come in pretty handy as it gets rid of 99.99% of bacteria, parasites, and fine particles in the water.
When it comes to stockpiling food, you need to consider the shelf life. Canned goods, for example, lasts for years, especially if stored properly. Survival Cave Food All-Natural Canned Chicken and ReadyWise 120 Serving Freeze Dried Vegetable Bucket are just two of the survival foods you can store in your pantry. Both products have shelf lives of 25 years.
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Stock up on other long term food such as grains, pasta, condiments, and other survival foods. Don’t forget snacks. With all the stress brought about by the pandemic and the rioting, a nice snack could give you a little boost to continue on with your day. When it comes to energy boosts, Blue Dinosaur Paleo Food Bars should do the trick. One set includes Dark Chocolate Paleo Bar, Banana Bread Paleo Bar, and Lamington Paleo Bar. These plant based snacks are high in nutrients, lasts up to two years when stored properly, and are dairy, soy, gluten and grain free.
Related: 10 Canned Foods With The Longest Shelf-Life You Should Be Stockpiling
If you have infants and small children, make sure you have a good supply of the things they need such as milk, baby food, diapers, and medicine. It’s certainly better if you don’t use disposable diapers too much since they’re bad for the environment. Opt for cloth or washable diapers but have a supply of disposable ones that you can use for emergencies.
Stockpiling your children’s favorite food at home will also help them cope with these troubling times. Just don’t forget to store the properly so they’d last longer and lessen your grocery runs. Get pet food and other supplies for your animal friends, as well.
Other Home Essentials
In a police state, you’d rather stay at home than go out and risk getting the attention of the authorities, particularly the abusive ones. Make sure you have enough supplies of everything you need at home to keep your lives as normal as possible. You’ll need to stock up on hygiene products like soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, dental floss, and feminine products, among others.
Ample supply of cleaning materials such as baking soda, laundry soaps, dishwashing liquids, and toilet cleaners are also necessary. These days, you need to be extra cautious of how clean your home and surroundings are. Make sure you have a supply of rubbing alcohol, bleach, and bleach and other disinfectants.
Don’t forget about medicines, first aid supplies, and other items that’ll lessen your need to visit the doctor or go to the hospital. Learn as much as you can about treating simple medical issues. If you need to consult with a doctor, try calling or have an online consultation first before deciding on going out.
Be Self Sufficient
Another way to lessen your need to go out is to become more self-sufficient. Start by growing your own food. Plant vegetables, herbs, root crops, and even fruit trees in your own yard. Some plants can be grown indoors if you don’t have ample space for an actual garden.
Potatoes are a favorite of homesteaders since they’re easy to grow and pack lots of the good stuff. Remember Matt Damon in The Martian? His character survived being stranded alone in Mars by growing potatoes. You can also grow them in pots so space shouldn’t be a problem. They’re also pretty versatile. You can make boiled potatoes, French fries, hash browns, tater tots, mashed potatoes, pancakes, or add them to your dishes.
Related: How to Grow Potatoes in Your Homestead Garden
Aquaponics combines growing vegetables and other plants with raising fish. If you have ample space at home, consider setting up your own aquaponics system to become even more self-sufficient.
If your pursuit for a safe place away from all the rioting and abusive authorities takes you to a place far from the city, you’ll need certain skills to survive. Aside from knowing how to grow plants and raise animals, you also need to know how to forage, fish and hunt.
Fortify Your Home
With looters smashing windows and breaking down doors of stores, it’s not hard to imagine this terrible thing happening to your home. Now imagine that it’s the police trying to gain entry to your home. Both scenarios are horrific and downright crazy, especially if you’re trying to live as peacefully as possible.
Related: How to Fortify Your Home for Cheap
To prevent people from breaking and entering your home, you need to take steps to make it impenetrable. The door itself should be made of durable material, one that will not give in to a few kicks. Use long screws (at least 3 inches) to attach the door frame to the wall as well as on the hinges and strike plate. Reinforce your doors by installing high quality locks and deadbolts.
As for the windows, always keep them locked. Use high quality window locks. If you prefer to leave them open for ventilation, you need to have bars or grills installed to keep intruders from climbing through your windows. Reinforce the glass panels, as well. You can also plant thorny bushes around the house, especially beneath the windows to make home invaders think twice.
Install a security system such as the Ring Alarm 5 Piece Kit (1st Gen) Home Security System. It’ll notify you if someone is trying to break in. The alarm, when set off, will also help discourage the intruder. Also, you may get a peek at the person’s face making it easier to apprehend him. Ring alarm has an optional 24/7 professional monitoring feature, which could be important during these crazy days.
Protect Yourself
Some of the reasons why a police state is deemed necessary is the lawlessness that sometimes go with the riots. While many are truly fighting for something, there are some who just wants to take advantage of the chaos and do their dastardly deeds. We also can’t discount the possibility of crooked cops committing crimes under the guise of upholding the laws of the police state.
Aside from securing your home, you also may also need to fight back. Refrain from resorting to violence but if your loved ones’ lives are in peril, you need to know how to defend yourself.
Start with having the right tools or equipment. Many people prefer to invest on a firearm for their protection. This is a good decision as long as you know how to use it responsibly.
A tactical knife like the MTech USA 12.5-Inch Fixed Blade Tactical Knife is an effective self-defense weapon if you know how to use it. Even if there’s no threat, tactical knives are pretty useful. The same can be said with the Zombinator™ Survival Hatchet Multi Tool Axe. Both survival tools can do more than just help you defend yourself.
The MTech tactical knife has a sawback feature on the back of the blade and a lanyard at the end of the handle. It also includes a nylon sheath. The Zombinator, meanwhile, also works as a hammer, nail claw, pry bar, hex socket, glass, breaker, seatbelt cutter, and whistle. It also comes with a sheath and paratinder cord.
Consider Moving
So far, not all states in the country have descended into chaos. If you live in Minneapolis, Georgia or other places where police and rioters are clashing, maybe it’s time to say your buh-byes. In fact, avoiding ground zero is the best way to prepare for a police state.
Before your home is victimized by looters, gather everything you can and move them to a safer place. Your first instinct is to take them home. However, there is a chance that the civil unrest may come knocking on your door.
Consider your backups. You may need to move to another state if worse comes to worst. Determine which areas are not affected by all the chaos and find a place you can stay in. You don’t have to permanently move out. Once things go back to normal, you can move back in to your home.
If you want to change residence permanently, a homestead seems like a great idea. Living off the grid has its advantages. This includes being away from where the chaos usually happens in a police state.
How to Prepare Your Business for A Police State
Include Civil Unrest In Your Disaster Management Planning
Every business organization should have a concrete emergency response plan and prepare for a police state should be part of that plan. In the event of civil unrest, your business may fall victim to vandals and looters. We’ve seen numerous establishments looted or burned down by the angry mob.
Insure Your Business
Your best protection is to insure your business. Damages caused by riots are normally covered by insurance policies, particularly under the property damages category. Still, you need to secure your business to prevent damages.
Add Security Measures
Police state or not, you should have a security system installed. The security alarm should dissuade any thief from breaking and entering. But as we have seen in recent days, no alarm proved that effective against an army of looters. That means you need to fortify your store even more.
Start with accordion doors. It’s common for stores to use this as their first line of defense against thieves. However, it’s only as effective as the lock you use. Make sure you have a high-quality padlock to secure your accordion door.
Next up are shatterproof windows. This may be a tad on the expensive side but they’re definitely worth it if the looters can’t get inside your store. Whether you use shatterproof windows or regular ones, you should also have bars or grills installed, especially if you don’t have an accordion door.
Install security alarms and cameras, too. The HeimVision HM241 1080P Wireless Security Camera System includes four surveillance cameras, which should be enough for a small business. The blaring alarm may deter intruders from proceeding and will alert the authorities to the ongoing crime. The security cameras will help you pinpoint the culprits. Most thieves will not push through if they know they are caught on camera.
Devise An Evacuation Plan
Your business is not the only thing that may be in danger. Your employees and customers can be caught between the crossfire. You should have an evacuation plan in place. All your employees should know what to do in case of emergencies. They should also be able to guide customers to safety.
Most importantly, don’t attempt to fight the looters or even the abusive police authorities. Your safety is more important than the stuff in your store.
Close Shop for Now
Before the riots reach your place of business, remove all the valuables such as cash, important documents, personal items, and merchandise. You can choose to still operate but you should remove all the expensive stuff. The better option would be to close shop until things go back to normal. You could sell some of your merchandise from home if money is your main concern. Besides, most businesses are already operating online with the pandemic keeping people at home.
Just to be clear, not everyone in the police force is racist and abusive. But you need to accept that there are bad seeds in the force. We can argue all day whether Derek Chauvin is one of those bad seeds or not but the fact is, an African-American man died because of him. What’s even clearer is that, with the growing discontent among citizens, you should prepare for a police state. Follow Gentleman Pirate Club to learn more tips on how to be safe during such emergency situations, especially if this continues to get out of hand.
