Personal safety: Expert shares tips after woman says she was followed for 40 minutes in Vancouver

VANCOUVER — Days after a woman posted an unsettling video online, showing a man she says followed her for 40 minutes in Vancouver in broad daylight, a local protection expert is offering tips for how to stay safe when walking alone.

Jamie Coutts had just finished doing her grocery shopping Wednesday evening and was walking home, when she felt like someone was following her.

“I first noticed he was following me between Keefer Street and Keefer Place,” she told CTV News last week. “I decided to film so I could see how close behind me he was and what he was doing.”

The entire situation lasted about 40 minutes, Coutts said, and only ended when she went to ask a group of people at a skate park for help.

Kris Greffard, a personal protection expert and police officer, spoke with CTV Morning Live on Monday, sharing ways women can keep themselves safe.

The following is part of a five-minute interview and has been edited for length and clarity.

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Pires: What items are helpful to carry with you at all times to protect yourself?

Greffard: I don’t think the phone was a bad idea. It’s tough now because we’re in an age where people have masks on, it’s very difficult to identify them. Being in her spot I would’ve preferred maybe calling police and getting assistance on its way.

In this case, some things that I would suggest carrying are your keys. Don’t put your keys between your fingers but instead wrap your key ring around your knuckle or your finger and be able to use that.

You can also use a flashlight. A flashlight is a great thing to keep on you as a runner, as a personal safety option. If you flash it in your eyes in nearly blinds you so you’ve at least got a two or three step ability to create some space and get to safety. But it’s also a great blunt-impact weapon to use against the clavicle, up into the face if you ever have to.

I strongly recommend don’t carry bear spray or pepper spray or knives. These are not devices for women to be carrying.

One of the biggest ones I’ve come across in the past few years (is) called a Get Gone. It’s actually a dog training device and it sounds and looks like just like a Taser, but there’s no electrical current. Speaking as a police officer, electricity scares people. This is a great device. Not only does it draw eyes and attention, but it also scares off an attacker.

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