TASERs: Peace of Mind for Realtors?

Empty houses and abandoned streets are usually the stuff of horror movies. A heroine ventures into the silence and bravely wanders room to room, mere moments before her attacker pounces. Gore and screams ensue. The movie eventually ends and the audience smiles with sighs of relief, thinking to themselves that, thankfully, such situations are incredibly farfetched. On the contrary, these kinds of situations are in fact not limited to movies; real estate agents who regularly enter uninhabited houses and inspect properties in unfamiliar environments put themselves in potentially scary situations all the time.

Crimes on real estate agents have become uncomfortably frequent in recent years. Robberies, assaults, rapes and even murders of realtors have been reported in the news across the United States for at least the last twenty years. Even seemingly safe and posh areas in cities like San Diego, California and Hilton Head, South Carolina are not immune to these crimes. Particularly vulnerable are new and inexperienced agents canvassing neighborhoods for clients and realtors showing homes to total strangers or through the venue of open houses. What’s worse, some police claim that realtors are considered ideal targets for criminals in some neighborhoods and communities, thanks to the nature of the work.

So how can real estate agents protect themselves adequately? Gaining street smarts and carrying a cell phone with a 911 preset at all times are great precautionary techniques. Asking clients for identification and using electronic lockboxes are also good ideas. But, when someone is in a bind, such protections may not be enough. Some real estate agents have begun to carry weapons like guns, TASERs and mace and pepper sprays in their bags and coat pockets, just in case.

TASERs are, in some ways, an ideal form of protection. They can be discreet and they stun assailants rather than injure them. Most real estate agents are women and they may find that a TASER is a more palatable, less injurious weapon than a gun and a much more effective deterrent than pepper spray. But TASERs also carry risk. Carrying a TASER at all times means living with suspicion and a sense of fear at all times; this kind of attitude can lead to hypersensitivity and accidental misuse of a TASER, especially if it is understood that a TASER is not likely to cause permanent damage. Misuse of a TASER can lead to all sorts of trouble.

Real estate agents are in communication with each other on blogs regarding the use of TASERs. Some real estate agents, mostly men with friends or relatives also in the real estate business, advocate for the use of TASERs. Protection at any cost is worth the peace of mind and the security. Women discuss TASERs on blogs with an element of wariness. After all, if a TASER is kept in a handbag, an attacker has time to do damage in the moments required to retrieve the TASER and that’s assuming the attacker does not rip the handbag from a woman’s grasp beforehand.

Safety practices in real estate offices are being emphasized more and more with enhanced trainings and stronger attempts to inform employees of risks. The focus appears to be on office practices that require potential buyers to provide agents with personal information and on common sense practices that are primarily preventative in nature. Safety programs do not yet mention the use of TASERs though many support the carrying of mace or pepper spray. Perhaps the use of TASERs is too extreme and violent a practice for the profession at large to encourage but if the disturbing trends documenting attacks on real estate agents continue to plague realtors, a more extreme solution may be necessary.