CEDAR CITY -- Hopefully it never happens, but what if you were a victim of a home invasion or a kidnapping? Would you be able to get yourself out of a bad situation?
As FOX 13 News’ Dave Nemeth shows us, your chances could be a lot better with the help of Jason Hanson, founder of "Spy, Escape and Evasion."
"We teach people how to pick locks, how to escape duct tape, how to pick handcuffs, how to escape rope, how to become a human lie detector, how to make their homes virtually intruder-proof,” Hanson said.
Hanson was a CIA officer from 2003 to 2010. He said he loved his work but realized it wasn’t the optimal career to have while raising a family. So, he moved to Cedar City and bought 320 acres to turn into “Spy Ranch.”
Hanson is also the author of the book, "Spy Secrets That Can Save Your Life." Hanson teaches a variety of lessons in his classes and book, like building an escape and evasion kit, picking locks, firing weapons and even evasive driving.
Hanson said there are several ways to determine if someone is being untruthful. One method is to pay attention to the first three words of an answer to a question you ask.
“If you ask me questions, and I'm being honest with you, it's a yes or a no, and I don't have to think about it,” Hanson said. “But dishonest people, they may hem and haw and stutter and buy time, because their brain needs to conjure up that lie."
Another technique to catch liars is called "The Freeze." It works on the theory that people with a guilty conscience tend to move less.
Hanson said: "The guilty party, their arms would probably be moving less, they may be trying to hide and lurk behind somebody else."
Another way to detect a potential lie is to observe the person’s feet.
"Normal human behavior, if I’m talking to you and having a conversation, my feet are pointed directly at you,” Hanson said. “If you ask me a question that makes me uncomfortable, my feet are likely to be pointed towards an exit, so I can get away."
Hanson says the universal tool for restraining people is a roll of duct tape, and he said many criminals think it is escape proof. But Hanson knows a trick for escape.
["So what you do is] put your hands high above your head, you're going to pull down, and your elbows are going to go past your hips,” he said. “We're going to create that tear angle, just like my associate did, and it's going to allow us to escape in two seconds, so here we go. Just like that."
If you'd like to learn those techniques and others, visit Hanson’s website.
