I've had this situation escalate to threats of violence. It was exhilarating. I caught some kid tagging the subway. Turns out he didn't really want to escalate

I've had this situation escalate to threats of violence. It was exhilarating. I caught some kid tagging the subway. Turns out he didn't really want to escalate it and ran out the other door. I was pumped the whole day. Vagrants, bums, and the vast majority of people who commit property crime are experts on reading people, and displaying aggressive stances, if you fear them they will smell it. If you stand tall, look them directly in the eyes and adopt an aggressive stance they will be startled to the response and flee. If you're looking down at the ground you are unaware of your tactical situation and are inviting trouble. If you don't fear them they will run because underneath it all they are generally very weak individuals who thrive off of intimidating the easiest looking target. As Sun Tzu said, "When your hand is weak, make it appear strong" and "When your hand is strong, make it appear weak". Perhaps he was talking about poker, I don't know. Initially that day I looked like a target in a suit, but as soon as I was willing to see his threat of escalation he reevaluated the situation and left.