To be fair, another, cumulative, way to lower the encounter rate is to be smart about it and lower the number of possible encounters.
If you walk all the way to school, you need to pass through several places, for example, each with its own chance of assault. If you take the bus or have Avery drive you, that lowers it by a lot. Then again, make sure your reputation doesn't rise too much, I don't remember the costumes available, but it'd be comedic to be always dressed in a full costume while going to school, for example.