UPDATE: This class is now full and registration has closed. Keep checking back for updates about future classes.
The Dalton Police Department will host another session of the popular RAD Systems Women's Self Defense Class in October. Previous sessions of this class, taught by Dalton Police Training Officer Brian Pack, have been well-received by the women taking the course both at the Dalton Police Services Center and also Dalton State College.
The next session of the 12-hour course will be held in three-hour segments on Monday and Wednesday evenings, October 3rd, 5th, 17th, and 19th from 6 pm until 9 pm. Classes will meet at the Dalton Police Services Center at 301 Jones Street. The course is being offered free of charge. The class is limited to 20 participants, and the course is designed for women ages 13 and up. However, any women younger than age 18 may participate, but must have a parent or guardian sign a waiver to enroll.
The program is for women only – wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, girlfriends – and all who successfully complete the course will have a lifetime return policy allowing them to participate in any R.A.D System program to refresh their skills at any time. The 12-hour course educates women on safety strategies to minimize their chances of becoming a victim, and physical tactics aimed at disabling an attacker long enough to escape. Officer Pack, certified in the R.A.D System of Self Defense, will wear a padded “Red Man” suit for some of the exercises which allow the women to practice defensive maneuvers they have learned in the class without the fear of injuring the instructor.
“Our ultimate goal is to promote safety and build confidence,” said Officer Pack. “Our hope is that no one will ever have to use the skills they’ll learn in this class, but we want them to feel safe wherever they go. We’re not teaching people how to fight, but to have some skills they can use to create enough of a diversion to create distance and get away if they ever find themselves in a dangerous situation."
Anyone with any questions about the course can contact Officer Pack at 706-278-9085, extension 138 or by email at bpack@cityofdalton-ga.gov.
To read an article from the Dalton Daily Citizen about a previous session of the class, click here.
To watch a video about the class, click "Play" in the window below.