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Date: 2/11/2020
SOUTHWICK – For the third year in a row, the Southwick Police Department will be hosting a Rape Aggression Defense training program at the Southwick Town Hall throughout the month of April.
Officer David Massai, one of the class instructors, explained that the class is exclusively for women.
“The RAD Training program is a defensive class for women only and it is basically an empowerment class for women to give them viable options when they don’t have any other option but to fight back,” he said.
The program is free and begins on April 1 and he said it will run every Wednesday during the month from 6 to 9 p.m.
Massai said there are multiple ways interested women can sign up for the class. “The best way is to email me and I can email back a registration form, there’s also registration forms available inside the lobby at the station.”
While this is the third year of the class under Massai’s instruction, the program was originally run by Police Chief Kevin A. Bishop before going on a hiatus for several years.
Massai said he will be instructing the course along with officers Kelly Parks and Ernest Malone, and they will be teaching women various different defensive techniques.
“We begin from the basics of how to defend yourself by parking in well-lit areas, to defensive tactics such as blocking and striking, along with several types of kicks,” he said.
Officer Massai said they will also be hosting a similar course for children starting later this spring.
“It’s more age appropriate and we’re trying to get kids away from the stranger danger mentality,” he said, “We want to teach kids the difference between good and bad people because most assaults on children occur from someone they know or a family member.”
Women interested in signing up for the course or any businesses interested in sponsoring the course can send an email to Massai at 287@swkpd.com with any questions.