(Trigger Warning: Victim Blaming)
WATCH / SURVIVING: Police launch self defense classes
- Updated
"Be a warrior and don’t be a victim.
That is the theme of a free two-day women’s self defense class being conducted by the Lincoln City Police Department.
The first classes were held on May 19 and 20 at the Lincoln City Community Center.
“We teach women how not to be a victim, things they can do to make themselves safer, because it really comes down to awareness,” Lincoln City Police officer and self defense class instructor Summer Danneker said. “It’s a lot of fast choices you will need to make if you are going to defend yourself. There are no wrong decisions as long as women get thought a situation and they live. That is the important thing.”
The first day of class started out with a classroom discussion of how not to be a victim and provided tips and discussion on mental awareness, home safety, personal safety, vehicle safety, fraud and scams to be aware of, rape and sexual assault laws and also insight on the process of reporting and the cons of not reporting.
Mindset was a topic and choosing to fight or not fight was also discussed. Self-defense moves are then broken down and thought in pieces where the women get a chance to learn different blocks, strikes, punches, and kicks."
Danneker said once the women have the moves down then they get to practice them on striking pads/bags.
“The females are also taught distractionary techniques to help escape from being grabbed or attacked,” she said.
The techniques are practiced with a partner. The women also learned ground defense and learned to fight through an attack and get away safe.
On the second day, the women were put into four different scenarios. Lincoln City Officer Bobby Bomar and Officer Eric Anderson played the roles of the bad guys. Both officers and the women wore protective gear and padding.
Each scenario was a progression of what the students were taught throughout the weekend.
“The first scenario being that of a decision making situation and just needed to be safe, all the way to the fourth scenario that was a full on attack that they needed to escape from,” Danneker said.
Lincoln City resident Stacy Baiocchi said she is learning empowerment through the self defense class.
“My whole point was to come in and not feel like a victim and I wanted to feel empowered and not freeze up,” she said. “I want to survive and that is what I am getting from this class.”
Baiocchi said she has leaned different techniques in what to do to protect herself.
“Things that I never even considered and they are so effective,” she said. “I also had to evaluate situations and things to look for to be better observant.”
“I’ve learned to be prepared and I don’t have to be scared,” Rose Lodge resident Lisa Bagby said. “I live in the country. I don’t have close neighbors and I am scared of the dark. But his class has given me confidence and tools to be better prepared.”
Bagby said the class has shown her how to be better aware of people around her.
“f someone approaches me, it is OK to be loud,” she said. “And how to best defend myself.”
“I have learned that I am a warrior and not a victim,” Lincoln City resident Margaret Kilanski said. “And that is truly invaluable to me.”
Kilanski said the class teaches women to be a warrior and put their safety first.
“They teach us where the line is between reasonable restraint and getting out of a situation safe,” she said. “I have more physical strength and ability that I ever thought I had.”
“The transformation from day one to day two in the women’s abilities to fight and ward off an attacker are so apparent and develop so quickly that they are able to empower themselves and prove to themselves that they do not have to be a victim if put into a bad situation and choose to get away safely,” Danneker said.
Lincoln City Interim Police Chief Jerry Palmer said the class is an experiment and will be evaluated. Further class schedules have yet to be finalized.
“I believe it is going to work out to be very effective as word of this class circulates in the community,” he said.
Palmer said he is hopeful teen girls will want to take the opportunity to take the class as well.
“This is a great class for a vulnerable part of our society who often think they don’t have any recourse and this shows them that they have the ability to fight back if necessary," Palmer said.
For more information about the self defense classes, contact Lincoln City Police at the non-emergency phone number 541-994-3636.
Women's Self-Defense Participants
Under the guidance of Officer Summer Danneker, and with the assistance of Det Jayne Johnson, Officer Bobby Bomar, and Officer Erik Anderson, LCPD hosted a very successful Women's Self-Defense class on May 19th & 20th.
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