By William C. Singleton III
Journal contributor
Deborah Godfrey of Vestavia Hills said she emerged from an hour-long self-defense class hardly a karate expert but with enough knowledge to reduce her chances of becoming a crime victim.
“One thing I was not sure about was when I’m out walking and I see people, I didn’t know whether to look at them or avoid eye contact,” she said. “And he (Vestavia Hills Sgt. Robbie Watts) made the point that you should have that eye-to-eye contact.”
Police officers from Vestavia Hills and Homewood recently sponsored separate self-defense courses for residents wanting to know how not to become a crime victim and how to defend themselves if they do. Hoover and Mountain Brook police departments were not offering similar classes at this time, officials said. Homewood’s Det. Sgt. Juan Rodriquez tailored his self-defense class to females and showed them a few moves they could use if they find themselves victims of an assault. Rodriquez’ class was held at the Homewood Public Library in March.
The class taught by Watts at the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest in April was open to both men and women, although only one of the 25 participants was a male. Watts was assisted by Vestavia Hills Police Cpl. Renee Reaves.
Both classes focused on making people aware of their surroundings and how to reduce their chances of becoming crime victims.
“What we’re trying to do is prevent a crime before it ever takes place,” Rodriquez said. “A lot of it has to do with awareness and what criminals are looking for in victims and what potential victims should be looking for in perpetrators.”
For example, a woman walking alone in a parking lot talking on her cellphone or texting is more likely to become a crime victim than a woman scanning her surroundings, making eye contact with a potential perpetrator and entering her vehicle which she parked in a well-lighted area, police officials said.
“A lot of it is just basic common sense,” Watts said.
Watts said crime perpetrators are usually looking for victims who aren’t paying attention. Being aware of one’s surroundings goes a long way towards preventing someone from becoming a crime victim, he said.
But if a perpetrator is intent on assaulting someone, the courses also taught simple ways to escape an attack. The moves range from breaking away from a wrist grab to what part of the body you should target if you need to make a quick getaway. The goal should not be engaging the perpetrator but to escape, officers said.
“If you can run, run. Don’t stand there and fight them,” Reaves said. “If you break their hold on your arm, the first thing you need to do is run that way (pointing in the opposite direction) and get into a building or run up to somebody else and yell ‘Help me! Help me! Help me!’”
Rodriquez preferred not to reveal specific moves, saying he didn’t want to arm potential perpetrators with the same knowledge he shares with his class.
“The object is not to make a Kung Fu expert out of anybody,” he said. “A lot of techniques we teach police officers on how to survive on the street.”
Watts showed a few basic techniques, including how a victim should position herself on the ground to prevent a perpetrator from overpowering her and the direction you move your hand to escape a wrist grab.
“This class is only an hour. And there’s not a lot you can do when it comes to getting people involved with the actual physical contact,” Watts said. “So I keep it very basic.”
Many perpetrators, particularly those after your property, aren’t looking to engage their victims in a protracted struggle, so a little resistance may be enough to send them fleeing, police said.
But if a weapon is involved, it’s best to hand over your property and not fight for it, police said.
Instead, always be ready to give a good description of the perpetrator, the vehicle he leaves in if he doesn’t flee on foot and the direction he is headed.
Rodriquez said he has been teaching self-defense courses since 1998. Occasionally, he’ll hear from a participant who tells him what she learned in his class actually works.
Rodriquez said his classes have included students from ages 8 to 80.
“The techniques are very easy to learn and very easy to remember. But the object here is not to stay there and fight it out with some person. The object is to break away and escape from them,” he said.
Watts, who teaches self-defense courses for police officers, said he has taught a self-defense class to Girl Scouts.
Vestavia Hills Lt. Brian Gilham said his department offers self-defense classes based on requests from the community.
“Our goal is to offer a self-defense course on a consistent basis, at least quarterly,” he said.
To that end, the Vestavia Hills Police Department is sending Reaves to Biloxi, Miss., to be trained and certified to teach self-defense courses for women. The course she’s being trained to teach will provide more in-depth instruction on self-defense maneuvers, she said.
“You heard in the class the ladies asking, ‘Well, I’m little. What if my attacker is bigger than me?’ The course I’ll be teaching is supposed to teach some fighting tactics,” Reaves said.
Interest in self-defense courses doesn’t mean attacks on women have increased, Reaves said.
“It’s not like there’s a huge crime wave of women getting attacked,” she said. “But most people aren’t going to attack a man. They’re not going to grab your wallet because it’s in your back pocket. You might get stuck up with a gun and they’ll say ‘Give me your stuff,’ and you’re going to give it up.”
But there are certain attacks, such as purse snatchings and rape, that are more common to women, and they need to be prepared for that eventuality.
“It’s all about being prepared for anything that could come up,” Reaves said. “And that’s what the class is geared toward.”
