Campus Police Hold Self Defense Class, but Few Attend

One would think, with the recent flow of email alerts regarding robberies and assaults around the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, a free self-defense class would be overflowing with students. However, that is not the case

On Friday, Oct. 24, room 110 in the Klotsche Center which closely resembles a martial arts dojo, was occupied by three on-duty UWM police department officers and six students. The students, were there to learn, and the officers, there to teach the ‘AKA Self-Defense’ class.

‘AKA’ is a self-defense program put on for free by UWM Police Department officers in order to teach self-defense techniques and education to members of the campus community.

The officers started by leading the class through stretches and giving the participants a general overview of the techniques they will be learning. After stretching, everyone circled up and students were shown how to initiate a proper stance when confronted by someone. Following this, the class was led through a series of punches, kicks and choking escapes.

Self-defense classes have been put on by the UWM PD for a number of years but this is the first using the ‘AKA’ program. AKA stands for: awareness, knowledge and action. More specifically, the officers stress the importance of being ‘aware’ of your surroundings on and off campus. ‘Knowledge’ refers to knowing what to do when in an uncomfortable situation and when to use self-defense. ‘Action’ implies using the proper techniques to deter an attacker and ultimately remove yourself from danger.

In the past, the classes had been geared towards women only, which greatly narrowed their potential audience. The new program is open to anyone, including all students, faculty and staff of the University.

“The AKA class is a revised and shortened four -hour version of the 12 hour classes we used to hold. We found that people had a hard time making that long of a commitment with their college schedules,” said Officer Martin Cavan.

The shortening of the classes was one move by the UWM Police Department to hopefully make the class more appealing to a busy college student. Officer Craig Goldsmith explained the necessity of self-defense classes being long and that shortening the length of the class too much would reduce its effectiveness.

“When you’re dealing with self-defense training, only repetition is going to allow you to retain what you learn, and repetition takes time,” he said. “If you only practice a technique two or three times, you will probably forget it right after you walk out of the room.”

There is undoubtedly a delicate balance between making sure the classes are long enough, and making sure that enough people sign up to constitute having the class at all. But why still, are so little students signing up for the class. The answer: students don’t know the class exists.

Baja Bitan, a grad student from Turkey who attended the class, said he sent an email to the Police Department asking about opportunities to learn self-defense and was then pointed in the direction of this class.

Transfer student, Kathleen Dorow, said she went to the UWM police department directly and asked about a self-defense class before she was made aware of ‘AKA’.

“I have been in situa tions where I could’ve used self-defense training or awareness techniques so I wanted to be able to learn them somewhere in case I am ever in a similar situation again,” Dorow said.

The people taking the classes seem to be only those who are actively seeking it out. The question becomes, why isn’t there more exposure so that the class can be made known to students who haven’t thought to look for a free police taught self-defense class?

UWM police officer Ashley Hageman said that the department is experimenting with new ways to advertise ‘AKA’ and is currently focusing largely on the dorms in which their department is located. She hopes that the high volume of students concentrated in the dorms will mean greater exposure.

“We are spreading the word through the use of the resident assistants in Sandburg and hoping that they will tell their floor’s residents about the class.

Currently, the UWM police hold only two ‘AKA’ classes per semester. They do, however, hold more classes per request if there are enough people who contact the department asking for self-defense training. They said that there is no specific number of people required to hold a class, but if 10 – 20 people sign-up, that would be a good amount.