Missoula Police Present ‘Personal Safety for Women’ Luncheon

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - The Missoula City Police Department has planned a ‘Personal Safety for Women’ luncheon that will be held at the Butterfly House at the Missoula County Fairgrounds on November 1.

I spoke with Police Public Information Officer Whitney Bennett who issued the invitation.

Police to Host Luncheon and Seminar on Personal Safety for Women

“As the police department, we're inviting community members to attend what we're going to host, which is a free ‘personal safety for women’ seminar, on Friday, November 1, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and this is going to be in the conference room at the butterfly house, a beautiful location,” began Officer Bennett.

Bennett said the idea for the seminar came from an interaction with a realtor who asked how she could protect herself as she was doing her job.

“We have some officers who are defensive tactics trainers, and we're going to bring them on to offer guidance on the legal use of force in a self-defense scenario,” she said. “Now, what they're going to provide will be education on, if you're in this scenario, what amount of force are you allowed to use to legally defend yourself?”

Reflex Protect Will Be There to Help with Self-defense Awareness

Bennett said another resource at the self-defense seminar will be a representative from a company called ‘Reflex Protect’.

“We will have a representative from Reflex Protect, and they have two sides; civilian and law enforcement,” she said. “They've done training for us, and they're going to discuss some non-lethal defense products that they carry that are options to purchase. Then that representative from Reflex Protect is also going to talk about situational awareness and different strategies to use to be more aware of what's going on and cue into things that might harm you.”

Bennett provided information about recognizing the signs of domestic violence that will be presented at the seminar.

READ MORE: Chief Invites Missoulians to Citizen Law Enforcement Academy

A Detective Will Present Information About Recognizing Domestic Violence

“We have a detective who's going to speak on what you can do if you suspect somebody is in a domestic violence situation, how you can provide support, or maybe you are somebody who's in a domestic violence situation and doesn't know what resources there are, or what you can do to get out,” she said. “That’s another portion of this luncheon that we want to provide.”

Click here for a registration form to attend the luncheon on November 1. There is only space for about 60 people to attend.