The Department of College Safety hosted the first Rape Aggression Defense training of the 2024 Spring Semester on March 29, 2024. The training was held on the BC main Campus in the Fireside Room and was spearheaded by college safety officers Cynthia Ladoano, Francisco Salazar, and Ricardo Orozco.
The R.A.D. Training program was founded by campus police officer Lawrence Nadeau in 1989 and was originally established to train women in basic self-defense and non-lethal escape tactics.
The training held by the Department of College Safety was held specifically for woman identifying BC students and faculty members and lasted approximately four hours. The first two hours covered the history behind the program as well as gave helpful tips about staying calm, assessing a threat, and the proper course of action after assessing the threat level. The last two hours of the training allowed for the participating women to get hands on self-defense training from the military trained college safety officers. The physical training consisted of moves such as the shin scrape, a move where the attacked uses the heel or side of their foot to forcefully scrape down along the assailant’s shin giving the victim enough time to get to safety.
College safety officer Francisco Salazar wore bright red pads on his arms and legs and played the role of assailant while attendees carefully practiced each learned maneuver. After the training, each student in attendance was emailed a detailed manual that thoroughly discussed each self-defense tactics taught at the training as well as many additional self-defense moves and maneuvers that were not covered during the March 29th training session.
According to the department of College Safety at BC, another R.A.D. Training sessions will be offered on the BC main campus on April 19, 2024. This training will again be held in the Fireside Room right next to the Dining Commons and will be held from 8am-5pm. The training is free for any female BC student and faculty member. Registration for the upcoming R.A.D. training program is now open and on the Bakersfield College website under College Safety.
