For Immediate Release

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

North Reading Police Complete R.A.D. Training Program

NORTH READING — Chief Michael P. Murphy is pleased to announce that the North Reading Police Department recently completed a Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) course attended by over a dozen women.

Fifteen women completed the 12-hour course hosted by North Reading Police.

Sgts. Paul Dorsey and Kevin Donle, along with Officer Michael Marra, Drug-Free Communities Grant Coordinator Amy Luckiewicz and Mental Health-Substance Abuse Clinician Laura Miranda, who are all certified R.A.D. instructors, led the women-only class. The course included both classroom discussion and hands-on self-defense technique training for women of all abilities. The instructors focused on risk awareness and avoidance, as well as confidence building.

“This course is a unique and effective way for women to take proactive steps to defend themselves in any number of potentially dangerous situations,” Chief Murphy said. “While we hope they never need to put what they learned into practice, we feel better knowing that this group now has a stronger set of skill to protect themselves, whether it’s by voicing their concerns or defending themselves physically should one of the scenarios they learned about ever arise.”

On the last day of class, students were given the opportunity to utilize the skills they learned and participate in voluntary dynamic training scenarios designed to represent realistic encounters that require avoiding confrontation, escaping from a scene, or defending themselves from a physical attack.

The North Reading Police Department plans to offer the R.A.D. course multiple times a year going forward, and residents who are interested in taking part in a future session are encouraged to contact Lt. Mark Zimmerman at [email protected].

The R.A.D. curriculum is taught at colleges, universities, municipal law enforcement agencies and various community organizations internationally. To date, more than 900,000 women have participated in the program since its inception in 1989.

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