By Christy Myers
Will the popular Virginia Tech Police Academy and its CSI workshop still take place this fall? What about RAD for Women and Men?
Yes, they will.
The Virginia Tech Police Department is working hard to deliver its regular programing and resources safely in spite of the ongoing COVID-19 emergency.
Civilian Police Academy
The police department’s Civilian Police Academy offers students and employees the opportunity to learn about safety and law enforcement procedures and tactics through a mix of classroom experiences and hands-on activities.
Officer Daniel Guilliams, community services unit and lead Student Police Academy coordinator, notes this year’s Student Police Academy will be a hybrid academy; some of the learning will be hands-on and in-person with the majority hosted on Zoom.
Students in the academy will still have the opportunity to gain hands-on law enforcement experience, including engagement in the mock crime scene session, shooting range and weapon safety session, and everyone’s favorite K-9 demonstrations.
Students will also have the opportunity to witness the popular mock DUI, along with a variety of new sessions.
All academy coursework will follow physical distancing guidelines and will require participants to wear face coverings.
Apply to the Police Academy here.
One Love
In collaboration with the One Love Foundation, the Virginia Tech Police Department offers multiple programs each year to raise awareness about the warning signs of domestic violence and activate communities to work to change the statistics about relationship violence.
The program typically runs for about two hours, with a presentation of the film “Escalation” and smaller group discussions after.
Sergeant Kendrah Cline, lead facilitator for the One Love program, hopes to continue to hold smaller sessions of the Escalation workshop this fall, while promoting physical distancing.
Cline also aims to connect with the university community around One Love programming through social media and on-campus tabling, along with other outreach events.
“I want students to know that the Virginia Tech Police Department isn’t just about enforcing laws. We are passionate about the personal safety of all members of the university community and are committed to offering a range of safety resources – especially when it comes to domestic violence prevention and knowing about early warning signs,” said Cline.
Stay tuned for more information about One Love at Virginia Tech.
R.A.D. for Women and Men
The Rape Aggression Defense System (R.A.D. for Women) and Resisting Aggression with Defense System (R.A.D. for Men) are two valuable safety programs offered to all members of the campus community. The schedule for fall sessions, which will follow all public health guidelines, will be shared soon. The hands-on classes will continue to be held in-person.
The R.A.D. programs highlight awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, and progresses to the basics of hands-on defense training. Participants will gain important self-defense tactics and techniques.
This fall, there will be three 3-hour sessions. They will exclude bag work and the fighting portion. Attendees will be separated into small groups, be positioned to maximize physical distancing, and will wear face coverings.
Community Services Corporal and Resource Officer John Tarter shares, “The department is getting creative in the way we are implementing our programs this year. We hope members of the university community will continue to take advantage of the wide range of Police Department programming this fall.”
VTPD will host two R.A.D. for Women sessions:
- Session I: Tuesdays from 6 – 9 p.m.; Sept 29, Oct 6, and Oct 13
- Session II: Wednesdays from 2 – 5 p.m.; Oct 28, Nov 4, and Nov 11
Register for the program here.
They will also host one R.A.D. for Men session:
- Session I: Thursdays from 1:30 – 5:30 p.m. on Sept 24, Oct 1, and Oct 8
Register for the program here.
Additional information related to upcoming Virginia Tech Police programing:
- Student mentoring: The department will continue to offer mentoring to students who receive conduct referrals. Sessions will still be one-on-one, but with physical distance between the student and officer and both wearing masks. Another alternative is for the student to take a walk with the officer outside.
- Food events: All food events will be canceled until further notice.
- RA meetings and trainings: Will be hosted over Zoom.
“Community engagement is at the heart of the Virginia Tech Police Department’s programmatic efforts. As we navigate the COVID-19 emergency, we remain committed to offering the best of our programs to students and employees, while following public health guidelines,” says Sergeant Tom Gallemore, member of the Police Department Community Services Unit and who leads general event programming.
The latest Police Department programing updates will be shared on the Police Department website and in the VT Daily News.
Support AFP
Share
AFP
