The Natchitoches Police Department will offer a three-day Rape Aggression Defense course this month to aid in women’s safety.

The class is on March 14, 21, and 28 from 6-9 p.m. at the Natchitoches Police Department’s training center located at 525 Bossier Street. The class is $20 for first-time students and free for returning students who bring their signed manuals.

“We try to offer four or five different classes a year,” RAD Instructor Sergeant Jeff Townson said. “We try to expose as many people as possible to these self-defense classes.”

The class will offer self-defense methods for safely getting out of multiple situations.

“We consider any time a woman is not free to move around as she pleases to be a bad situation,” Townson said. “These situations can become very physical, so we want to be sure that women are equipped with escape methods.”

Townson will teach pragmatic self-defense methods to class participants.

“The RAD system was created by a retired police officer, and it’s made up of different martial arts,” Townson said. “Everything that we will be covering is designed to be highly effective.”

The class is open to women and girls age 13 and up. Those interested in pre-registering can contact Amy Cox at 318-357-3802.