SUNBURY – Northumberland Borough is hosting a crime prevention and safety seminar. ‘Refuse to be a Victim’ is a program from the NRA that teaches safety strategies for people of all ages.
Officer Scott Kerstetter says the seminar is not a self-defense class, “Basically these are same principles of crime prevention. The only prerequisite is that you have an interest in crime prevention and personal safety. This program started in 1993, initially designed for women. In 1997, it became a co-ed program. It is appropriate for teenagers and up.”
The seminar focuses on strategies to avoid being an easy target, “We’re going to talk about the psychology of a criminal mindset. What criminals look for in terms of targeting people. We’ll spend some time talking about how you can mentally prepare yourself. A lot of times, there’s that instinct that kicks in of fight or flight or freeze where people are faced with a stressful situation, that they’re not used to. It’s not something that happens all the time. We’ll teach you how to respond and what mindset to have of when this happens, this is what I’m going to do.”
Kerstetter says knowing how to respond in a potentially dangerous situation can keep you from becoming a victim, “There’s a set program we’re going to follow, but there’s so much there and the idea is to give people options to get them thinking about it. We’re not going to recommend a specific firearm or a personal protection device or a specific tactic defensive instructor. What’re we going to say is these are your options and these are things that we would like you to think about in hopes that it lessens your chance of becoming a victim of crime.”
The seminar ‘Refuse to be a Victim’ will take place Thursday from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m at the Northumberland Borough Hall. The session is free to the public and registration is preferred. You can register by calling 570-473-8446 or emailing kerstetter@norrypd.com. Scott Kerstetter was a recent guest on WKOK Sunrise. You can listen to the full interview online at www.wkok.com.
