Our department offers a multitude of courses designed to promote safety, awareness, and preparedness in our community. These courses cover a wide range of topics, including practical self-defense skills, situational awareness strategies, fire prevention techniques, and tips for recognizing and avoiding scams.
While most of these courses are offered several times throughout the semester, we also understand that every group’s needs are unique. That’s why we offer the option to request a customized session for your department, office, or student organization. When developing these tailored sessions, we collaborate with you to identify your group’s priorities and ensure that the content is relevant, practical, and engaging for your audience. To view all upcoming course dates, visit our Events page. To request a personalized session, complete our Engagement/Program Request Form.
Below, you'll find a full list of all of our available courses:
Self-Defense 1
This introductory, hands-on course teaches the core skills needed to protect yourself in real-world situations. Participants will learn stances, blocks, and strikes, while also practicing how to stay calm under pressure. Beyond the physical techniques, the course emphasizes awareness, prevention, and confidence-building so you can recognize risks early and respond effectively.
The course is around 2.5 hrs and contains three blocks:
- Understanding Violence & Crime
- Situational Awareness & Assertiveness
- Physical techniques
No prior experience is required, and the focus is on practical skills anyone can use.
Self-Defense 2 (Refresher)
Reinforce and sharpen your self-defense skills. This refresher reviews key techniques from Self-Defense 1 and provides additional practice to boost confidence and readiness.
Situational Awareness
The first step in staying safe is knowing what’s happening around you. This course helps participants build habits of awareness by learning how to stay alert, minimize risks, and trust their instincts. Through practical tips, students will explore how to avoid risky situations and make safer day-to-day decisions on and off campus.
Bystander Intervention
Everyone has a role to play in keeping our community safe. This course empowers participants to recognize when someone may be at risk and intervene in safe, effective ways. Using practical strategies, it covers how to step in and respond in any situation. The goal is to build confidence in acting, while reinforcing the shared responsibility of creating a respectful, caring campus culture.
Assertiveness
Being assertive means standing up for yourself while still respecting others. This course helps participants build confidence in expressing their needs, opinions, and boundaries clearly and respectfully. Through discussion and role-play, students will practice real-life scenarios and learn to handle stressful interactions with composure. The focus is on balancing self-respect, reducing misunderstandings, and strengthening both personal safety and everyday communication skills.
De-escalation
When emotions run high, conflicts can quickly spiral. This course teaches practical techniques to calm tense situations and reduce the risk of harm. Participants will explore communication skills that reduce conflict and promote safe outcomes for everyone involved. By building these skills, participants gain tools to defuse everyday conflicts as well as higher-stakes situations, creating a safer and more respectful campus environment.
DPS 101
This introductory session provides a behind-the-scenes look at our department. Participants will learn about our mission, services, and day-to-day operations, including emergency response, crime prevention, and community partnerships. The course also highlights how students, faculty, and staff can connect with DPS, access resources, and play an active role in promoting campus safety. It’s a great first step for anyone interested in understanding how we work together to keep the community secure.
Community Public Safety Academy
This multi-session program offers a comprehensive look at how campus safety works behind the scenes. Participants engage directly with staff to learn about police operations and emergency management. This is an interactive class that includes hands-on activities, such as practicing fingerprinting and using our VirTra system, a virtual training simulator. The Academy builds understanding, trust, and collaboration between Public Safety and Emergency Management and the community, giving participants practical knowledge and a voice in shaping campus safety.
Hostile Intruder / Active Shooter
Emergencies can unfold quickly and without warning. This course provides practical strategies for responding to a hostile intruder or active shooter situation, with an emphasis on the nationally recognized “Run, Hide, Fight” approach. Participants will learn how to assess rapidly changing situations, make informed decisions, and protect themselves and others. The course also highlights campus resources, response plans, and recovery support.
Fire Prevention
Understand how to reduce fire risks in residence halls, offices, and classrooms. This course provides prevention tips and response steps to keep our community safe.
For more information on any of these courses, please reach out to dps_engagement@brown.edu.