VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — With a rise in assaults and crimes on the senior population in Virginia Beach, the sheriff's office held a class on Monday to teach senior citizens to protect themselves.
Senior citizens in the Pungo area of Virginia Beach received a quick course on how to de-escalate a situation if they're ever attacked or feel threatened.
The course taught by the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office (VBSO) Emergency Response Team is part of a new initiative brought on by Sheriff Rocky Holcomb following a rise in assaults and scams against the elderly.
In February, there were two cases where seniors were assaulted, one person outside a grocery store and another right outside their home.
"There's an obvious rise in assaults and scams on the elderly population in Virginia Beach so he [Sheriff Holcomb] wanted us to come up with something to give people options so they could survive that better of have a better level of success," Cpt. Nick Curtis, who helped teach the course, said.
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During Monday's seminar, deputies not only taught seniors best practices when it comes to calling 911 and how to recognize a threat but also how to escape a situation.
The example used was called the Green-Yellow-Red method.
"Green means you're good to go you can keep moving about your day," Curtis said. "Yellow there's something weird going on you may be kind of nervous about it. Red means I'm in imminent danger I need to take action now to protect myself."
Protecting yourself is where the pads and step-back motions came in.
Deputies demonstrated how you defend yourself no matter who you are.
"Oh my gosh, there are so many things that I would do differently," Jeanette Ray, a class attendee, said. "I mean just keep people out of my space being able to say no. I am overly polite so before this, someone may have come into my space, and I wouldn't have done anything."
The Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office will be teaching this course more with another seminar scheduled for April 6 from 9 a.m. to noon at 6049 Indian River Road, Christian Church Uniting UCC.
You can also request a course be taught by reaching out to the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office at (757) 385 - 8446.
