MISSOULA – With the goal of teaching women how to protect themselves, the Missoula Police Department hosted its first Women’s Personal Safety Luncheon on Friday.

Various law enforcement officers provided guidance on the legal use of force in self-defense and their knowledge of situational awareness, such as not burying your face in your phone when moving.

Students were encouraged to take advantage of campus resources such as campus police.

One of the big reasons behind today’s lunch was to raise awareness of domestic violence.

“More ladies are hurt and killed by the person who is supposed to love them than the bad guys on the street. The things you can look for is that you know the anger issues, starting small, controlling the anger, then getting into verbal abuse, which can then lead to physical abuse,” said Alain Burrese, Director of Defense at Reflex Protect.

You can order one non-lethal defensive spray presented at the Reflex Protect event.

While this was the first of these events at the Missoula Police Department, Whitney Bennett with the department tells MTN it was so successful they plan to host more.