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UP-CLOSE: WOMEN IN LAW ENFORCEMENT Building Warrior Women Calling all women in the emergency services! Aim high, with success in your sights! Take control over your performance, or someone else will! Here is how. MORE INFORMATION www.loukatactical.com www.buildingwarriorwomen.com BUILDING WARRIOR WOMEN CONFERENCE A Delivering strikes with power. Women in law enforcement, step up to the plate. By Lou Ann Hamblin and Kathleen Vonk s women in law enforcement, we wouldn't want to leave our lives in the hands of a heinous offender. We wouldn't want to be confronted with a sus- pect with a gun if we know our pistol skills are lacking. We wouldn't want to hear the words, "I ain't goin' to jail without a fight!" when we believe that our subject control skills or tech- niques are sub-par. Rather, we would prefer to take our futures into our own hands – even knowing this would take time, money, effort, sweat, tears and in some cases, a little bit of blood. By getting the down-and-dirty, hands-on, physical per- formance skills that we need to survive on the street, we are taking control of our lives. Yes, the seminar-based, classroom courses still have value, however it's time we grew out of the comfortable chairs, donned our armor, and put our money where our mouths are. 62 LAW and ORDER I May 2012 If you are a female officer, you already know that when- ever you go to one of the physical skills participation classes, you are the minority – if not the only one. Does a class even exist – an all-female class taught by an all-female instruc- tor cadre, a class that allows us to achieve better results in a socially comfortable setting, and creates a positive train- ing experience to ultimately reinforce further training in all atmospheres? Yes. The "Building Warrior Women" training event was de- signed by, and is being delivered by female law enforcement instructor-trainers, specifically for women in law enforce- ment. The inaugural four-day event was hosted by the Day- ton, Ohio Police Department in October 2011. Women from various positions in law enforcement came from all over the United States and from all walks of law enforcement to at- tend the first Building Warrior Women training event. The BWW all-female instructional staff brings many specialties in police physical skills instructional areas to include pistol, shotgun, rifle, physical fitness, SWAT, subject control, self- help and buddy aid, and cycling.