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Bozeman police officer leads avoid-deny-defend safety training for Economic Vitality Board
Summary
Officer Bree Sanders of the Bozeman Police Department gave board members a briefing and demonstration on the “avoid, deny, defend” approach to personal safety, including instruction and a hands-on fire extinguisher demo and guidance on panic buttons and 911 usage.
Officer Bree Sanders, a community resource officer with the Bozeman Police Department, gave the Economic Vitality Board a safety briefing on avoid, deny, defend and demonstrated use of a fire extinguisher.
Sanders told the board the training is intended to help meeting attendees “feel safe and comfortable and know what to do in the event of an emergency.” She described “avoid” as removing yourself from a threatening situation, “deny” as hiding or blocking entry, and “defend” as using available tools to protect yourself if necessary.
Sanders led examples of everyday items that can be repurposed as improvised defensive tools, such as a water bottle or a gavel. She explained the tactical rationale, referencing the OODA loop concept — disrupting an attacker’s decision cycle — and said a fire extinguisher produces a dense plume of sodium bicarbonate that can temporarily obscure vision and disorient an assailant.
On emergency communication, Sanders advised calling 911 “as soon as you can safely do so” but cautioned that in some hide situations it may be safer to delay calling until it is prudent. She explained that multiple 911 calls from a single location help dispatchers by putting repeated location markers on their board. Sanders also noted the building’s panic buttons route to a third-party security vendor, which then alerts law enforcement, and said she would follow up with Captain Swanson about testing panic-button functionality.
After the presentation Sanders offered a hands‑on extinguisher demonstration; she brought one empty unit for attendees to handle and a live unit to discharge outside. She warned about the powder’s effect on eyes and clothing and asked participants to point extinguishers at an object and squeeze the lever only when outside.
Board members asked for indicators to watch for at meetings; Sanders listed pre-fight body language cues such as clenched fists, teeth grinding, muttering and verbal threats and told the chair that meeting leaders may shut down proceedings if they sense a threat. She emphasized that any attendee may decide to end an interaction if they feel unsafe.
The presentation concluded with Sanders offering to coordinate a practical extinguisher drill and to work with Bozeman Police leadership on panic‑button testing and related security checks.
