WNC Safety Team Training

With the rise of authoritarianism, we all have been working to pursue and protect ourselves and democracy. We are increasingly being asked to take to the streets, defend our neighbors from deportation, and some have even partaken in acts of civil disobedience. In order to address these challenges, Indivisible Asheville-WNC, the WNC Nonpartisan Voting Group, and Carolina Jews for Justice have connected with Blueprint NC to help us form a WNC safety team.

This training is for individuals who might be interested in being a part of an inter-organizational, diverse safety team that could be available to respond at rallies, protests and in other ways. What is the purpose of a safety team? What roles need to be filled? How can a safety team be used to enhance the event safety? We'll answer these question and increase our situational awareness while learning how to use a community self defense model. We’ll review common scenarios that come up at various types of events such as protests, rallies, or marches and the role of de-escalators, observers, police liaisons, marshals, street medics, etc. Please consider that there is a role on the safety team for everyone - regardless of physical ability, age, or experience, however, members of the safety team are not folks that would be organizing, or presenting or be needed in other capacities; being a safety team member would be their main contributing role.