Wilmington Police use Jiu-Jitsu training to help deescalate situations

NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) — Police training has become a topic of debate over the past few years, but the Wilmington Police Department has found a safe way to take control of potentially dangerous situations.

By learning Gracie Style Techniques, a form of jiu-jitsu, officers are learning how to better handle potential suspects.

“Our agency is really headed in the right direction with giving us the proper training and handling combative subjects, that we adopted gst two years ago roughly ” said Officer Benjamin Cookson, who believes this training can benefit his department

According to Corporal Christian Marshall, he had a situation where the training potentially saved his life.

“I mean I had an incident happen not too long ago where someone was trying to take my gun and the techniques that i used were probably the first 3 or 4 techniques that we teach, like the most basic techniques.”

But the program won’t be for just for police either. Officer Eboni King says she is looking forward to a class that will help benefit the public.

“We’re in the final stages of the planning of the female only defense class that we’re offering to the citizens of Wilmington,” said King.

With officers receiving new types of training, it will allow them to better do their jobs and keep people safe.