Last month, the department held its first radKIDS — short for “Resisting Aggression Defensively” — session after bringing the national program to Ogden.

Lynsey Mahoskey, marketing and communications specialist with the Police Department, told the Standard-Examiner that the program was brought to the department by Chief Jake Sube.

“Chief Sube had his son go through this program through Layton and he really liked it,” she said. “He looked into it and sent a few of our school resource officers to training to become certified, and those school resource officers brought it back to the Ogden Police Department and taught it to other school resource officers in our Community Policing Bureau. They brought that to the recreation department with Ogden City so that we could bring it to the citizens and youth of Ogden.”

According to a press release on the program sent by the Ogden City Police Department, “radKIDS teaches children how to recognize, avoid, and — if necessary — respond to dangerous situations. Topics include bullying prevention, abduction resistance, and realistic self-protection strategies, all delivered in a supportive, age-appropriate way that boosts self-confidence and resiliency. The program is hands-on, interactive, and designed to replace fear with knowledge and empowerment.”

Sube said in that same release that the program fit well with his mission for the department.

“As Chief, I introduced this program to the department because I believe our role in public safety extends far beyond enforcement,” he said. “radKIDS gives us a way to reach children before crisis occurs–teaching them that they have a voice, a choice, and the ability to act. When we build up our youth, we’re investing directly in the future of our community.”

Mahoskey said that this year includes three sessions — one that recently concluded in June and two more set for later this month (July 14-17) and August (Aug. 4-7). Each session includes four days of study for a couple of hours each day.

“Each class has some classroom portion and then some skills training,” she said. “They’ll do the classroom portion, and then one of our other officers teaches the skills portion where we actually teach the kids, get them up, get them moving, and teach them defensive tactics to help protect themselves or evade somebody who is trying to cause harm to them.”

She said the interactive session has been well received among its first 22 graduates.

“From basically Day 1, it was a lot of positive feedback and solidified that we do want to keep this program in Ogden,” she said. “Right out of the gate, they were like, ‘Yes, we’re going to bring this back year after year. The first session did teach us a lot — we obviously had to go through some kinks trying to make sure we have everything set up — and we’ll continue to learn and grow as we go through these classes. But by the end of the program, it was clear that the parents and the kids all had so much fun and our department had a lot of fun. There’s been a lot of positive feedback about it.”

In an email to the Standard-Examiner, Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski also had high praise for the newly implemented program.

“When I conducted interviews for Chief of Police last fall, I asked each candidate what they want their leadership legacy to be,” Nadolski said. “Part of Chief Sube’s answer was to empower, engage and mentor Ogden’s youth, and that’s one of the many reasons he is my Chief of Police today.

“And seeing the way kids are engaging, and the impact it’s also having on our officers? That’s why we do this work. To see those smiles, hear their laughter and know that we are making a difference in people’s lives, including kids, families and our officers.”

Spots were still available for the July and August sessions as of Wednesday morning. This year, the sessions are open to kids aged 8-12, but plans are to open it to kids as young as 6 in 2026. The sessions are open to kids whether or not they are from Ogden.

For more information and to sign up for the radKIDS program in Ogden, visit https://www.ogdencity.gov/2726/Classes.