Tanner Maurice, a 12-year veteran of the Regina Police Service, is using his experience in that line of work to help people feel more safe walking the streets of the city.

For the past few years, Maurice has been hosting “Urban Safety Walks” in downtown Regina, giving participants tips to help them become more aware of their surroundings and in turn, stay safer.

“This is about how to spot dangerous situations and just avoid those situations all together,” said Maurice. “It’s about giving people the skill set to know that they will likely spot danger, so they don’t have to be so fearful of travelling, going to a movie, going to the Globe Theatre or something like that.”

Over the course of the two-hour walk, Maurice explained to the dozen attendees what they should be looking for as they walk down the street.

He also covered safety concepts for taking money out of an ATM, such as staying alert to anyone entering the room, and where to stand in an elevator, which is as far away from the buttons as possible.

Jenny Longman took part in the walk and she says she will be more aware of what is happening around her and where she’s walking moving forward.

“One important thing is to be looking at your environment and your surroundings and if there’s an angle, a certain place that’s like a little cubby hole or a little indent in the wall, to do a little circle around that area instead of walking right close by, in case someone was hiding in there,” said Longman.

One of Maurice’s main tips was to have a planned phrase for when someone approaches you in public, such as, “Sorry, I can’t help you right now.”

He also advised the attendees to walk confidently and make eye contact with those coming towards you.

For participants like Nicole Chartrand, the walk helped explain situations that she’s been in before but wasn’t sure what to do, “Like meeting a stranger on the street and now leaving with that information, I’m more confident about going into the future,” Chartrand said.

“Anyone can benefit from this, there’s no one segment that is more or less likely to be attacked,” added Maurice.

Sentinel Self Protection also offers a one-day self defence workshop that builds on what is taught during the walk.