Lawrence police officer Chris Wech demonstrates a defensive position on Sgt. Kirk Fultz for new recruits during a defensive tactics class Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011.

As the 13 Lawrence police recruits Thursday morning worked in pairs on mats, honing their defensive tactics, their trainers were teaching them how best to get out of a struggle and apprehend a suspect.

“It doesn’t matter what shift you’re on, you’ve got to prepare to expect the worst,” Sgt. Kirk Fultz said. “We always hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

Fultz and officers Chris Wech and Jeff Holtzman helped lead the recruits through several scenarios at the Investigations and Training Center, 4820 Bob Billings Parkway. Wech spent time instructing the group on how they could get out of a struggle with a suspect who was on top of them. He taught them about how to grab the suspect’s arm, what to do with their legs to get away and how to use leverage to their advantage.

Fultz said the training is meant to show officers how they should react in a situation if it ever escalates to that point. During their 24-week academy, the recruits are getting training about how to use common sense and try to avoid a heated exchange or a fight, but they need to know what to do in case it does happen, he said.

Police often have to respond to domestic violence calls or even chaotic situations early in the morning after bars close.

“We’re trying to keep these officers as safe as we can,” Fultz said.

On Thursday, the recruits learned basic moves that could help them put a suspect in handcuffs, and they will practice more complex scenarios later on.

“You can avoid danger sometimes, but sometimes you can’t. We swim upstream,” Fultz said. “When everybody’s running out of a building, we’ve got to go in. You’ve got to have gumption to do that. You’ve got to be brave to do that.”