Safe and secure: Church security classes drawing crowds

Deputy George Campbell worked law enforcement more than three decades. Never locked his doors. Never shot a soul.

But the world changed, he told a standing-room-only crowd of about 100 concerned citizens attending a meeting at the Bradley County's Sheriff's Office last month.

In this decade, he encourages law-abiding citizens to get guns and the license to carry them.

He and Bradley County Sheriff Eric Watson spoke in November about worship place security to hundreds of faith leaders from Meigs, Polk, Hamilton and Bradley counties.

Faith leaders attended the event just weeks after Devin Patrick Kelley shot 26 people at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The massacre is the deadliest mass killing at a place of worship in modern U.S. history, according to news reports.

"We're not out here to train you and teach you to shoot somebody or to kill somebody, but we need to learn how to neutralize a threat," said Campbell.

The Bradley County Sheriff's Office is among several law enforcement and faith-based groups around the country helping places of worship remain safe.

Watson plans to offer hands-on training in January. The Tennessee Department of Homeland Security will assist with a class involving simulation of an actual shooter. Other classes will focus on how to disarm a subject with a gun and how to put somebody on the ground to hold them until law enforcement arrives. Taser classes for civilians, mace classes and a special church training and gun carrying class also will be provided, he said.

Retired and full-time officers teach gun classes at no charge, but they ask for a $5 donation to provide targets and ranges. Training for church security is available to anyone in the state of Tennessee, said Campbell.

Watson asks church representatives to call and let his office know which class they plan to attend so instructors will know how many classes to offer. Watson said he'll schedule several classes if there's demand.

Dennis Culbreth, missions director of the Hamilton County Baptist Association, hosted a breakfast where the Chattanooga Police Department spoke about security. The association includes 109 Southern Baptist churches and welcomes other churches to call if they want to work together toward making places of worship more safe.

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Department said it would also meet with county churches concerning security if requested.

"What can churches do to deal with what might come," said Culbreth. "How can you keep your church as safe as possible without locking the doors?"

Olivet Baptist Church and Curtis Green, chief of police at Chattanooga State Community College, will host a church security meeting in January. The event is open to all churches.

Olivet's pastor, Bishop Kevin Adams, quoted a portion of Bible verse John 16:2, "The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God."

He said the verse seemed far-fetched 27 years ago when he started ministering, but it's becoming reality.

"I've lived long enough to see that actually being fulfilled in my day," he said.

At the Bradley County meeting in November, Watson showcased statistics that illustrated increasing acts of violence in places of worship. He encouraged all faith-based organizations to have a plan to run for escape routes or turn off lights and hide if an active shooter came to their site.

"We want people to be educated on how to handle an incident before, during and after any critical situation that may happen at church," said Watson, who hosted the event. "We're encouraging churches to put an action plan in place."

Mass murder, defined by four or more dead from any one attack, in churches was unheard of until 1963 when members of the Ku Klux Klan put at least 15 sticks of dynamite under the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. The explosion resulted in the deaths of four girls.

The number of deadly force incidents at faith-based organizations in the United States since 1999 stands at 1,660. according to a report copyrighted by church security consultant Carl Chinn and distributed by the Bradley County Sheriff's Department. Nearly 580 of those incidents resulted in deaths.

Deadly force incidents include abductions and attempts, attacks, suspicious deaths, suicides and deadly force intervention.

The report showed 10 deadly force incidents that happened in 1999. In 2016, the count hit 246.

"Not too long ago, a place of worship was considered a safe haven," said Watson. "Today, however, crime and violence have become far too prevalent."

Perry Stone Ministries, based in Cleveland, is among the larger ministries in Bradley County that employ police for safety. The Bradley County Sheriff's Department's SWAT team provides security for its camp meetings. Four other churches in Bradley County hire deputies just for church security and traffic details on Sundays, said Watson.

The sheriff's office also offers to meet with smaller churches at no charge. The churches should form their own committee that focuses on developing and continually refining a process to address safety needs. The sheriff's office will help coordinate training, said Watson.

Sheriff staff ask that churches share blueprints of their facility with law enforcement so that authorities will know the layout of the building if they need to enter it.

Issues common to smaller churches include having only one way in and out of the building, which could make it difficult to escape if a shooter entered.

Watson also cautioned churches to put the Sunday School offering amount in the church bulletin or online instead of posting it during the service on the wall.

And he suggested that the person working the sound system in a booth at church is probably the best person to monitor cameras and security systems. He said several churches purchase security cameras but have no one assigned to monitor them.

Campbell encouraged people planning to arm themselves with guns to make sure they know the laws concerning them. A gun is not permitted in areas of a church that are also used for a school.

"Hate - because of the political nature of the church. We've seen it," said Watson. "Hate because of just evil."

In other statistics from Chinn's report, 332 churches were robbed, more than 200 incidents were related to domestic violence and 161 involved personal conflict.

Personal conflict meant members or nonmembers within the church had conflict with each other, explained Watson. More than 140 incidents involved people with mental illness. Some 115 incidents were gang-related. About 76 was religious bias. Another 45 were drug-related. The cause for 192 incidents was undetermined, he said.

He said the majority of incidents, 1,157, happened outside on ministry grounds. So if a church has cameras, at least one of them should show activity on the parking lot. And if there's a security team, someone should be assigned to watch the parking lot, said Watson.

A woman attending the meeting who didn't want to give her name said she worked at the Cleveland soup kitchen. She came because some people who frequent the ministry for help are also violent. She said she's concerned about the safety of people who are nonviolent but also seek help there.

"We have street people come in, and there's already a lot of incidents that are happening," she said. "There've been knife fights, physical altercations and arguments."

The November meeting. It was the second such session Watson had held, scheduled after the initial meeting could not accommodate all who wanted to attend.

Watson plans to limit upcoming classes, those with active-shooter training, to 40 people per class. He said he's willing to have as many classes as necessary to accommodate all who are interested.

Participants don't have to be Bradley County residents, he said.

Watson gave each attendee a "Place of Worship Security & Safety Guide," which included suggestions for how congregants may work together to keep their church safe.

"With education and action we can attempt to minimize the issues that your church deals with," said Watson. "Now is the time that our citizens should be prepared to serve as a first line of defense, not only for your families but for your churches as well."

Contact Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.