I was requested by my pastor and several other church members…,
to attend a meeting given by the Richmond Fire and Police departments, and a Security professional some months ago concerning safety in places of worship in response to an incident that occurred shortly before. There was food there, so that made a large number of the participants quite happy. It was a three hour long program, the first two hours consisting of a panel of Fire and Police department brass expounding on their resume`s and patting themselves on the back, followed by pretty much telling the guest what they were going to do in the case of an active shooter/emergency. They never really offered any advice on how a place of worship might be proactive in anticipating or handling such an emergency, which I suspect by the few questions that followed, was the main reason many guest were in attendance (except maybe the free food).
The Security professional gave an excellent lecture and offered lots of good information and material on the matter of increasing safety and awareness in places of worship.
By contrast, about the only material the police offered was a pen and a "How did we do?" questionnaire.
I told them it would be nice they could continue to offer the venue (and the food of course), do away with the first two hours and the "experts", keep the Security professional, and get lost until somebody calls for them to come and clean up.
So, to recap, it was pretty much what I figured (and told my pastor) it would be, and that I would not be going to any more of those "seminars".
sidestreet
Jeremiah 29: 11-13
we are not equal, we will never be equal, but we must be relentless.