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Home Forum Current Events in the News Shooting at Reformation Lutheran Church, Sunday May 31, 2009

Shooting at Reformation Lutheran Church, Sunday May 31, 2009

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9:13 am
June 1, 2009


Calmo2000

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The killing of Dr. Tiller at the church he attended solidifies the importance of gathering intelligence. Because Dr. Tiller was a well known person that performed late term abortions, and because he had been shot in the past, and had been picketed at his office in the past, and had a bomb placed at his office in the past, and had recently been on trial concerning his abortion activities, it would follow that Dr. Tiller would be considered to be in danger of attack.

Because of the volatility of the abortion issue and the past violence that has occurred around this issue, it is fair to say that Dr. Tiller should have been considered to be at the top of the list of persons that may be in grave danger.

Although most churches do not have persons that might be considered in the danger that Dr. Tiller should have been considered to be in, we do need to stay abreast of information that may place someone at our church in danger. This can be a member, a visitor, a special speaker that may be controversial, etc. Developing avenues for receiving this information, without violating a persons trust is a tough, but not unattainable goal. Having a strict "need to know, right to know" policy is essential, as well as selecting persons that can be trusted to treat personal information correctly.

Your thoughts and or experience in these areas can help us all do our jobs better.

1:26 pm
June 1, 2009


SMince2

Northeast Alabama

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From all I have gathered, his was/is and extremely liberal congregation. It is highly doubtful that any kind of security measures would be approved in the first place.

However, I do agree that discretion is an important quality in a team member.

3:32 pm
June 1, 2009


Glen

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Scott,

That is an interesting opinion. If they are liberal, I would say they wouldn't be against security, but I think there would be varying discussions about the correct level of security.

I think that most organizations, and people in general, don' t think bad things will happen within 100 yards of them. When it does happen, they are dumbstruck and you will usually hear them say things like, "I can't believe this happened."

In this situation, perhaps they believed it couldn't happen twice. I think there was no way to stop this from happening, short of intervention from somone who knew about the plan.

In spite of bad things happening all the time, like vandalism, rape, burglary, child abuse, most churches refuse to consider the thought of anything like a security plan.

When people admit the need for security, they are admitting the world is a scary place. It is much easier to pretend bad things won't happen to you, but when it does, it is the stuff Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is made from.

G

9:56 am
June 2, 2009


Calmo2000

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Glen,

A very good point regarding probably not being able to stop this shooting without someone giving up the plan and or the suspect. If we look at this shooting without looking at Tiller's background we can see where a similar situation could occur at other churches. The reason for the shooting would be very different but the fact remains that it can happen in our churches.

One scenario could be with the situation our economy is in it's possible that there will be persons in our church that have been involved with downsizing, shutting down, or moving a business. Workplace violence sometimes follows these activities. Many businesses are tightening security at their locations due to this possibility. Church may be the next easiest place where a person unable to handle the situation might seek his revenge.

In law enforcement we live and die by the information gathered or not gathered, it is no different in security at our church. If we can glean anything from this latest shooting it is that reasonable intelligence gathering is important. It can be a fine line to walk but a line that needs to be walked in order to accomplish our goal of keeping our people safe.

Often people who have information want to share it, but are not sure how to do so without sounding like an alarmist or a gossip. It is important that people know that they can share information with the assurance that it will be handled correctly. These lines of communication can serve us well in doing our safety ministries.
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