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I realize that I may have a somewhat unique opportunity in getting people to share information with me due to my law enforcement experience, or maybe it's just that I must be uncommonly insistent, but when I learn of incidents of church violence throughout the country, I make it a practice, after the dust has settled a bit, to personally contact staff members of those churches and/or the police investigators involved for additional details.

For example, I've spoken with an associate pastor at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, TX familiar with the fatal shootings there in 1999, an off-duty officer who was immediately on the scene before the last shots were fired and with the lead detective who put the subsequent investigation together. I've had conversations with both the former Security Director of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO as well as one of detective who was on the scene about the fatal shootings there in December, 2007.

Why do I think it's important to learn as much as I can about what happened elsewhere? In order to gain possible insights into how MY church can best protect itself against similar attacks.