Training In Jefferson County Aimed At Preventing Church Shootings
GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) - Dozens of people from different faith-based organizations packed into a Jefferson County hearing room on Tuesday for a "safety in faith" workshop. James Allbee is a member of the security team for Red Rocks Church.
"Everybody is much more aware as these (situations) continue to happen at public places where it should be a safe place to worship, to go to work, to go to school whatever it may be, it has left us all a little more vulnerable," he said.
The workshop held multiple times a year is organized by Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader.
"This is not faith specific. This is about keeping Jefferson County safe," he said.
Shrader organized the training after a gunman opened fire in 2015 at a Charleston, South Carolina, church. He was attending a law enforcement conference with his counterpart from that county the night of the shooting.
"It caused me to ask some questions to myself and also of my staff when I to got back in my office of how well connected are we to our faith community in Jefferson County," Shrader said.
The answer, he says, was they could do better.
Now, the county offers faith-based leaders and their security teams a chance to train in recognizing suspicious behavior and de-escalating a variety of situations.
"Its an opportunity to come in here and learn something and hopefully make all of our campuses safer," Allbee said
