God’s army

Atlanta church to hire police force

Jesus tells Peter in the book of Matthew that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church.

That is especially true of Briarwood Presbyterian Church now that it has decided to form its own police force.

Briarwood Presbyterian Church is a church of more than 4,000 attendees located in Birmingham, Alabama.

Not only is Briarwood a church, but it also serves as a K-12 school and seminary.

In order to provide extra security, the church recently presented the idea of employing police officers with authority to arrest and carry weapons before the
Alabama Senate.

“After the shooting at Sandy Hook (Elementary School) and in the wake of similar assaults at churches and schools, Briarwood recognized the need to provide qualified first responders to coordinate with local law enforcement who so heroically and effectively serve in their communities,” the church said in a statement.

The church was granted its wish as the majority of the Alabama Senate voted 24-4 in favor of the bill.

After this vote, an identical bill was sent to the Public Homeland Security Committee.

According to the bill, all police officers on the force must be certified by a state standards and training commission.

The only difference between the Briarwood officers and state officers is that they are limited to only working on the church’s campus.

Though it is common for megachurches to have security, it is rare for them to have their own police force.

That being said, Briarwood is not the first church to take this step as the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. has its own police force consisting of 18 police officers.

However, several have vocalized their worries that a church having its own police department would make it easier to cover up committed crimes.

“It is our view this would plainly be unconstitutional,” Randall Marshall, the American Civil Liberties Union acting executive director, said to NBC.

This is the third attempt made by the Alabama State Legislature to enable Briarwood to hire its own police force.

The first attempt was killed when then Governor Robert Bentley refused to sign the bill despite it passing both the House and Senate.

“If (Briarwood) wanted to have their own police force, you know, I don’t see any reason why they can’t,” Alabama State Senator Jabo Waggoner said.

The concept of a church having its own police force is strange, just because it is a rare concept.

However, that is not to say that Christian churches are not in need of protection.

The Christian church is one that is and will continue to be under persecution.

In recent years, the Charleston church shooting and the Gethsemane Church of God shooting have made major headlines.

According to Pacific Standard, church shootings are such an often occurrence that there is a national church shooting database.

With that being said, I think it is important for all churches to take the proper measures in order to protect the church body.

If this church is able to find, hire and pay officers on their own to serve and protect the church, I do not know what should stop them.

Drogan is an opinion writer.