I live in Cali. I did a CA on a registered sex offender trying to grab a 12yo girl at church. He tried to stab me. I disarmed him, with the help of the Holy Spirit and held him down for over 50 minutes while waiting for the Sheriff to respond. The Deputy refused to arrest him because, "he was drunk". So I arrested him. He was booked and released. He was associated with a gang and within a week our house was burglarized while we were at work. They took everything except the furniture and our clothes. He was never charged for attempted kid napping, assault with a deadly weapon or anything else appropriate. He was given a light sentence for not showing up for his original arraignment. During this whole process, approximately 4-5 months, I had to come home early from work to clear my house before my pregnant wife got home, because of the repeated break- ins. I was under an extreme amount of stress and received no support from my church at the time. I would do it all again because it was the right thing to do. The Lord protected me even though I didn't get support from my church or local Law Enforcement.
Keith I love what you are doing, thank you so much. Can you discuss the Churches responsibilities towards those that are serving in a Safety Ministry and what is the Churches role in ministering to the participants and survivors that find themselves wrapped up in the aftermath of an incident.
Ouch! Unless there's another side to the story, the lack of support from your church would have me looking for another church for my family, and suggesting the family of the 12 year old girl do the same.
Sorry you had to go through this. Fortunately, our church in San Francisco has a great relationship with local PD. They even come to our major outside events and hang around. We recently had a medical emergency during one of our events and they called the Paramedics. If at all possible, churches should have a relationship with their local PD or Sheriff. We will soon have "Active Shooter" training with them, so that we know what their expectations are if something like that happens.
Excellent information. I didn't know that misdemeanors are legally treated differently from felonies, that the former (generally) requires direct witnessing, while the latter (generally) just requires "reasonable belief". Great advice, telling people to learn the SPECIFIC laws in their states so they/we don't get jammed up. Thx!
Keith: You recommend that security team members should carry pepper spray. Do you recommend a brand or kind (bear spray)? Should we carry EpiPens in case someone is catastrophically affected by the spray?
Thanks, for the informative article. I have a related question: What would you recommend as the essentials for a church security Go Bag? Thanks, Manuel Gonzales
Keith, you know me as a retired Police Officer from Santa Ana Police Department. I am on our church safety team. I was carrying a set of handcuffs in my "bag" just in case I either needed to make a citizens arrest, or as I was always taught to handcuff a suspect after he was shot. At your recent Christian Warrior Training Academy at Pastor Jack's church you told us all to stop carrying handcuffs. So what about in the case of effecting a citizens arrest, should we cuff them or not?
I live in Cali. I did a CA on a registered sex offender trying to grab a 12yo girl at church. He tried to stab me. I disarmed him, with the help of the Holy Spirit and held him down for over 50 minutes while waiting for the Sheriff to respond. The Deputy refused to arrest him because, "he was drunk". So I arrested him. He was booked and released. He was associated with a gang and within a week our house was burglarized while we were at work. They took everything except the furniture and our clothes. He was never charged for attempted kid napping, assault with a deadly weapon or anything else appropriate. He was given a light sentence for not showing up for his original arraignment. During this whole process, approximately 4-5 months, I had to come home early from work to clear my house before my pregnant wife got home, because of the repeated break- ins. I was under an extreme amount of stress and received no support from my church at the time. I would do it all again because it was the right thing to do. The Lord protected me even though I didn't get support from my church or local Law Enforcement.
Keith I love what you are doing, thank you so much. Can you discuss the Churches responsibilities towards those that are serving in a Safety Ministry and what is the Churches role in ministering to the participants and survivors that find themselves wrapped up in the aftermath of an incident.
Thanks Brother.
Ouch! Unless there's another side to the story, the lack of support from your church would have me looking for another church for my family, and suggesting the family of the 12 year old girl do the same.
Sorry you had to go through this. Fortunately, our church in San Francisco has a great relationship with local PD. They even come to our major outside events and hang around. We recently had a medical emergency during one of our events and they called the Paramedics. If at all possible, churches should have a relationship with their local PD or Sheriff. We will soon have "Active Shooter" training with them, so that we know what their expectations are if something like that happens.
One recent surprise to me was who is allowed to ask an intruder on church property to leave. At our church, it's only an elder or a staff member.
Is that in some kind of Bylaw set by your church or some type of "legal" protocol?
I would assume that includes trustees and decons as well?
Excellent information. I didn't know that misdemeanors are legally treated differently from felonies, that the former (generally) requires direct witnessing, while the latter (generally) just requires "reasonable belief". Great advice, telling people to learn the SPECIFIC laws in their states so they/we don't get jammed up. Thx!
Keith: You recommend that security team members should carry pepper spray. Do you recommend a brand or kind (bear spray)? Should we carry EpiPens in case someone is catastrophically affected by the spray?
Thanks, for the informative article. I have a related question: What would you recommend as the essentials for a church security Go Bag? Thanks, Manuel Gonzales
Keith, you know me as a retired Police Officer from Santa Ana Police Department. I am on our church safety team. I was carrying a set of handcuffs in my "bag" just in case I either needed to make a citizens arrest, or as I was always taught to handcuff a suspect after he was shot. At your recent Christian Warrior Training Academy at Pastor Jack's church you told us all to stop carrying handcuffs. So what about in the case of effecting a citizens arrest, should we cuff them or not?
Great job. Truly an inspired article.