Manatee County religious leaders told to have ‘active shooter’ plan

Every Manatee County house of worship should have a plan in place to deal with an active shooter, including what people should do inside the facility if someone comes in shooting, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

“It seems almost unreal that we are talking about churches here, but society has come to this,” sheriff’s office Crime Prevention Specialist Deputy Yvonne Daniels told a roomful of people representing houses of worship from across Manatee County.

They were gathered for the sheriff’s first-ever class for faith leaders called “Safety Plans for Houses of Worship.”

Some of the many Manatee houses of worship that sent representatives Thursday included Temple Beth Israel of Longboat Key, Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church, Ohr Yeshua Messianic Synagogue, Grace Bible Church, First United Methodist Church, Harvest United Methodist Church, Bible Baptist Church, Journey Assembly of God and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.

Joining Daniels as trainers were deputies Russell Younger and Donald Olmsted of the sheriff’s Crime Prevention Section.

Everything changed on June 17, 2015, when a gunman killed nine at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., Daniels said.

“In hindsight, if you had one of the members of the church walk up to the man when he first came in and say, ‘How are you today, sir?’ they might have picked up on something,” she said.

A greeter at the door who is trained to notice anything unusual, like a person unwilling to store his or her backpack, or someone nervous or uncommunicative, or maybe hiding an object that could be a weapon is part of the safety plan endorsed by the sheriff’s department for Manatee houses of worship.

“If a person has a deer in the headlight look or is anxious or furtive, it can reveal something is not right,” Younger said.

Manatee churches need to designate a security team, made up of people comfortable in that role, Younger said. Members of the security team should be strategically stationed in both the front and rear of the sanctuary. Even small churches should have some communication device, like cell phones, walkie-talkies and two-way radios.

The sheriff’s office advocates that houses of worship adopt a code word that all security team members know, and designate a person who will call 911, Olmsted said.

Class attendees watched a video called “Active Shooter,” which all too realistically dramatizes what it would be like if an active shooter came into a facility.

Based on the video, the church leaders were taught that if an invader comes in, there are three rules:

1. If congregation members are in an open area, they should know where the exits are and immediately race to get out.

2. If they are in a room, they should lock themselves in, barricade the door, turn off cell phone ringers and keep quiet.

3. If “getting out or locking in” are not an option, they should defend themselves aggressively and by any way possible, looking for something that could serve as a weapon.

The Rev. Eric Reaves of Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church of Bradenton called the video and the class “eye-opening.”

“One thing I learned from it is that we have to implement a plan,” Reaves said. “You can’t stop or predict the trouble, but you can make a plan to help stop the trouble when it starts or be able to see it in advance and prevent it from happening.”

Reaves said he was so affected by the class that Gethsemane will immediately have a business meeting where all the leaders and members will talk about safety.

“We will invite our ushers in on this and educate them how to look for certain things which could save us from going through something that could harm somebody,” Reaves said.

The Rev. Bill Pierson, a sheriff’s office chaplain, said churches are not a sanctuary anymore where anyone who comes in is safe.

“We have to be aware of the people who might be coming in and what we can do about it,” Pierson said.

“This was a very good course today,” said Laura B. King of the International Fellowship of Chaplains. “I believe a lot of people should invite law enforcement to see their own churches.”

To request the sheriff’s office to conduct a free site security analysis at any Manatee church and help with a safety plan, call the Crime Prevention Unit at 941-747-3011, ext. 2500.

This story was originally published August 4, 2016 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Manatee County religious leaders told to have ‘active shooter’ plan."