A judge in Stockton, California was attacked by a defendant this past week and stabbed a number of times before the attacker was shot to death by a law enforcement officer. Also this week, a man walked into a church in Maryville, Illinois, shot the preacher to death and injured two other people in the congregation.

These types of incidents are happening more often and serve to further illustrate how violence in churches and courtrooms have increased over the years. In a community our size, we cannot afford to be lax. We are looking at an approximate population of 100,000 citizens in a 333 square mile area, with the development of new industry that promises to bring in even more people.

Currently, the BCSO is charged with the protection of 13 different courts in three separate locations ~ the Bradley County Courthouse, Bradley County Judicial Complex and the Bradley County Juvenile Center. We need adequate security and law enforcement personnel on-hand for the protection of judges, attorneys, clerks, jurors and others in attendance. Magnetometers at the Justice Center help screen for weapons, knives or contraband people may try to smuggle into either of the two courtrooms here. We also have magnetometers for the other courts, but we don’t have the personnel to man them. Obviously, a magnetometer is useless unless adequate funding is provided to hire deputies to operate and monitor them.

No church is immune from the prospect of violence. In Bradley County, we have developed a Church Protection Program that is innovative and progressive. A number of local churches have already adopted the program in their own congregations and more have shown an interest in doing so. The special deputy concept is sensible and proactive and we stand by it. It is a good program. The presence of a plain-clothed, armed, well-trained special deputy can be invaluable in a shooter situation. While there are no guarantees, the presence of an armed deputy may help deter a shooting situation or stop one quickly once it starts. A special deputy is trained and prepared to intervene and help control a violent incident until full-time law enforcement officers arrive on the scene. If this program helps to save even one innocent life, then it will be a success.

The Associated Press carried an article this past week entitled: “Experts: Churches big, small need security plan.” In the article, the executive director of the Christian Security Network, Jeffrey Hawkins, described churches as easily accessible “soft targets.” That’s a stark image, but one we need to take seriously. Also in the AP article, the managing director of the non-profit Leadership Network, Dave Travis, stressed the importance of churches having “a written security plan and an open discussion of the church’s vulnerabilities.” Finally, the article quoted Mark Jones, the associate preacher of the church in Maryville where the senior preacher was killed. He said, “I hate to say this, but unfortunately I believe other churches need to ... be ready, we need to be prepared ...”

Jones went on to say that people shouldn’t live in fear of these types of attacks, but we should be ready for them nonetheless. I couldn’t agree with him more ~ we need to be smart, not afraid. And we should give serious consideration to shoring up our weak areas, as no part of the country, including Bradley County, can reasonably consider itself immune to the possibility of violent attack or acts of terrorism. 

Violence in America’s churches and courtrooms is not likely to go away. We can debate why society has become increasingly more violent in recent years, but the fact remains that it has. Senseless violence occurs and it occurs pre-planned and randomly. Whether we are talking about church violence or courtroom violence, the key to combating it is preparedness. It is frivolous, futile and too often tragic to wait until after the fact ~ we must minimize the risk and be ready with a plan of action.