WASHINGTON — It’s a spinoff of the “Neighborhood Watch” program. But this program is designed to keep churches and houses of worship safe. It’s called “Worship Watch.”
Fairfax County Crime Prevention Police Officer Katy Defoe led a Worship Watch workshop Saturday morning at United Christian Parish in Reston. Many attending the event were church leaders from other area churches.
“It is an extension of Neighborhood Watch,” Defoe says, adding that the basis for Neighborhood Watch is to “watch and report.”
At these workshops, churches and congregations are learning to become proactive instead of reacting after there is a crime. Defoe says they are learning to be observant of their surroundings and to report any suspicious activity to police.
“This [Worship Watch workshop] has lead to a lot of security assessments in churches that have brought that thinking of safety to the forefront,” Defoe says.
“What this has done is boost communication with the faith community. Usually with the Crime Prevention Office, people don’t really talk to us until they already have an issue.”
Defoe stresses that if you see something and it just does not seem right to call police. She says she would rather have someone call police, even if it turns out to be nothing, than not have people call and then end up with a situation that could have been prevented.
Saturday’s event was the fourth workshop since the Fairfax County Police Department launched the program Feb. 2015 and it is free of charge.
The other workshops were held on the eastern side of the county.
“We brought this program over from Prince William County. They allowed us to adapt the program for Fairfax County,” Defoe says.
Saturday was the first Worship Watch workshop that Jamie Rim, a deacon from Christ Central Presbyterian Church in Centerville, attended. He says this is about making sure his church is taking proper steps to keep church members safe.
“We just want to them feel that they’re coming to a place of worship that is safe and secure for their children and their families,” Rim says.
Defoe says the police department will be holding an advanced workshop in April. This one will discuss “Light and Locks.”
She says as part of the security assessment they look at locks, lights, windows and doors. She adds they will also do training on human trafficking.
