Police: “Worship Watch” program aims to make houses of worship safer in wake of shootings

Sadly, this was most recently seen in Texas when 26 people were killed by a lone gunman in November.

But police in Virginia have a free crime prevention training program to help make houses of worship safer. It’s called “Worship Watch.”

Training for “Worship Watch” was taught by Crime Prevention Officer Katy Defoe with Fairfax County police at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield, Virginia, on Saturday.

“We have 130 people registered today, which is our biggest since we rolled this out in 2015,” she said. “It is very relevant. It is very important that we are getting this response because people want to make plans. It puts safety back in houses of worship.”

Defoe said the “Worship Watch” program was adopted from Prince William County.

“[We] meshed it with our neighborhood watch principles so that we are able to get people to understand the power of observation and reporting as well as thinking ahead to make plans for safety and security inside their house of worship,” she said.

The program is free. It stresses observation skills and the need to report anything that’s out of the ordinary, no matter how unimportant it might seem.

Police want you to call, even if it’s not an emergency, Defoe said. They can be reached via the non-emergency number at (703) 691-2131, but if someone doesn’t have that number on-hand, they can call 911 and be transferred.

The program also offers crime prevention tips and training that is tailored specifically toward protecting houses of worship.

Defoe said the program is designed to help faith leaders and their congregants develop a plan before something happens. It teaches them to be constantly aware and alert of their surroundings and report suspicious activity.

The training also includes active shooter preparedness.

“I take the ‘what-if’ out of it,” she said. “If we played the ‘what if’ game, ‘what if’ this happens and we have a plan and we practice that plan, it’s no longer the ‘what if’ game. It is, we know what we’re going to do if this happens, not if this happens.”

Jim Herbert and his wife Susan Herbert are ushers at the Prince of Peace. They were happy about getting the training.

“Considering all the incidents going on with churches, it’s very helpful,” Jim said.

“I think it’s great,” Susan said. “It’s really good information to have.”

“We want to make sure people who come to our church are safe,” said Sean Ading, the pastor of Calvary Chapel Reston Station. “We want to have plans in place before anything happens.”

The next “Worship Watch” is scheduled for Jan. 3, 2018 at the new public safety headquarters in Fairfax.