Action Training Group Presents Church Security Program

ATG Monthly Membership Meeting. Our next ATG Membership Meeting on Friday, July 28th at 5:30 PM will be open to the public. Chuck Delgado will tell us about an officer-involved shooting in 1971. We will also discuss Reality Based Training scenarios and promote an upcoming event in which we will use SIRT pistols for Active Shooter Protocols, parking lot drills, church situations and car-jacking response drills.

At the ATG Membership Meeting in May, Kenny Moore spoke to the Action Training Group about church security. Kenny talked about how to create a successful church safety team. He started the team at Candlelight Church in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. In June, we discussed Church Safety & Use of Force to Detain

New Shooter & Church Safety Program. We are developing a series of presentations on church safety that will include:

1. What needs to be included in your written policies regarding use of force;

2. How to develop a team;

3. Church Liabilities;

4. When is it necessary to call 911 for emergencies such as medical needs and/or confrontations

5. How to deal with protestors;

6. What are the laws and RCW’s that dictate our conduct;

a. Reasonable force vs. assault;

b. Obeying officers commands;

c. Threats and intimidation.

7. Situational awareness;s

a. What to watch for in people;

b. Environment;

c. The news/media.

8. How to do the hand off to Law enforcement when they arrive on scene;

a. Negotiations with subject;

b. Recognizing Volatile Situations;

c. What information to communicate

d. Safe Words, DSM and Identifying the players;

9. Scene preservation;

10. Verbal Judo;

a. How to de-escalate situations to safe levels;

b. What are escalating words and/or body language to avoid

c. Negotiations what to do before Law Enforcement has established communications;

d. Critical Incident Stress Management.

11. How to interact with 911

a. Identifying the safety team;

b. Checklist of info and preferred order to give info

12. If armed, use of force policy;.

13. Where the safety teams job ends and LE begins (i.e. bomb threats don’t investigate call 911)

14. How to maintain control from well meaning people (CCW’s and concerned) who attempt to interject themselves in potentially dangerous situations (LONE OPERATORS in the crowd);;

15. Practical Training-Team member interactions;

a. Role play situations;

i. Dispute/Disagreements

ii. Physical Assaults

iii. Robbery

iv. Armed threatening individual

v. Terrorist Attack

vi. Hostage

b. Shoot – No shoot

c. Range Time

d. First aid/trauma care

e. Physical (i.e. if restraint is necessary prior to arrival of LE.

One of our primary objectives is to design our ATG drills to be relevant to church safety teams. Rustin Rathbun has been inviting speakers and experts in various aspects of church safety to Genesis Church in Spokane to discuss issues like how to deescalate a situation, liability issues for safety teams and nonlethal use of force. The goal is to involve a number of different organizations.

Reality Based Training. All the churches to whom we have talked seem to favor creating opportunities for church safety teams to participate in Active Shooter Protocol drills and other church security training in conjunction with law enforcement agencies. Some churches in the Spokane Valley already work with the Sheriff’s Department. More church security teams ought to be participating that wish to do so.

Nonprofit, Volunteer Service Organization. The function of the ATG, an all volunteer, nonprofit public service group incorporated in Idaho, will be to facilitate the sharing of information related to church safety and a strong commitment to being prepared for emergencies. We seek to accomplish our mission with reduced cost by utilizing volunteers and resources generated through membership and nominal fees charged for many of our events. We are a nonprofit, all volunteer corporation. All our volunteers and venues are now insured for liability during live-fire shoots.

Public Invited. We invite anyone interested in our group to attend, ask questions and participate in the discussions about upcoming programs and events. The Action Training Group has been presenting shooting events at Fernan Rod and Gun Club near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho since June, 2016.

Live-Fire Action Shooting Events. We are shooting at the Fernan Rod & Gun Club every third Thursday of each month. The ATG has members that are glad to schedule groups of people for Action Shooting events at Fernan when the weather holds out! We also shoot almost every Friday near Coeur d’Alene.

Recruitment. We are presently recruiting new members. A membership is $39.00 after January 1st. Sign up at http://www.actiontraininggroup.org/. Membership will normally cut the price for each live-fire shooting event by $10.00 or more.

The following live-fire Action Shooting events are scheduled for Fernan Rod and Gun Club on the third Thursday of every month:

March 23, Bays 6 & 7

April 20, Bays 1 & 2

May 18, Bays 6 & 7

June 15, Bays 1 & 2

July 20, Bays 6 & 7

Aug 17, Bays 6 & 7

Sept 21, Bays 1 & 2

Oct 19, Bays 6 & 7

Nov 16, Bays 6 & 7.

Note: LIVE-FIRE events are the 3rd Thursday of every month. All our volunteers and venues are now insured. Our next live-fire Action Shooting event will be on Thursday, August 17 at the Fernan Rod & Gun Club.at 4:00 PM.