Church pays to have officer at services
A local church has requested a police officer be present during services.
"Yes, Colonial Woods has asked to have a police officer present during their services in lieu of recent church shootings that have occurred," Port Huron Police Chief Jeff Baker said in an email. "There have been no threats made, this is just a precautionary measure on their part, especially during the busier holiday season. They are paying the cost of wages and benefits for the officer to work the detail."
Pastor Phil Whetstone said security at the church has been an issue long discussed.
"Over the last several years, we've been evaluating our security at Colonial Woods, just simply because we care about our people," he said. "We have been looking at every aspect ... so we thought, you know, it might be good for us to have a presence that we believe would simply serve as a deterrent to anyone who would want to do any harm."
Whetstone said the church will continue with the officer present through the end of the year, then evaluate how it worked.
The church averages 1,200 to 1,300 people attending worship at each service.
"The culture right now in our nation, we just felt it was a prudent step to let our congregation know we take security very seriously," Whetstone said.
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He said an officer was present during this past weekend's service. Whetstone said it was mostly well received.
The nation's worst mass shooting in a place of worship took place Nov. 5, when more than two dozen parishioners were fatally shot in a Texas church. The gunman was found dead after the shooting.
Baker said no other churches have inquired about having an officer around during services, however he has sent out letters offering active shooter training. He said cost varies based on the officer's base wage, but averages about $50 an hour.
Tom Seppo, executive director of Operation Transformation, said his group and Blue Water Area Churches are having a meeting Jan. 13 to discuss the issue.
"Obviously you know there's been great concern with the pastors in the community — obviously about the recent events that have taken place in Texas. And really, churches are targets; schools and churches are the most vulnerable places," he said.
Seppo said he hopes to have law enforcement and the county prosecutor on hand for the meeting.
"We live in some crazy, wild days here," he said.
Contact Liz Shepard at (810) 989-6273 or lshepard@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @lvshepard.