Religious institutions work to make congregations safe in Butler County
Detective Conrad Pfeifer of Mars Police Department has taught active shooting protocols to institutions at least twice a month for a year straight.
In his eyes, the increased requests for training are because of rising awareness of gun violence across the country.
“Over 10 years, I’ve done a dozen of these trainings … everything from church parishioners, schools and industry,” he said. “The church environment lends itself to this incident. It’s a bunch of people sitting in a closed room, sitting still.”
As of this week, the Associated Press reported 22 mass shootings in the United States this year, with more than 100 dead as a result.
Religious institutions across Butler County have taken note of the violent occurrences nationwide, and have decided to act through training, support, and awareness.
“I believe in this immensely,” Pfeifer said of active shooter training.
Pfeifer is certified in active shooter response through the National Tactical Officers Association. He’s been involved in school safety for a lot of his career, and taught the first active shooter training at Mars Area School District in 2014.
Since then, he’s trained staff at Butler, Moniteau and North Hills school districts.
Shootings at Columbine High School, Colo., in 1999 and Sandy Hook Elementary School, Conn., in 2021 made law enforcement reevaluate how they respond to violent incidents, Pfeifer said.
The Columbine shooting resulted in 15 dead, the Sandy Hook shooting killed 28.
“Columbine was the model that got law enforcement to change how they respond,” he said. “Demand came because this became publicized by the media. Columbine shocked us. Sandy Hook pissed us off.”
According to Pfeifer, the classes can vary in length and subject matter, depending on the students. There are options for a security team, congregation members, and even child care or Sunday school teachers.
“It depends on who is taking it. There’s first aid, securing a room, handcuffing techniques,” he said. “We’re wary of letting the bad guy know our secrets.”
Pfeifer said any venue that accommodates large numbers of people should be knowledgeable about active shooter safety measures.
“Schools are obviously responsible for the well-being of students and staff. Industry is a workplace environment. There’s been a lot more incidents with disgruntled employees in the workplace. It’s important for certain types of jobs,” he said. “Because of the political climate, we’ve had a lot more religious zealot (incidents).”
Community Alliance Church in Butler operates a security team with 20 members.
Aaron Tolfa, team leader, said their safety measures include strategic placement within the building and communication systems for all officers.
“Everyone has a role,” he said. “We’re ready to respond, if necessary. There’s a very well-thought-out plan in writing. We use the sheepdog mentality. The goal of a security team is watching over the sheep, defending them from wolves that are always trying to attack.”
The church can see hundreds of people on a typical Sunday. According to Tolfa, the officers they choose have to be personable with the congregation to answer questions.
“Our team takes it pretty seriously,” he said.
The officers are extensively trained, and they often look over logistics from recent violent occurrences in the nation.
“We look at these instances whenever they happen, to see if something happens in that attack that we can learn from,” Tolfa said.
Part of the reason the security team was enacted was a study done by the Faith Based Security Network, an organization that seeks to improve security in religious institutions.
The study, conducted from 1999 to 2018, breaks down trends in violent attacks in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhist and Islamic venues.
During the 1,772 deadly force incidents recorded in the study, 834 people were killed as a result, according to the data.
“It wasn’t just Christian churches. In 1999 there were six attacks, in 2017, there were 261. The numbers go up and down. There’s been a dramatic trend. The natural response is to form an official security team whose job it is to deter that,” Tolfa said.
The Congregation B'nai Abraham Synagogue in Butler has taken a similar approach to security, according to Mical Schaffer, a cantor for the synagogue.
“We have really upped our security since the Tree of Life shooting,” she said in reference to the attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, where 11 worshippers were killed.
As of May 12, jury selection for the case against Robert Bowers continued in Pittsburgh. Bowers is accused of shooting and killing 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2018. He is being held in Butler County Prison.
Through various state grants, Schaffer said the synagogue hired a security guard to protect their congregation.
“They are very happy our security guard is there,” she said. “He’s become part of the family. We gave him a birthday party.”
Other groups have come alongside the synagogue to offer support in new ways, Schaffer added. The Butler Clergy Network, a group of local church leaders, even attended a service.
“The idea was to show solidarity with us and show support to us. It was a beautiful thing,” she said. “They attended a service, stayed afterward, we had such a good time meeting each other and their support was invaluable.”
