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.
