Avoid, deny and defend is the new way to save lives.
St. Paul Lutheran Church in Batavia held a special training event Saturday morning for community congregation leaders to assist in preparations should an active shooter situation occur in their church.
The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office was invited to present Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) training, which addresses individual responses and actions as well as group preparations.
The training has been developed in partnership with Texas State University and is funded in part by the United States Department of Justice.
“We are pleased to assist Pastor Werk in educating congregation leaders on the appropriate actions to take should an active shooter situation arise,” stated Sheriff William A. Sheron Jr.
“This training affords congregation leaders the opportunity to come together to talk about ideas they may want to implement in their own churches should the unthinkable occur.
“We pray this will help all our churches be better prepared if the inconceivable happens,” says Pastor Allen Werk.
The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office has 10 trained employees to assist in the training and today was the first session.
About 120 people from 11 different church organizations participated in the training session today.
Any school, church, business or civic group wishing to request training in civilian response to active shooter situations can contact the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office at 585-343-5000 and ask for Chief Deputy Joe Graff or Undersheriff Greg Walker.