In the aftermath of the horrific church shooting in Texas, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is taking pro-active steps to ensure houses of worship are safe and secure.
The DCSO has joined the Black Police Officer’s Association of Omaha, in their efforts to offer a free one day training seminar in Securing Houses of Worship and Active Shooter Awareness/Response. Captain Wayne Hudson says the training is free and open to all faiths. "We really want to invite as many people to this training as possible so that they'll know what to do if there is a situation, but they will also learn what are we gonna do when we respond."
Hudson says faith leaders and parishioners with roles in their facilities are encouraged to attend. "Someone who will be responsible for either putting together a security plan or responding in a security type of situation."
The BPOA has been trying to get training like this together for over a year, but Hudson says after the massacre in Texas they prioritized the event. "We received a lot of calls, after the Texas incident, on what churches should do or houses of worship should do if there is an active shooter."
The free training will be held on December 14th, 2017 at the Community Engagement Center located on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus. If you'd like to attend submit your name and contact information to Lexxus Sears by email at lexxussears@gmail.com . The registration deadline is December 7th, 2017.