Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama has just been granted authority by the Alabama legislature to form its own police department.
The church says it needs its own police officers to keep its school as well as its more than 4,000 person congregation safe.
Not sure how this differs from “hiring private security”, which plenty of churches do, or having church members train to provide security (as others do, sometimes with great and immediate effect). Does a church feel it needs search and arrest powers? I dunno.
Here’s the part that I think is interesting (emphasis added):
Critics of the bill argue that a police department that reports to church officials could be used to cover up crimes.
A church, with its own cop shop, could cover up crimes.
Hmmm.
Could be. It’s an astute observation.
Doesn’t that also mean that any other body that has a police force could do the same? Cities? Counties? States? Universities? The Feds?
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