Churches
Controlled restraint for church security.
Security, ushers, and staff. Most of them have never held anyone, and they may not train again for months. The system has to be simple enough to remember.
A sanctuary is not a use-of-force program. A technique that is too intricate, or that depends on pain, a choke, or a pile of volunteers, is hard to remember and loses control quickly. The training is not permission to restrain more often. It is so the rare time does not become a chaotic scramble.
A common church liability policy excludes assault and battery, or covers it well below the rest of the policy. A hold that injures someone can be the claim the policy was not written to pay. The congregation and the camera are still in the room after the person is up.
What they leave with
One sequence for a team that rarely uses it.
Who attends
Security, ushers, and the staff who may have to step in. Not the whole congregation.
The low-risk course
One sequence, built for people who may not hold anyone again for months.
Two people, one hold
They almost never train together. They can still use the same hold, with the face still visible.
What a church is left holding
The lawsuit can arrive even when the force is later called reasonable.
- Potter’s House, Fort Worth
- Place
- 2018
- Year
- Church security, then police
- Who held her
- None
- Criminal charges
In March 2018 a volunteer argued with an administrator, was asked to leave, and did not go. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that a church security officer took her to the floor and that two police officers already in the building helped handcuff her. Sergeants who reviewed the video found no basis for criminal charges. She sued the church and the guards anyway.
The church still had to answer the suit. A clean criminal review is not the same thing as a claim the policy will pay.
CTC trains the people who may have to step in. The goal is a method calm enough to use in a sanctuary, and clear enough that two people who rarely train together can still use the same hold.
Tell us who is on the team, staff or volunteers.
Tell us who is on the team, staff or volunteers. The low-risk course is for a room where restraint is occasional.