Church And Mr. Tacticool

BY Herschel Smith
11 years, 5 months ago

I was working in South Carolina this week and staying with my son and his family in upstate S.C.  I attended worship this Sunday at his church (I won’t mention the name of the church), and there he was.  Mr. Tacticool (if I am not mistaken, Mauldin Police Department).

He was awesome, with fatigues, Kevlar vest, patches and insignia, thigh holster, and on and on the equipment went.  Cool, he was.  But that’s all he accomplished today.  Being cool.

If the church was addressing a specific threat, plainclothes officers carrying concealed would have been more effective at catching a perpetrator, which is ultimately the goal of any long term safety and security program.

A skilled shooter, bent on harming the most people and practiced at reloads, could have killed a hundred people before Mr. Tacticool ever made his way into the building (Mr. Tacticool stood on the sidewalk outside the church looking cool, while 2000 people worshiped inside).

The best approach to safety and security for the congregants would have been for as many of them to carry concealed as possible.  The Church authorities should endeavor to make that happen.  As for the police, they were just irrelevant today.  But Mr. Tacticool looked cool.

Trackbacks & Pingbacks


Comments

  1. On May 20, 2013 at 4:46 am, Anon said:

    I think, if you researched it, you’d find that quite a few Upstate churches have what might be termed “safety teams” composed of armed and First Aid-trained church members who rotate the responsibility. As you noted, there are a fair number of large churches in the Upstate, and it is well understood that they, and their members’ vehicles, pose a potentially attractive target. I can think of one church at which during Sunday services as many as 20 armed people are in the building and parking lot, and a houndstooth sport coat is as “tacticool” as they get. I can point you to several churches in Florida which do the same thing, so I’d bet it’s more widespread than you might think.

    I suspect the Tommy Tactical you observed was an LEO earning off duty money because his presence might be some discouragement to the nefarious. I’d be quite surprised if his was the only projectile expeller carried on the property that day.

  2. On May 20, 2013 at 10:28 am, Herschel Smith said:

    Ha! If I researched it. Right.

    I know all about large churches – I attend one even larger in Charlotte. Security is best accomplished by low profile work. As for whether there are armed civilians in worship, that’s a case by case issue. S.C. is like N.C. in that the church can prohibit it, but allow it, depending upon the church authorities.

    As far as cars being “attractive targets” and thinking that a tacticool dude is going to dissuade a person from attacking that “attractive target,” I can only say that you’re watching too many James Bond flicks.

    Next time you comment, use a legitimate e-mail or get spammed.

  3. On May 20, 2013 at 11:49 am, RAN58 said:

    Totally agree with you Herschel. My last place of employment was a mega church on the West coast. We utilized off duty deputy sheriff’s in regular brown uniform for traffic flow into and out of the parking lot and during services they would come in for free coffee and donuts ;^). But within the facilities we had a plain clothes security team roaming about in pairs with com sets. They doubled as hospitality personnel that assisted people with directions. Within the worship center we had ushers/security in regular attire with CWP who stood at the back by each entrance. Everything was very low key. At least 1/3rd of the staff had CWP’s and practiced regularly for sport and were hunters.

  4. On May 20, 2013 at 12:01 pm, Herschel Smith said:

    RAN58,

    And that’s what I’m accustomed to seeing too, even when we had off duty LEOs on security staff (some were Captain’s of their dept.). It’s the best way to handle it.

  5. On May 20, 2013 at 4:37 pm, Joseph P. Martino said:

    Here in Ohio it’s illegal to carry in a church without the permission of the pastor. Unfortunately, the bishop of our diocese has ruled that no pastor may give anyone permission to be armed in church. There may be some parishioners who carry and do it discreetly, but if so they’re deeply under cover. I’m not aware of them.

  6. On May 23, 2013 at 9:37 am, Captain Tripp said:

    Mr. Smith, the officer you are referring to is a K-9 officer and that is his duty uniform. He has a different uniform than the normal blue worn by our patrol officers because dog hair is so visible on the blues. In regard as to how we deploy our officers at this church, I can assure you that they are deployed in a well thought out manner. I will not elaborate more other than there is a lot more than meets the eye. If you would like to address your security concerns at this church, feel free to contact me at the Mauldin Police Department.

    PS: Obviously, you didn’t get much from the church sermon concerning being judgmental or the fruits of the spirit. Maybe you should get into the WORD more.

  7. On May 23, 2013 at 9:58 am, Herschel Smith said:

    It would have been much more effective if your officer had worn plain clothes and walked the inside of the facility. His duty uniform is irrelevant to me, and I would greatly prefer that he (and you) consider yourselves to be peace officers, wearing uniforms and ties (except when wearing plain clothes) rather than tacticool uniforms and equipment.

    The sermon had absolutely nothing to do with being judgmental or the fruits (sic) of the spirit.

  8. On May 23, 2013 at 10:37 am, Captain Tripp said:

    Mr. Smith, I can’t get into how we deploy our officers. However, this K-9 officer is primarily there for traffic control before and after church and needs to be in uniform. When not directing traffic, the church prefers uniform officers remain outside as a visible deterrent. You can rest assured there are additional security measures taken by the church and MPD inside the church.

    As I said before, if you would like to discuss the matter further, feel free to contact me. I am always open to constructive suggestions by someone qualified to conduct security and threat assessments. Of course in order to be able conduct an adequate assessment, one has to have all the information, which of course you don’t have.

  9. On May 23, 2013 at 10:42 am, Herschel Smith said:

    Captain Tripp,

    Thanks for the comment. I especially appreciate the note about “someone qualified to conduct security and threat assessments … which of course you don’t have.”

    More of “the only ones” meme, which David Codrea has so aptly discussed.

  10. On May 23, 2013 at 12:58 pm, Josh said:

    Captain Roger Tripp: expert extraordinaire on both threat assessments and the spiritual condition of a human’s heart alike.

    You could take the title of Spiritual Threat Assessor and round out your expertise nicely.

    Let’s be serious though; the Mauldin Police Department’s website has as its largest, most prominent masthead image a closeup of a handgun, cartridges and handcuffs with the words “To Protect and Serve” underneath. A clear and wonderful juxtaposition. And tacticool to boot. The next image in rotation features those cool new cruisers you guys buy with our tax money, even though that image is clearly a stock photograph and in no way related to the department. I especially like the guards you slap on the front of your vehicles – another tool of destruction. Everything about you people is dangerous, from your guns to your OC spray, knives, sticks, dogs, vehicles and lack of tact and training. It’s all meant to kill, maim or otherwise destroy. You’re a heavily armed gang with near legal immunity. Dangerous indeed.

    Match the aforementioned with your obvious “us or them” attitude: You’ve stated you’re only open to suggestions from individuals “qualified to conduct threat assessments”, as if Peace Officers should not be bothered with suggestions from civilians. What do you get? The same boring, old, played-out variant of grown boys playing with (deadly) taxpayer funded toys in our neighborhoods, on our streets and in our churches.

    Here’s some unsolicited advice from someone who has absolutely no experience conducting “threat assessments”, but could likely learn how in all of one or two weeks: Better patrols.

    All I ever see the Mauldin Police doing is setting up drunk driving checkpoints in asinine locations, sitting stationary in their cruisers in the exact same locations every night and driving recklessly through 4-way stops (I was almost killed by three of your officers converging on one at breathtaking speeds, without running lights or sirens). When you guys do actually patrol neighborhoods you crawl with your alley lights on only while passing a fellow officer’s home. The rest of the neighborhood can screw off, I suppose? Oh, and gas stations. The same ones. Every night. Just hanging out, as if the crime will come to you…

    The only thing I can give the Mauldin Police Department credit for is not serving warrants with a SWAT team. At least you don’t do that…yet.

    Finally, try not to give unqualified suggestions (see what I did there?) on spiritual matters to someone who’s been through seminary. You won’t look so stupid that way.

  11. On May 28, 2013 at 1:15 pm, GunRights4US said:

    For the eight years that I ran a cash collection room in an NFL stadium, I had my own army of off-duty cops. I know more about cops that the average Joe Schmoe. And I know that most of them couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a two-by-four. If I need protection, defense, or just plain old justice – I will NEVER turn to a cop to provide it! There’s a day of reckoning coming for all those who serve tyranny, and as we used to say in the Marines: Payback’s a Bitch!

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment


You are currently reading "Church And Mr. Tacticool", entry #10823 on The Captain's Journal.

This article is filed under the category(s) Police and was published May 19th, 2013 by Herschel Smith.

If you're interested in what else the The Captain's Journal has to say, you might try thumbing through the archives and visiting the main index, or; perhaps you would like to learn more about TCJ.

26th MEU (10)
Abu Muqawama (12)
ACOG (2)
ACOGs (1)
Afghan National Army (36)
Afghan National Police (17)
Afghanistan (704)
Afghanistan SOFA (4)
Agriculture in COIN (3)
AGW (1)
Air Force (40)
Air Power (10)
al Qaeda (83)
Ali al-Sistani (1)
America (22)
Ammunition (284)
Animals (297)
Ansar al Sunna (15)
Anthropology (3)
Antonin Scalia (1)
AR-15s (378)
Arghandab River Valley (1)
Arlington Cemetery (2)
Army (87)
Assassinations (2)
Assault Weapon Ban (29)
Australian Army (7)
Azerbaijan (4)
Backpacking (3)
Badr Organization (8)
Baitullah Mehsud (21)
Basra (17)
BATFE (229)
Battle of Bari Alai (2)
Battle of Wanat (18)
Battle Space Weight (3)
Bin Laden (7)
Blogroll (3)
Blogs (24)
Body Armor (23)
Books (3)
Border War (18)
Brady Campaign (1)
Britain (38)
British Army (35)
Camping (5)
Canada (17)
Castle Doctrine (1)
Caucasus (6)
CENTCOM (7)
Center For a New American Security (8)
Charity (3)
China (16)
Christmas (16)
CIA (30)
Civilian National Security Force (3)
Col. Gian Gentile (9)
Combat Outposts (3)
Combat Video (2)
Concerned Citizens (6)
Constabulary Actions (3)
Coolness Factor (3)
COP Keating (4)
Corruption in COIN (4)
Council on Foreign Relations (1)
Counterinsurgency (218)
DADT (2)
David Rohde (1)
Defense Contractors (2)
Department of Defense (210)
Department of Homeland Security (26)
Disaster Preparedness (5)
Distributed Operations (5)
Dogs (15)
Donald Trump (27)
Drone Campaign (4)
EFV (3)
Egypt (12)
El Salvador (1)
Embassy Security (1)
Enemy Spotters (1)
Expeditionary Warfare (17)
F-22 (2)
F-35 (1)
Fallujah (17)
Far East (3)
Fathers and Sons (2)
Favorite (1)
Fazlullah (3)
FBI (39)
Featured (190)
Federal Firearms Laws (18)
Financing the Taliban (2)
Firearms (1,798)
Football (1)
Force Projection (35)
Force Protection (4)
Force Transformation (1)
Foreign Policy (27)
Fukushima Reactor Accident (6)
Ganjgal (1)
Garmsir (1)
general (15)
General Amos (1)
General James Mattis (1)
General McChrystal (44)
General McKiernan (6)
General Rodriguez (3)
General Suleimani (9)
Georgia (19)
GITMO (2)
Google (1)
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (1)
Gun Control (1,672)
Guns (2,338)
Guns In National Parks (3)
Haditha Roundup (10)
Haiti (2)
HAMAS (7)
Haqqani Network (9)
Hate Mail (8)
Hekmatyar (1)
Heroism (5)
Hezbollah (12)
High Capacity Magazines (16)
High Value Targets (9)
Homecoming (1)
Homeland Security (3)
Horses (2)
Humor (72)
Hunting (38)
ICOS (1)
IEDs (7)
Immigration (114)
India (10)
Infantry (4)
Information Warfare (4)
Infrastructure (4)
Intelligence (23)
Intelligence Bulletin (6)
Iran (171)
Iraq (379)
Iraq SOFA (23)
Islamic Facism (64)
Islamists (98)
Israel (19)
Jaish al Mahdi (21)
Jalalabad (1)
Japan (3)
Jihadists (81)
John Nagl (5)
Joint Intelligence Centers (1)
JRTN (1)
Kabul (1)
Kajaki Dam (1)
Kamdesh (9)
Kandahar (12)
Karachi (7)
Kashmir (2)
Khost Province (1)
Khyber (11)
Knife Blogging (7)
Korea (4)
Korengal Valley (3)
Kunar Province (20)
Kurdistan (3)
Language in COIN (5)
Language in Statecraft (1)
Language Interpreters (2)
Lashkar-e-Taiba (2)
Law Enforcement (6)
Lawfare (14)
Leadership (6)
Lebanon (6)
Leon Panetta (2)
Let Them Fight (2)
Libya (14)
Lines of Effort (3)
Littoral Combat (8)
Logistics (50)
Long Guns (1)
Lt. Col. Allen West (2)
Marine Corps (280)
Marines in Bakwa (1)
Marines in Helmand (67)
Marjah (4)
MEDEVAC (2)
Media (68)
Medical (146)
Memorial Day (6)
Mexican Cartels (41)
Mexico (61)
Michael Yon (6)
Micromanaging the Military (7)
Middle East (1)
Military Blogging (26)
Military Contractors (5)
Military Equipment (25)
Militia (9)
Mitt Romney (3)
Monetary Policy (1)
Moqtada al Sadr (2)
Mosul (4)
Mountains (25)
MRAPs (1)
Mullah Baradar (1)
Mullah Fazlullah (1)
Mullah Omar (3)
Musa Qala (4)
Music (25)
Muslim Brotherhood (6)
Nation Building (2)
National Internet IDs (1)
National Rifle Association (97)
NATO (15)
Navy (30)
Navy Corpsman (1)
NCOs (3)
News (1)
NGOs (3)
Nicholas Schmidle (2)
Now Zad (19)
NSA (3)
NSA James L. Jones (6)
Nuclear (62)
Nuristan (8)
Obama Administration (221)
Offshore Balancing (1)
Operation Alljah (7)
Operation Khanjar (14)
Ossetia (7)
Pakistan (165)
Paktya Province (1)
Palestine (5)
Patriotism (7)
Patrolling (1)
Pech River Valley (11)
Personal (73)
Petraeus (14)
Pictures (1)
Piracy (13)
Pistol (4)
Pizzagate (21)
Police (656)
Police in COIN (3)
Policy (15)
Politics (980)
Poppy (2)
PPEs (1)
Prisons in Counterinsurgency (12)
Project Gunrunner (20)
PRTs (1)
Qatar (1)
Quadrennial Defense Review (2)
Quds Force (13)
Quetta Shura (1)
RAND (3)
Recommended Reading (14)
Refueling Tanker (1)
Religion (495)
Religion and Insurgency (19)
Reuters (1)
Rick Perry (4)
Rifles (1)
Roads (4)
Rolling Stone (1)
Ron Paul (1)
ROTC (1)
Rules of Engagement (75)
Rumsfeld (1)
Russia (37)
Sabbatical (1)
Sangin (1)
Saqlawiyah (1)
Satellite Patrols (2)
Saudi Arabia (4)
Scenes from Iraq (1)
Second Amendment (685)
Second Amendment Quick Hits (2)
Secretary Gates (9)
Sharia Law (3)
Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahiden (1)
SIIC (2)
Sirajuddin Haqqani (1)
Small Wars (72)
Snipers (9)
Sniveling Lackeys (2)
Soft Power (4)
Somalia (8)
Sons of Afghanistan (1)
Sons of Iraq (2)
Special Forces (28)
Squad Rushes (1)
State Department (23)
Statistics (1)
Sunni Insurgency (10)
Support to Infantry Ratio (1)
Supreme Court (62)
Survival (201)
SWAT Raids (57)
Syria (38)
Tactical Drills (38)
Tactical Gear (15)
Taliban (168)
Taliban Massing of Forces (4)
Tarmiyah (1)
TBI (1)
Technology (21)
Tehrik-i-Taliban (78)
Terrain in Combat (1)
Terrorism (96)
Thanksgiving (13)
The Anbar Narrative (23)
The Art of War (5)
The Fallen (1)
The Long War (20)
The Surge (3)
The Wounded (13)
Thomas Barnett (1)
Transnational Insurgencies (5)
Tribes (5)
TSA (25)
TSA Ineptitude (14)
TTPs (4)
U.S. Border Patrol (6)
U.S. Border Security (19)
U.S. Sovereignty (24)
UAVs (2)
UBL (4)
Ukraine (10)
Uncategorized (99)
Universal Background Check (3)
Unrestricted Warfare (4)
USS Iwo Jima (2)
USS San Antonio (1)
Uzbekistan (1)
V-22 Osprey (4)
Veterans (3)
Vietnam (1)
War & Warfare (419)
War & Warfare (41)
War Movies (4)
War Reporting (21)
Wardak Province (1)
Warriors (6)
Waziristan (1)
Weapons and Tactics (79)
West Point (1)
Winter Operations (1)
Women in Combat (21)
WTF? (1)
Yemen (1)

November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006

about · archives · contact · register

Copyright © 2006-2024 Captain's Journal. All rights reserved.