NOVI, Mich. – The Michigan State Police held a special training session on Wednesday for people who work in various places of worship in an effort to help prevent the next attack, as well as help people come up with plans to escape.
“You should be able to go to your place of worship, be educated there and feel safe,” Col. James Grady II, the director of the Michigan State Police, said. “I think more now than ever, it’s very important to be able to provide this education to our, you know, faith-based leaders and their security teams.”
Nearly 50 people were gathered in the training center at the Novi Police Headquarters for a course focused on security in places of worship.
The one-day course is led by MSP, and it’s the latest in a series of such courses being held around the state. It’s designed to help increase safety in the event of a mass shooting as well as help tighten up security in other situations.
The people at the session ranged from pastors to members of security teams and even some law enforcement officers.
Grady says they have been hosting these courses for years, going back to before the COVID-19 pandemic. Wednesday’s course came nearly three months after the Sept. 28 attack at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township killed five people and injured eight others.
“The Grand Blanc incident really motivated, and I think empowered and encouraged our congregation to act swifter on this work,” Rachel McCollum, the kids’ ministry director at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, said. “I know you think that your community is safe. I know that we want to believe that it’s not gonna happen in our church, but it’s gonna happen until it does.”
“Some of the interesting pieces are some of the different things that you can purchase or tools that you can, for example, the shatterproof film that you could put on windows,” she said. “That’s not something that I really ever thought about.”
Rodney Ross works with the Citadel of Faith Covenant Church in Detroit. He says classes like this send the message to the congregation that they are prepared for anything.
“There’s an obligation to be mindful and intentional about protecting our church and protecting our members,” Ross said. “Not just because of Grand Blanc, not because of what happened outside the country last week, but because we know that violence happens.
“It’s not brand new,” he added. “There’s a need for just being prepared.”
Grady says that the classes will continue into 2026 and plans to use larger venues to accommodate more people. He says the need to protect each other is greater than ever.
“Police officers, law enforcement, we are a part of the community,” Grady said. “This right here is a great example of being a part of the community and working together to help them prepare for something that could happen in the future.”