PETERSBURG, Va. — After multiple churches were burglarized in Petersburg over a month's time, faith leaders gathered with city officials to discuss better ways to protect their houses of worship.
More than 50 faith-based leaders from congregations across Petersburg began their Monday morning meeting focused on church security.
"Whenever you can bring people together to talk about ideas, talk about what's going well, and talk about what we can do better, it's a wonderful time," said Reverend George Lyons of Gillfield Baptist Church.
Petersburg Police Chief Travis Christian emphasized the need for better lighting both inside and outside church buildings.
"When we don't have proper lighting, it's a lot of times very difficult for us to see the things we need to see," Christian said.
The message resonated with several pastors in attendance.
"I definitely want to look more at our security lights in our parking lot," said Reverend Lissie Rhoton, Rector of Christ & Grace Episcopal Church.
Bob Clark of St. Joseph's Catholic Church found the meeting valuable, saying, "Things that they spoke about today was very, very beneficial to know that we're on the right path."
The gathering was a two-way discussion, with church leaders also offering practical advice.
What prompted this discussion was a string of church burglaries across Petersburg over the last month.
"In some cases nightly and multiple church burglaries throughout the night," Christian said.
While an arrest has stopped the recent church burglaries, the need for houses of worship to better protect themselves remains.
"I learned some things, was able to share some things and because of recent incidents, just placing some cameras out has shut down a lot of things in the form of crime," Diggs said.
Safety in churches extends beyond security concerns. Petersburg Fire Chief Wayne Hoover emphasized the importance of checking fire extinguishers, emergency lights, and having AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) readily available.
"Early CPR with early defibrillation gives the patient the best chance for survival, so we want to encourage all our churches and community to have an AED close by," Hoover said.
This message particularly resonated with Clark, who noted, "We have the ability to do certain things, that's the one area we kind of lack in, so having a resource now we can call because of this meeting, we now know exits."
As the meeting concluded, most attendees said they were leaving with new ideas and solutions.
"We didn't just talk about the problem and the challenges, we talked about solutions and I think people are leaving here with something to take back tangible and solution oriented," Lyons said.
Both Police Chief Travis Christian and Fire Chief Wayne Hoover told the church leaders that it just takes a phone call to their departments for officers and firefighters to show up at a church to offer safety and security advice on how to better protect the church building and the congregation.
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