Alabama Senate votes to allow church to form police dept.

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Alabama Senate votes to allow church to form police dept.
Updated 5:17 pm, Tuesday, April 11, 2017


MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Senate has voted to allow a church to form its own police force.

Lawmakers on Tuesday voted 24-4 to allow Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham to establish a law enforcement 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.

Critics of the bill argue that a police department that reports to church officials could be used to cover up crimes.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Alabama-Senate-OK-s-church-police-bill-11066393.php

[DFW]

1. "You can't Torquemada anything"

When they send out contribution requests for their dungeon fund, you'll know what this was really about.

[DefenseLawyer]

8. I wasn't expecting them to have such cool uniforms

[DFW]

21. At least you could see them coming from far off n/t

[Lint Head]

2. What happened to church and state?

[cstanleytech]

20. Not an issue as its police only for on the church grounds kind of like how some universities have

their own police.
Course if it turns around and bites the church on the ass if one of their police does anything that violates someones civil rights and they sue the shit out of the church and win I will laugh.

[Kennah]

22. And Railroads (n/t)

[Aristus]

3. Wow. Religion Police, huh?

In our quest to be more like Saudi Arabia...

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Surreptitious merger of Church and State

though I have to agree, from Thomas Hobbes forward, the right to defend oneself
is a inalienable right

[haele]

5. Ummm....what moves a Presbyterian Church to want its own police department?

Is it a large complex where most of the congregation lives on the grounds? Is the church and most of the local parishioners in an unincorporated area near the city, and there is an issue with who answers calls? Is the church declaring itself an incorporated community for tax purposes? (Separation of Church and State?)

Or maybe they're have drugs and sex toys on the premises, and don't want to get arrested by the normal cops that patrol the area?
Or maybe the richest parishioners have a couple useless kids who can't get regular jobs, and setting them up in a "police force" rather than collecting them under an LLC as "rent a cops" gives those wealthy a-holes a tax dodge.

4K parishioners is a large congregation, but in terms of personality-driven Mega-Churches, rather average. And this is supposedly a mainstream Synod, right? What does the National organization think about this?

Or is there another issue - such as, Idunno...race of the police officers of the City of Birmingham where it is located?

Haele

[retrowire]

6. I'm done. There it is. nt

[MurrayDelph]

7. Monty Python did it 45 years ago

Call the Church Police.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. And yet they complain about Sharia...

Private universities have already been called out for their improper police procedures. And nothing is said about why they can't just hire security, like everyone else does.

Could it be...

A-- This police department would be at least partially paid for by Birmingham

B-- Their own police dept wouldn't have to hire Blacks or Hispanics

C-- Enforcing good Christian law is more important than enforcing civil law they don't like?

[Beartracks]

18. I'm thinkin' "C."

Hey, if bakers don't have to bake for gays, and judges & clerks don't have to marry gays, why not police who don't have to protect gays?

Not much of a stretch, really.

========================

[Left-over]

10. This is total lunacy.

[DK504]

11. This shouldn't last long.

Which Supreme Court will knock this shit out of the park?

[Dawson Leery]

12. This makes the anti-Sharia talk moot.

[exboyfil]

27. The Gorsuch court

God help us if Ginsberg or Kennedy go off the court in the next 3+ years. Right now you know Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch will be all for this. Roberts not so sure. Kennedy as well would be on the fence.

[dalton99a]

13. So we'll have the REAL power of GOD beating and shooting unarmed blacks

[kimbutgar]

15. That type of religious enforcement would be defined as a legalized cult.

A legal Jonestown, Waco and heavens gate.

[YOHABLO]

16. I have no problem with it: however, why can't they just call it "private security''?

[Flaleftist]

24. Private security has to report crimes to the police.

IIRC There have been issues in the past with campus police burying rapes. Having their own police as opposed to security requires legislation. There must be some reason they want whatever extra power comes with it and are going through this trouble.

[cstanleytech]

25. On the other hand the police as a whole still have to obey the county, state and federal law and

they cant make up their own law just for themselves and as for reporting things there are still some things they will probably have to report to the feds or their ass will be grass.

[Liberal Veteran]

17. They should have asked Cersei Lannister how well that works out.

[luvMIdog]

19. where did America go. It was here last year

[Kennah]

23. So the Branch Davidians simply needed to create a police department and all woulda been well?

Ooooh my. This won't end well.

[longship]

26. This calls for the Monty Python Church Police sketch.

AKA "Dead bishop sketch"

[Archae]

28. What bothers me about this...

It could end up like that Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints town, out west.

The town is dominated by Warren Jeffs even from his jail cell, and their police force is almost exclusively FLDS.

[Javaman]

29. The Bishop!

kidding aside, this is fucked up.

I think of the middle east with their morality cops. A Handmaids Tale here we come.