Talon hosting training to prevent church violence

Hundreds of people are expected to participate Thursday in a free, non-denominational seminar on how to prevent and prepare for a violent encounter in a house of worship.

The "Faith & Security" event, sponsored by Talon Training Group, will be held 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the Tallahassee Automobile and Collectibles Museum, 6800 Mahan Drive. All members of the public are invited.

Charlie Strickland and J.D. Johnson, the founders of Talon, will be teaching the course. Both have many years of experience in law enforcement and the training of officers.

Strickland, who ran for sheriff last year, said the training course was prompted by the Nov. 5 mass shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, which left 26 people dead and another 20 wounded.

"We're trying to widen our community's awareness on things our houses of worship can do to prevent violence and protect our citizens as they worship," Strickland said. "We have been doing a lot of church consultations for free as part of our services to the community. And after the Texas incident, we were overwhelmed by requests. And we decided to host one large event at a neutral location and invite everybody."

He said some 450 people have signed up for the course from more than several dozen churches.

DeVoe Moore and the museum are co-hosting the event. Radio personality Preston Scott of 100.7 WFLA will moderate. 

For more information or to register, go to http://www.talonrange.com/faithandsecurity or call 850-597-7550.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.