Briarwood Presbyterian Church is a flagship congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America located in suburban Birmingham, Alabama and has a membership of approximately 4,100. Briarwood Presbyterian Church and Briarwood Christian School want their own police department and the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow it. The bill now moves to the Alabama Senate. The same bill has already passed last year but got to the governor late and never received a signature, said attorney Eric Johnston. It would be the only way of hiring a police officer full-time, as opposed to relying on off-duty police officers to assist the church, according to Johnston.

The language of the bill echoes the language of the law allowing colleges to have their own police departments, Johnston said. The police department would not involve a jail or other facilities - basically an officer and an official car, he added.

Church administrator Matt Moore told the committee that the Sandy Hook school shooting, the deadliest mass shooting at a high school or grade school in U.S. history, "changed everything" in terms of concerns about security. A few private universities have received the authority to have a police force, but never a church or non-school entity. If the bill passes, the personnel employed by the church will meet all requirements and be certified by the Alabama Peace Officer Training Commission, according to the church statement.

Critics worry embarrassing crimes like the sexual abuse of children and illegal drug use would be covered up by a police force loyal to the church rather than the law.

Writing for the The Anniston Star, Tim Lockette reports: “Similar bills have failed in earlier years. Critics said those bill would have violated church-state separation, while creating a police force that isn’t answerable to elected officials. Senators on Wednesday didn’t bring up the church-state issue explicitly, but did question the accountability of the police force.” Expressing some concern, Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said: “I don’t want this to be a little secret group that, when something happens, it gets covered up.”

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