briarwood is much more than a church. care, seminary and school set across two different campuses nine miles apart. and it's the concern for the kids' safety which is the main reason this church says they need their own police force. ♪ briarwood presbyterian church sits on the buckle of the bible belt. as many as 8,000 people pass through its campus daily. they are asking the state legislature to allow it to hire its own cops with all the power of law enforcement officers. reporter greg garrison has covered this. why can't they hire offduty officers in the area? >> that's what they already do, but sometimes they have difficulty getting enough to staff their events. >> reporter: why can't they rely on 911 and call for help if they nee it. >> they could, but they believe to be truly secure at all their events, they need security officials there. >> reporter: a shooting this past weekend injured five teenagers and a baby at another church 50 miles north of here. in a statement, briarwood pointed to massive shootings to reenf

attorney and briarwood church member erik johnsonston drafted it. why do you need this in. >> we know that things have happened in other places, and we want to provide a security environment for the visitors and the members that come to briarwood. >> reporter: why not hire some off-duty cops? >> well, we do hire off-duty cop, and they do fill in here and, there but it's inconsistent. it's different people. >> reporter: randall marshall is with the alabama branch of the aclu, which is prepared to sue if the bill becomes law. >> it's a problem because it violates first amendment to the u.s. constitution. >> reporter: how so? >> in that it establishes a singular religion that is favored above all others in the state of alabama and gives them the authority of state government. >> reporter: but if it duds pass, no other church in the state would have what briarwood anticipates will be at least a two-person department all its own. would you care to be part of this, and they said no. >> reporter: the church would not have a jail. those officers would opera

now briarwood is more than just a church.inary and a school which is spread across two other campuses that are nine miles apart and it's the concern for the kids' safety that's the main reason this church says we need our own police force. ♪ briarwood presbyterian church sits on the buckle of the bible belt. the church claims as many as 8,000 people pass through its campus daily. concerned about safety briarwood is asking the state legislature to allow it to hire its own cops with all forces of law enforcement officers. religion reporter has covered this for al.com. >> why can't the church hire off duty officers. >> that's what they already do but they say sometimes they have difficulty getting now staff all their events. >> why can't they rely on 911 and call for help if they need it. >> they do but they believe that to be truly secure at all their events they need security officials there. >> reporter: a shooting this past weekend injured five teenagers and a baby at another church just 50 miles north of here. in a statemen