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James Tenner was called upon to introduce our guest speaker
Guest Speaker - Glenn McConnell – Retired LAPD
Background....born in the SFV, Married, 2 sons (one works as a LAPD officer and the other is the assistant attorney general for the state of Montana). I am also a non-denominational pastor and run a food ministry.  Mr. Glenn McConnell began his journey with the LAPD in 1968. He was appointed a Police Officer in 1975 and retired in 2008. Upon retirement, he became a Reserve Police Officer and a Chaplain. As a chaplain, he ministers to the men and women of the LAPD and their families (approx 45,000 people). One of his duties is to oversee the Volunteer Surveillance Team.
As a reserve officer, Mr. McConnell oversees the Topanga Volunteer Surveillance Team, work patrol & detective assignments.
He encouraged members of our club to become active members of the VST. He told us that that members of the VST are trained monthly. They are taught on how to identify bad people/criminals on the streets, neighbourhood or our communities. Members of the VST are ordinary people who are hand picked after going through a rigorous interview and background check, before they are send out into the community or streets. Most times, members of the VST sits in unmarked/personal cars, at designated points on the streets, watching out for bad activities.
What to do when you are faced with an Active Shooting Situation:
Because of the shooting in Florida a few days prior to his talk, he reviewed what to do if confronted with an active shooter.
Basically you have 3 choices according to him:
Run, Hide, or Fight
The key is to have a plan or at least have a conversation prior to an active shooter incident. If you cannot run away from the situation, then make sure you hide where you can not be seen. Turnout the lights, close window blinds and turn off all phones. If this does not work out, then the third thing to do is to fight.
He advised everyone that whenever we go into a building, we should always seek out all the exits in the building.  This is very important, he said. Mr. McConnell was asked to sign a book for our Literacy Program and he gladly did.
Meeting ended at 1:05 P.M.
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