The fifth service is to provide technical assistance on the establishment of church arson prevention programs. For example, in Houston and San Antonio, Texas, CRS helped establish community education seminars on church arson prevention. Community and religious leaders, and representatives from the U.S. Attorney's Offices, FBI, ATF, police and fire departments, and insurance companies joined the programs. Local police departments in both cities have instituted church arson prevention patrols as a result of these seminars. The well-being of a community can be measured by how government and citizens come together during times of crisis.
Crimes motivated by racial animosity require a special response.
The Community Relations Service takes pride in the important work it has rendered over the past eight months to more than 125 communities affected by church burnings. As devastating as these attacks have been, they have proven to be challenges for these communities to discover their own strengths. They have shown us how people of good will can come together, joining hands in rebuilding not merely the physical structure of the church, but weaving a new community fabric with the threads of trust and faith. CRS's work is not finished. Church burnings continue.