Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

I am writing a fictional story about a young girl in an apocalyptic cult and the month leading up to what the cult believes is the end of the world.

My question is at what point would a local law enforcement agency investigate a cult? Are there certain distinct characteristics that would put a cult under active investigation assuming that the police have been aware of their existence for awhile? What evidence would they need to pay a visit to the cult's compound and would they ever only send one or two officers on an initial visit? If a cult has a substantial armory of guns would the ATF be involved from the get go?

The cult in question would be under suspiscion for child abuse and would be known to have ordered many guns(all legal, mostly rifles and handguns) from a local store as well as online. I guess I'm mainly looking for how police would approach a group like this on the child abuse charges if they know that the group is heavily armed and if they have reason to suspect that the leader (based on his previous criminal record) could be potentially dangerous. I don't want my police officers to appear to approach the situation either too forcefully or not forcefully enough. Just need enough to give an impression of their procedures. Basically I want my cops to shine here.

Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to answer these questions. I realize your specific procedures may vary from place to place, so really I'm looking for generalities-just enough detail to make the plot plausible. Thanks too for all that you do each and every day for our communities and our country!

First, foremost and absolute is that the cult has to be breaking the law before the police does anything towards them. We are prohibited from investigating any group of people unless there is an allegation of illegal activity. And having odd religious or any other kind of beliefs isn't illegal. Specifically, owning guns in itself is perfectly legal. For your story, you need some type of allegation other than being a cult to accurately portray police involvement.

Thank you for anwering this thread. The cult in question would be under suspiscion for child abuse and would be known to have ordered many guns(all legal, mostly rifles and handguns) from a local store as well as online. I guess I'm mainly looking for how police would approach a group like this on the child abuse charges if they know that the group is heavily armed and if they have reason to suspect that the leader (based on his previous criminal record) could be potentially dangerous. I don't want my police officers to appear to approach the situation either too forcefully or not forcefully enough. Just need enough to give an impression of their procedures. Thanks again to anyone willing to answer!