Church Security Planning

Status
Not open for further replies.
3

308win

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,919
Location
Ohio - The Heart of it All
I am beginning the implementation of a security plan for our church. We have about 2000 members, with more than one Sunday service as well as the usual religious programs, child care, etc. during the week. If you have a plan and the process you followed to plan and execute that security plan for your church that you are willing to share please PM me and I will make arrangements to get the information.

The officer on our PD who coordinates and provides community support and awareness as well as integrating the PD into this type of effort is on board and ready to assist. He has asked me to get him involved as soon as we have organized and have a high level framework that the Pastor is supporting. Thank you.
 
A few members of my Church had a discussion on security just after Newtown about the safety of the Sunday School kids. I wish it had progressed further... I'll be watching this thread.
 
This is a topic I have seen before and my default suggestion is to contact New Life Church in Colorado Springs. They have a ministry that is based on helping other churches establish a security plan for their church and, to my knowledge, they are the only church in America that has had a mass shooting incident that also had a working security plan in place before the shooting occured.

I will also ask the head of our church security team if I can give you his email address
 
A couple of years ago our church had several members attend a "Church Security Conference" at a mega church in our area. Church security team are pretty common and you may want to check with the other churches in your area to see what they are doing and maybe pull together for a large training with professional security training.

When I joined our security team I did a little checking around and discovered that more than half of the incidents of church violence happens when services are not in progress. Lots of times things are stolen or the pastor or secretary gets attacked in the middle of the week when there is no one else around. Got me thinking maybe we should have security on duty more than just during services.
 
No real suggestions. Except if your a CCW holder and its ok, carry in your church. Or let the pastor know if he wants or believes he needs some security your willing to help out as much as you can...
 
Don't neglect the legal aspects. For starters, our church was advised to have a "safety team", rather than a "security team". Apparently a security team denotes a specific level of training, certification, and continuing training/re-certification as well as needing to insure the team members for liability. We have several members with a CC permit, but honestly, most are not competent with a handgun. Our safety team has a visible presence in the parking lots, and only a select few have pastoral permission to CC in the buildings.

Also be aware that the minimum cost to a ministry following an active-shooter incident runs about $800,000. Again, appropriate insurance is prudent.

Our church has a nice campus with ~1000 in attendance for the main service, and has a k5-12 school. A few years ago, we participated with other area churches in an 8-hr seminar (sponsored by http://www.brotherhoodmutual.com/ if I recall correctly) that was excellent. It included lessons learned from prior church/school shootings, best practices from other churches, the need for evacuation drills, special considerations for children, elderly... well worth the time and expense invested and foundational for an effective program at any church. We came away with the impression that our church was much father along than most, but with a lot still to be done -- which pointed out the need for a larger budget the following year. We've since added cameras, automatic door locks with RFID card keys, 100% background checks on all staff and volunteers, additional training, better organization/communication... it is very much an ongoing process of continual improvement.

There are professional resources available to help churches approach security/safety wisely. To gin up a homemade program is likely to have pitfalls that may not be apparent until too late with disastrous, long-term consequences for the ministry.
 
Last edited:
4season said:
A couple of years ago our church had several members attend a "Church Security Conference" at a mega church in our area. Church security team are pretty common and you may want to check with the other churches in your area to see what they are doing and maybe pull together for a large training with professional security training.

When I joined our security team I did a little checking around and discovered that more than half of the incidents of church violence happens when services are not in progress. Lots of times things are stolen or the pastor or secretary gets attacked in the middle of the week when there is no one else around. Got me thinking maybe we should have security on duty more than just during services.
Click to expand...
We had a Pastor in Arlington TX get killed by a drug head and the Secretary almost died, Last year Church's need controlled access 24/7. Our offices are electronic lock controlled and most staff carry all the time.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Pastor-Found-Dead-at-Arlington-Church-117376663.html
 
tHE SITUATION THAT WORRIES ME THE MOST IS A CUSTODY ARGUMENT in the nursery area of estranged parents of a child.
 
There is a form to be filled out for each child that specifies who is authorized to pick up the child. This protects all parties.

It is critical that church ministries know and follow such regulations.
 
FM12 said:
tHE SITUATION THAT WORRIES ME THE MOST IS A CUSTODY ARGUMENT in the nursery area of estranged parents of a child.
Click to expand...
We have a Swat team member who is in plain clothes and all around MA and Weapons expert thanks to the USMC in the nursery plus we require all custody cases to be on file.
 
Consider complementing your plain clothes and CPLs with some folks in hi-viz safety vests. Wouldn't you prefer to prevent an incident rather than react to one?
 
Deltaboy said:
...we Don't want Hi Viz vests to draw any attention to us.
Click to expand...
So no deterrent? Let it happen and then react? My point is that if a visible presence of authority is maintained, you have added another layer to your security plan, making it an obviously "hardened" target which may cause a perp to rethink committing undesirable action on your property.
 
btg3 said:
So no deterrent? Let it happen and then react? My point is that if a visible presence of authority is maintained, you have added another layer to your security plan, making it an obviously "hardened" target which may cause a perp to rethink committing undesirable action on your property.
Click to expand...
We have signs on the doors that we have security on site anytime people are present.Our plan as I stated is set up by a professional SWAT Commander. Plus every enterance has visible cameras plus hidden ones. Sorry if our plan upsets you.
 
Makes sense now. SWAT is reactive, not proactive. You got what you signed up for. Just trying to understand based on the partial info you gave. Visible+hidden cameras is impressive -- are all entrances manned/locked, or just monitored?
 
btg3 said:
Makes sense now. SWAT is reactive, not proactive. You got what you signed up for. Just trying to understand based on the partial info you gave. Visible+hidden cameras is impressive -- are all entrances manned/locked, or just monitored?
Click to expand...
Monitored from a central secured in-house location, and we have some doors locked and some unlocked to control access and traffic patterns we have personal in every building on Sunday and Wednesday's. Our proactive part is knowing about custody case with in the church and our active profiling of things and people who are out of place.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
  • Locked
Church Security Resources
2
Replies
33
Views
988
cleardiddion
C
O
  • Locked
A Church Security Plan
2
Replies
28
Views
2K
deserteagle45
D
S
  • Locked
Church Security
Replies
12
Views
826
smince
S
B
  • Locked
Church Security Team Conference
Replies
5
Views
410
JShirley
JShirley
T
  • Locked
Church security
Replies
14
Views
756
btg3
B
Back
Top