Church Security Resources
- Thread starter skifast
- Start date
- Status
Cop Bob
Member
You could try and contact your local Police Department and see if they have someone that could come out and do a security survey. Try several Alarm Companies, find one that is straight forward and not trying to up sell..
A Site assessment will help a lot, ideas on lighting, landscaping, Security measures at doors, windows and pedestrian traffic choke points.. Ideas for better locks and measures for doors, sound equipment, etc... Your Police Department should have someone trained in this..
A Site assessment will help a lot, ideas on lighting, landscaping, Security measures at doors, windows and pedestrian traffic choke points.. Ideas for better locks and measures for doors, sound equipment, etc... Your Police Department should have someone trained in this..
Sam1911
Moderator Emeritus
Here is a thread on this subject which includes some links and a bit of commentary.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=7078050
Some of our members instruct on this sort of thing, as well.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=7078050
Some of our members instruct on this sort of thing, as well.
ZeSpectre
Member
I talked to someone a while ago and they said the "security plan" was that any unarmed church members better hit the floor to clear the air for the armed members.
I'm honestly not sure if he was joking or not.
I'm honestly not sure if he was joking or not.
I recently attended this https://www.signalfireconference.com/overview
Invaluable. Any church really can NOT afford to miss this. Even if airfare is needed to attend, DO IT.
Now if your church security emphasis is on carrying guns and active shooter scenarios, you've missed the point -- which is to recognize problems and prevent an incident from impacting your church before any weapons are fired or people injured. Yes, it's possible. Much has been learned from Columbine to Tuscon and other incidents that is shared in this conference which I would describe as "cutting edge" information and practices for churches. Of course, armed preparation is not excluded.
We had about 300 in attendance representlng numerous churches from our area. Local LEO also participated and is tied in to a loose network of church safety/security leaders. There has not been an active shooter incident in our area and, as a community of churches, I hope we are equipping ourselves to avoid ever having one.
Invaluable. Any church really can NOT afford to miss this. Even if airfare is needed to attend, DO IT.
Now if your church security emphasis is on carrying guns and active shooter scenarios, you've missed the point -- which is to recognize problems and prevent an incident from impacting your church before any weapons are fired or people injured. Yes, it's possible. Much has been learned from Columbine to Tuscon and other incidents that is shared in this conference which I would describe as "cutting edge" information and practices for churches. Of course, armed preparation is not excluded.
We had about 300 in attendance representlng numerous churches from our area. Local LEO also participated and is tied in to a loose network of church safety/security leaders. There has not been an active shooter incident in our area and, as a community of churches, I hope we are equipping ourselves to avoid ever having one.
fallout mike
Member
I'm not sure you can put a security system in a church without there being "upselling" involved. Nearly every companies basic system is 3 openings and 1 motion detector and 1 keypad. Anyway, I've put security in many many churches the last 15 years. The church I currently attend has a very good setup. I have put cameras outside at each door and cameras covering all outside areas. Inside there are cameras facing each door to get them as they come in, as well as cameras all throughout covering nearly every space. If you put cameras inside facing doors make sure you get them with a wide dynamic lense so that you won't get just a shadow when the door opens and the sunlight cones in. Make sure you have a keypad at each entrance also. I used a combination of motion sensors and glassbreak sensors fir the perimeter as well as contacts on the doors of course. We also have a security room with monitors being watched by a few armed men. We have ushers standing at each entrance to the sanctuary that are also armed. All armed people are cc of course. Most of our congregation has no idea. We run about 750-800. Our alarm and video surveillance have stopped a number of bad things from happening already. Churches are unfortunately targets . It will be worth your money.
fallout mike
Member
Skifast, what state do you live in? I have a fairly large number of contacts in several states. I may be able to recommend someone that will treat you right.
smince
Member.
This may get you started. PM me if I can be of any assistance.
http://www.christiansecuritynetwork.org/
http://churchsecuritymember.com/
http://osministry.com/forum/index.php?showforum=32
I've been involved in a church security ministry at our church for about 6 years now.
http://www.christiansecuritynetwork.org/
http://churchsecuritymember.com/
http://osministry.com/forum/index.php?showforum=32
I've been involved in a church security ministry at our church for about 6 years now.
1911 guy
Member
Skifast, PM me and I'll send the the security plan i wrote for our church. It includes a framework to assist you in writing one suitable to your specific needs, per building and congregation size.
Uteridge
Member
Skifast, I do this kind of thing both for my Church and for a large number of Marine Corps sites here in the states. You need to start with a threat/vulnerability assessment and a site survey and work the problem from there. I have noticed that in the wake of recent Church/school shootings everyone is concerned about active shooters. You must have a plan for an active shooter but there are a lot of things that can be done ahead of time to prevent that incident or at least set you up for success if it happens. That is the worst case scenario but there are a lot of threats to a Church that are much more likely to happen so you have to make sure that your plan is an all hazards approach and not just dealing with one or two worst case scenarios.
Use the resources that are available to you or offered to you by others but look at your Church's specific situation rather than cutting and pasting. This is where a site assessment is key. Every Church is laid out differently with different access points and different types of construction and what works for one Church may or may not apply to another. You really have to red cell a location if you want a true assessment of your situation. At work, before I even go in an talk to a site commander I do some surveillance and see what I can pick up about the location. I figure out what I would do if I wanted to harrass the site. I figure out what I would do if I wanted to make a statement. I figure out what I would do to inflict maximum damage/casualties. You have to do the same for you Church.
For instance: What if you were divorced from your wife, she wouldn't let you see your kids, and the best way to get them back was to take them while she is in church. How would you do that? Walk up to the nursery and check them out? Take them from the Church playground? Now how do you stop that?
What if you were mad at the Church? Maybe you were a deacon who got caught in an affair and felt you were publicly humiliated by the pastor when you were asked to step down. Your point is to inflict as much damage as possible. How do you do it? How do you stop it or mitigate the damage that can be done? A lot of this has to do with the layout of your building. Look at the front doors to your church; are they knobs or are that big brass D shaped handles. If they are completely enclosed in any way, the first thing I do is chain that entrance shut...maximum casualties as people can't get out the main exit. How do you mitigate that?
Just some thoughts. Red cell any plan that you come up with and see what you would do if you were the bad guy stealing the offering, being the active shooter, stealing a kid, or breaking into cars in the parking lot.
Use the resources that are available to you or offered to you by others but look at your Church's specific situation rather than cutting and pasting. This is where a site assessment is key. Every Church is laid out differently with different access points and different types of construction and what works for one Church may or may not apply to another. You really have to red cell a location if you want a true assessment of your situation. At work, before I even go in an talk to a site commander I do some surveillance and see what I can pick up about the location. I figure out what I would do if I wanted to harrass the site. I figure out what I would do if I wanted to make a statement. I figure out what I would do to inflict maximum damage/casualties. You have to do the same for you Church.
For instance: What if you were divorced from your wife, she wouldn't let you see your kids, and the best way to get them back was to take them while she is in church. How would you do that? Walk up to the nursery and check them out? Take them from the Church playground? Now how do you stop that?
What if you were mad at the Church? Maybe you were a deacon who got caught in an affair and felt you were publicly humiliated by the pastor when you were asked to step down. Your point is to inflict as much damage as possible. How do you do it? How do you stop it or mitigate the damage that can be done? A lot of this has to do with the layout of your building. Look at the front doors to your church; are they knobs or are that big brass D shaped handles. If they are completely enclosed in any way, the first thing I do is chain that entrance shut...maximum casualties as people can't get out the main exit. How do you mitigate that?
Just some thoughts. Red cell any plan that you come up with and see what you would do if you were the bad guy stealing the offering, being the active shooter, stealing a kid, or breaking into cars in the parking lot.
Last edited:
1911 guy
Member
but there are a lot of threats to a Church that are much more likely to happen so you have to make sure that your plan is an all hazards approach and not just dealing with one or two worst case scenarios.
Bingo. There's a lot more to security than dropping bad guys. The most common things to prevent are vandalism and theft.
Bingo. There's a lot more to security than dropping bad guys. The most common things to prevent are vandalism and theft.
I attended a class about church security. Very informative. Check out www.christiansecuritynetwork.org
fallout mike
Member
Right on 1911, vandalism and theft are the main issues with church security. And, its rather hard to really recommend too much without actually doing a walk through. I've been doing this for 15 years and I hold numerous licenses for every aspect of security and I will still not tell anyone what they need without being on site other than general suggestions. He may not be interested anyways. He has replied to anything yet.
I appreciate all of the responses. They are informative.
As I said, we have a small church. Myself and another parishioner carry. I am a CCW holder and the other person is a Federal Police Officer.
I understand the argument "how much is your life worth," however, we have little if any money to spend on security. Like I said, we are a small church. Given our limited resources, I want to do what we can at this point and add on as funds are available.
Fortunately, the police officer has recently went through a 6 week course on building security. So, he will be able to do the risk assessment. Further, I am a ski patroller and have thorough first aid training and experience.
We are going to have a brainstorming/planning meeting within the next week or two. I will post updates as we develop the plan.
As I said, we have a small church. Myself and another parishioner carry. I am a CCW holder and the other person is a Federal Police Officer.
I understand the argument "how much is your life worth," however, we have little if any money to spend on security. Like I said, we are a small church. Given our limited resources, I want to do what we can at this point and add on as funds are available.
Fortunately, the police officer has recently went through a 6 week course on building security. So, he will be able to do the risk assessment. Further, I am a ski patroller and have thorough first aid training and experience.
We are going to have a brainstorming/planning meeting within the next week or two. I will post updates as we develop the plan.
Uteridge
Member
Make sure you ID potential threats as part of your plan. It is very helpful to know that Bobbi Jo is going through a rough divorce with her husband Leroy, he has threatened to kill her so no one else can have her if he can't, and she has an active restraining order against him. That way when Leroy decides to come in on Sunday morning and sit three aisles behind Bobbie Jo I can keep an eye on them and immediately call the police since a crime has already been committed and I have reason to believe that a violent act may follow. Good situational awareness is having as much intel as you can have so you know what you are looking for.
smince
Member.
Some churches and congregations will be hard to sell the idea of 'security' to - until after the fact.
In some instances you may have to start with a medical/fire response and grow it from there. A heart attack on church premises, evacuating the children and elderly in event of a fire, or have a missing child is a more likely scenario than to have to deal with an active shooter.
But a plan for each type of incident must be addressed.
In some instances you may have to start with a medical/fire response and grow it from there. A heart attack on church premises, evacuating the children and elderly in event of a fire, or have a missing child is a more likely scenario than to have to deal with an active shooter.
But a plan for each type of incident must be addressed.
SSN Vet
Member
I've found that the biggest obsticle to getting church leadership to affecting comprehensive security to be the fear of liablitly.
My church has had at least two death threats made to different pastors and there has been an attempted child abduction at a church just down the road.
We've spent some coin on walkie talkies, pagers and locks. We restrict access to two areas and have ushers present there. We do cumbersome (and imo. meaningless) sign in /out procedures for kids functions.
I suspect that nothing can replace vigilant people who watch like a hawk with a suspicious eye (and not chit chatting with their friends). IMO, these should also be armed. But organizing an armed security force is farther than many are willing to go.
My church has had at least two death threats made to different pastors and there has been an attempted child abduction at a church just down the road.
We've spent some coin on walkie talkies, pagers and locks. We restrict access to two areas and have ushers present there. We do cumbersome (and imo. meaningless) sign in /out procedures for kids functions.
I suspect that nothing can replace vigilant people who watch like a hawk with a suspicious eye (and not chit chatting with their friends). IMO, these should also be armed. But organizing an armed security force is farther than many are willing to go.
mljdeckard
Member
I took a few classes in my Criminal Justice program on security management. They might be very useful if you had the means and the inclination.
SSN Vet
Member
Unless your a realllllllly small congregation, this should not be by invitation and the attendance kept limited.
We had a briefing from the Chief of a nearby towns PD (a member of our congregation) and it was inadvertantly promoted to the general membership. So we wound up with >100 folks attending and everyone butting in with their "I think we aught to...." stories. The speaker didn't even get through his material, there were so many "experts" wanting to "share".
smince
Member.
Glad to here that.
I've spoken with several churches who showed an initial interest, but so far only two (besides my own) have started an actual security ministry.
And that goes back to the liability you mentioned earlier.
Uteridge
Member
Getting approval is the hard part. One of my best friends is on an emergency response team in Missouri, where I grew up, and his brother was the pastor of a large church in Illinois. Obviously my friend is highly trained and is very aware of security so he spent years trying to tell his brother that he needed security at his Church but to no avail. I say he was a pastor because a man walked down the aisle one morning and shot Fred multiple times. Even though his brother could have easily set up the security for him, he was not interested in it because either he didn't see the need or he thought the security would change the atmosphere of his Church.
It is good that you have the approval to do a security plan; now you just need to make sure that you keep it as seamless as possible for the flock while still maintaining security.
It is good that you have the approval to do a security plan; now you just need to make sure that you keep it as seamless as possible for the flock while still maintaining security.
smince
Member.
Our church became very interested after we had 11 cars broken into during a Wednesday night service.
We have had a few incidents since forming a team, but they went over pretty smooth.
I believe it would have been a different story had these same events happened without a team in place.
We have had a few incidents since forming a team, but they went over pretty smooth.
I believe it would have been a different story had these same events happened without a team in place.
Uteridge
Member
Most people don't worry about fire extinguishers until there is a fire, don't worry about life jackets until the ship starts filling up with water, and don't worry about security until something bad happens. It is human nature to say "it won't happen to me" when you see bad things happen in other places and then just go on about your day.
- Status
